All-Star Can A Flyer Outgrow Their Flyer Position ?

[njallday]

husband and I notice that CP has had a growth spurt this last year . She use to be the short one, but she is now either the same hight or even taller then most of her friends . She has even noticed it at school . She'll be ten this summer and we've also noticed her body changing shape, not fat, start of puberty basically and body changes. She always flown , never based , I've told her this may not always happen .

statistically, it may happen solely because there are three girls on the ground for every one in the air. learning all parts of a stunt group never hurt anyone (some even learn that they love basing/backspotting more than flying.) but this also doesn't mean she won't fly ever again. each year a teams' dynamic changes and if you have 6 girls of the same ability and only need 5 the "bigger" one may have to base. sometimes the "bigger" girl is an awesome flyer and the smaller girl is a beast base. you never know.

i'd also like to add in that when i was younger, i was a pipsqueak and automatic flyer. then i hit my growth spurt and quickly became the tallest on the team so i learned to backspot. except a year or two later, everyone else started having their own growth spurts and i was back to being small, so they put me back in the air. my final year of cheer i both flew and backspotted in the routine, so i am glad i learned at a younger age and lower level. you never know when you'll need those skills. the more well-rounded, the better.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

The composition of the team plays a role in transitioning to basing as well.

For example, you may be the smallest kid on a Youth team, hit a growth spurt, yet STILL be able to fly next year based on the size/skill of the other kids. If you are 4'8 and the average kid on the team is 5'4, your change in height is not as obvious.

Example: I'm about 5'0 at 30. Yes, really. However, there was a point in 4th/5th/6t grade during which I DID grow, but obviously (in comparison to my teammates) I was still VERY short. So I was still able to fly, and continued to do so for the remainder of my cheer career (though I filled in a few times as a base) just because whenever I DID grow, I was never anywhere NEAR close to being taller than anyone else on the team.

On the other hand, had I been on teams where the average kid was short like me, it would not have worked out that way.

 

[cinderella]

puberty is such a awkward word...

Puberty is awkward, in general.

 

[Hodiestoe]

Different coaches make different decisions and different skill sets of the athletes dictate different decisions that need to be made. People may grow and stay flying, they may not grow and be bases. I have three 11y/o's who are under 5' but are absolute beasts of bases, they know they will never fly and they don't want to. They base a girl who is 14 and about 5'4". All four of them are examples of perfect technique and can base pretty much any level 2 stunt. They are all on my junior squad, a different coach would have grounded the 14 y/o flyer and possibly made one of the 11 y/o's fly. For me they are the epitome of great technique.

I think all you can ever do is work hard, accept that you love cheerleading more than the position you're in and be happy wherever your coach places you-they need you in that spot for a reason!


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[vannahlexis]

One of my friends flew all through high school. She's going to be a freshman in college this year and her new coach told her that she might want to learn to base because they already have a lot of flyers. This girl is pretty small too, so it definitely factors in the athletes on the team as well as their size.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[Sharkie]

I try to let them try several spots during practice. that way they understand what the other one is doing, which not only helps during a routine that they better connect but also if they suddenly need to switch position, at least they know what to do. you never know that a few new girls join that might have years of flying experiance and are more flexible. or they need someone of your height to base in another group.
most common thing I hear them say when I ask a flyer to base is: oh but i'm not strong enough? my arms are not that strong.
I tell them in that case being a base must be such a better position since as a flyer you need to be strong, not only in your legs, but your whole body, also your arms, since you need to be able to hold your own body up. while as a base you mainly need strong legs to push the flyer up
once they tried it, they are usually very happy and feel proud of themself.
for the same reason i also let my bases work just as hard on flexibility as the flyers, just in case they suddenly need to fly and after all it helps them with their jumps and tumbing too.
if your team can do multiple positions, you can make much more interesting routines too, since you no longer need to keep in mind who's flying and who's basing. no more running from one side to the other.
those who insist in being a flyer, usually just want to be the centre of attention. I recomend them to join our gymnastics team, where they can work on individual skills, since they obviously dont fit a team where they all need to work together as one.

