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 Coaches Tips
Riding Cradles
I used to have trouble riding my cradels. THen I got this great tip....When you hit your high V and are ready to be thrown, pretend like your fists are holding on to a bar. On which you need to pull yourself up on to. That way you will ride your cradels! :)
We all hope they will never happen, but, like it or not, accidents happen. Here is a list of some things you may want to put together in a tool box or first aid kit, to be carried to every practice and event, to ensure you are prepared for everything!
Athletic Tape
(Excerpts from a letter I wrote to the team I was Captain of, before our National competition) Through my competitive adventures I have gone from one extreme to another. Being at a cheerleading competition was always so overwhelming. I couldn't get enough of the other teams, and wondered what it would feel like to be on a really good one. I never felt like I was competing with them. I must admit though that the daydream of winning entered into my mind before every competition, no matter how far-fetched the idea was. I never accepted that we didn't win until they finally announced first place. I am sure some of you can understand how I was feeling as a cheerleader. Now imagine the same experience as a coach. You have 20 girls who you love to death and have seen their tears, joy, and effort as they pour their hearts out on the floor for themselves, each other, and for you. It is almost harder to accept that they are not the best, and deserve to be honored for their efforts. It is from watching them experience the sting of defeat that I have had to take a real look at what winning is all about. Judges are not perfect. I know this because I have been one and trained many. Even when the system is well laid out, when it comes down to it, it is only an opinion. It is a dangerous thing to let someone else's opinion determine how you rate your own performance. When I think back to my own days as a cheerleader, the moments that stand out to me the most are not the ones where the MC announced us in first place. We were in the huge group of teams that don't win. The things I cherish are the moments during performances when I heard the crowd, or smiled at a team-mate when I passed them during a transition. But the very best moments were the ones in the last seconds of the routine, when the crowd was roaring, and they belonged to me. That is what I deserve to take home with me. So what happens when the crowd is not roaring, or when they are in fact laughing or embarrassed about the mistakes you have made in your routine? There is a lesson to be learned there too. A cheerleading routine is only 2-3 minutes long. Every second counts because you don't get it back. If you make a mistake, even a major one, you have to pick up and keep going - and you have to do it with a smile. But most importantly, you have to learn to forgive yourself for your mistakes and know that next time you will make every minute count - in cheerleading, and in life.
This year, I held tryouts in a different format from previous years. I taught the athletes basic material over the first day - kicks, jumps, one cheer, and a short dance sequence (16-counts). They then had two days to practice this on their own and to demonstrate their abilities the final and last day of tryouts. No cuts were made after the first day and no names were recorded. It was truly as close to a practice as the athletes could experience. On the final tryout day, it was much more "formal" and structured than the first. The athletes received name tags, filled out information sheets containing various questions (in lieu of conducting personal interviews), and were assigned a number. We then practised the taught sequences several times before having the athletes perform. At the end, I taught an 8-count motion sequence which was then demonstrated right away. Honestly, this tryout format yielded the BEST team I have ever selected! I don't know if it would work for everyone but it certainly worked for me!
While we may have heard this term before as it relates to stunt progression, we can also relate it to other aspects of cheerleading such as jumps, motions, dance, and tumbling. When we force our cheerleader to progress without a strong foundation in basic skills we allow them to form bad habits that will not only be hard to break later, but may cause physical injuries or problems. It is much easier to spend time training those new athletes to perform skills properly, then to try and break their bad habits later. Since it can be frustrating for experienced cheerleaders to have to re-learn basic skills, have them teach and/or demonstrate the skills for the new cheerleaders on your team. Teaching is often the best way to master a skill, and it will enourage your cheerleaders to perfect their skills before demonstrating them. Remember: the way your team looks during performances is the direct result of your expectations of them. If you demand certain things, and follow through wtih consequences if they are not performed to your expectations, then they will be sure to acheive those things (within reason of course!) For example: You will not move on to the next eight count of the dance until the first eight count is sharp enough. You determine how sharp they have to be until you move on.
If game cheerleading is a priority at your school then you may want to consider Kelli’s idea to add a game test to your athlete’s try out score. Kelli tests each potential athlete on their knowledge of the games they will be cheering. Before the test, she gives them a study sheet to help them learn any rules they may not know. Kelli feels that she learns more about the recruits than just their knowledge of the sports they cheer through this test. Whether the athletes study for the test or not is a good indication of their attitude, not only towards game cheerleading, but towards authority in general. |
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