 

[Angelica]

YES YES AND YES

 

[cheer25mom]

@Sharkie I am glad to hear a coach saying what I have been thinking for a long time. My CP is 10, and the tallest child on her youth 2 team. She has always based and always will, but in the past has been made to feel bad about not being a flyer. The attitude on her first team was that basing was for girls who were too fat or couldn't cut it as a flyer. It dint come from the coaches, but from the kids and parents on the team. We have way too much "wanna be flyer" syndrome at our gym, and I hear the " I'm not strong enough", "my arms are too weak" excuse all the time. Our coaches do what they can to discourage it, but it drives CP up the wall when she is putting 100% into basing a stunt and her other base is whining about not getting to fly and doesn't really care if the stunt stays up or not.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[Helen uk uni cheer]

On my university open level 2 team we had a girl from Malaysia who had been cheering for 15 years but was always a base because she was tall in her country in the uk compared to the rest of the team she was tiny and was a flyer and a very good one. It really depends on what your team needs I normally back but am fronting and basing my routine because that is what they needed its great as im learning all non flying positions. I love to backspot but dont mind what position they put me in you just have to give it your best

 

[Mom2Cheergirls]

I will say one of the most beautiful flyers I have ever seen was my oldest CP's cheer big sister. She was point flyer and still flys on a college all girl team. She really is stunning to watch and my girl so wanted to fly after watching her but then quickly learned she preferred being on the ground and basing. So I have seen tall elegant flyers but not many.

 

[Mom2Cheergirls]

@Sharkie I am glad to hear a coach saying what I have been thinking for a long time. My CP is 10, and the tallest child on her youth 2 team. She has always based and always will, but in the past has been made to feel bad about not being a flyer. The attitude on her first team was that basing was for girls who were too fat or couldn't cut it as a flyer. It dint come from the coaches, but from the kids and parents on the team. We have way too much "wanna be flyer" syndrome at our gym, and I hear the " I'm not strong enough", "my arms are too weak" excuse all the time. Our coaches do what they can to discourage it, but it drives CP up the wall when she is putting 100% into basing a stunt and her other base is whining about not getting to fly and doesn't really care if the stunt stays up or not.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

I think it comes down to the coaches and parents setting the right attitude. My CP loves to base and has based many a new flyer because she earns their trust quickly. She has a reputation that her flyer will not hit the mat unless she is under her. My other CP is the same way as well. Their coaches give them their props in front of their other girls and MOST importantly we have had parents come to them and me and thank them for basing their daughter. These parents get their child is not levitating and the reasons their child can smile and shine up high is they are confident in the people below them. My girls will say to each other F-O-L-O (flyers only live once) meaning it is their job to protect their flyers and they take that seriously and saying that to each other has become their little thing to remind themselves how important they are.

 

[brennanez99]

Most of the time who is up in the air depends on who's underneath them. Just as everyone on the team should be stretching (regardless if you will be the one pulling positions in the air or not), I feel that every team member should be conditioned enough to be able to base anyone there.

That is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves when people join cheer (especially the HS squad) with a desire and refuse to do anything else but fly. They complain they aren't strong, or (even worse) try to nitpick every little thing the flyer is doing is wrong. This incident just turns into a vicious little circle because it's hard to train flyers with weak and unwilling bases.


The Fierce Board App! || iPhone || Android

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

There are parents who feed into the "I can only fly" attitude as well.

My favorite thing was "Suzie can't base, it's bad on her back. All she can do is fly."

Um. Basing is bad on her back, but FLYING isn't?

Tell that to MY BACK that still creaks and makes weird noises when I haven't cheered since college.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I'm double-posting but I also wanted to add something that I share with my parents during pre-tryout meetings.

All through high school I worked in fast food. Can you imagine how my life would be if I'd said "All I've ever done is work fast food?" That would make for a really limited life. Same goes for cheer.

 

[Jule]

I think it really depends on the people you have on your team and what works. We have a flyer that is as tall as I am (5'9). I have to admit, I was sceptic at first, even though I love tall flyers. Turned out, she is amazingly easy to stunt with. My main base and I had no trouble two-maning her at all (Instagram

I'm not a fan at all of flyers that are unwilling to try anything else. And I've heard the "my back is too bad" thing far too often. I never really knew what to answer except "well, you have to just stick to fronting and spotting then"...