All-Star Stunt Stand..worth It? Yes Or No...

[Lisa M]

Thinking of getting N a stunt stand. It is quite the investment. Is it worth it...

 

[CheerDadof2]

Couldn't say for sure as my cp doesn't have one but I've seen gyms have them and it seemed to help. Gives them the ability to stunt on the ground which helps.

 

[King]

Thinking of getting N a stunt stand. It is quite the investment. Is it worth it...

If you really want you can accomplish the same thing with a brick.

 

[ang_k_]

People have a lot of substitutions for one. The idea that the stunt stand actually feels like hands, which it does is something that interests people. I would say go with a cheaper idea. If someone could tag Shark Dad, I know he has a bunch of suggestions.

 

[12stepCheermom]

Our gym builds our own. 2x10 base about 12inx12in, about a two inch metal pipe and the sleeve to sit it in that is about a 18in long attached to about a 8in long 2x4 with sanded corners and rounded over and the front. Voila. All available at Lowes or home depot. Plus when they're done the kids can paint them up and do whatever the like to personalize them. Our coaches built one for my cp years ago when she flew and she painted it pink and green and painted her name on it with sparkly paint. It was a fun little craft project. She's since given it to another flyer to use at home. They use them in practice (there's about 8 of them at the gym) when they work with the flyers individually.

 

[NoDramaCheerMama]

Our gym has one and it is great. It is quite the investment so I haven't bought one...yet. We did buy a bosu ball for $100 at Target and it works great too. Really helps with balance and being able to hold positions while strengthening core. She has mastered everything on it so now says she needs a stunt stand...

 

[BlueCat]

No. A brick or an unopened soda can or two would provide the same effect. Those require slightly less investment.

Besides, flyers are not really supposed to balance themselves when they are in a stunt (at least not in the way that this type of drill would reinforce.)

 

[CF1erce]

Our athletes pooled their money at the end of last season and bought 4 stunt stands for our gym as a gift to the all star coaches. We use them at every practice, and it's really helped with flyer class to allow greater repetitions. Alternate flyers will use them while the rest of the team is stunting to do their sequence on the ground with the team. The best feature is the ability to change the grips as the flyer develops more body control and core strength. As BlueCat said, I am sure that the same drills can be accomplished with lesser means....but we do love them Cheer Force One! Best gift our coaches have ever gotten from our athletes!

 

[King]

I think the key is understanding what the stunt stand can and cannot teach you.

So, to me a flyer should not balance, but hold proper position in the air. Hips tucked underneath (or belly button to spine just not sticking your butt out) and shoulders pulled up, back, and down (learned that description from Debbie Love) is a brief description. It can be very difficult to learn how to hold that on a group with your body, so stepping onto something can be very helpful. You learn where your center of gravity should be, and then how to pull body positions without severely shifting your center of gravity. But very little can replace a good group or instructor telling you you are putting all your weight into your toe, or trying to balance instead of hold proper position.

The best thing I have found to teach being able to hold your center of gravity well (besides having a really strong core) is the Wii Fit game Yoga, believe it or not.

 

[CEAisstronger]

I use the box spring of my bed. I just slide my mattress over a little and it works. I can see my self in a mirror too

 

[mommadonna]

Our gym builds our own. 2x10 base about 12inx12in, about a two inch metal pipe and the sleeve to sit it in that is about a 18in long attached to about a 8in long 2x4 with sanded corners and rounded over and the front. Voila. All available at Lowes or home depot. Plus when they're done the kids can paint them up and do whatever the like to personalize them. Our coaches built one for my cp years ago when she flew and she painted it pink and green and painted her name on it with sparkly paint. It was a fun little craft project. She's since given it to another flyer to use at home. They use them in practice (there's about 8 of them at the gym) when they work with the flyers individually.

Our gym has these too. They work great!

 

[mommadonna]

I was kind of afraid of letting my cp stand on a can because I could picture the thing tipping and causing her to roll her ankle. We actually cut off a piece of a 2x4 about the same length as her foot and let her practice on that. I'm thinking we may get the supplies from Lowes or Home Depot and build a stand like the ones they have at the gym. Cp also has a Reebok balance disk that we bought at Target for about $30, which helps her work on core strength. Right now, we're nagging her to stretch, stretch stretch...that makes it so much easier to get into the right positions...

 

[Willis Yehl]

The Stunt Stand is designed to train the athlete with isometric exercises. This means that the flyer is strengthening the muscles used while stunting with little to no movement in their foot and ankle. The term is defined here: isometric exercise - definition of isometric exercise by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.. The adjustable features of the Stunt Stand allows the flyer, when they first begin to use it, to add more support and as they develop the muscle strength of flexing and holding their foot without moving, then they can begin to make it more difficult.

I completely agree that flyers should not balance while in the air -- Every balance disk and any air-inflated device creates a high amount of movement in their ankle and it will actually only create more movement in the stunt by having the flyer make drastic adjustments while in the group's hands. This is counter-productive to a solid stunt. Every time an athlete steps onto the Stunt Stand, I instruct them to lock-out their ankle and foot. If the flyer is more advanced, I then begin to make it less stable, to see if they have done enough isometric exercises and see if their muscle fibers are strong enough to hold the foot stable, even with a more unstable surface to stand on.

If you are interested in seeing other products that are on the market, you can visit our website at http://www.CheerleadingStuntStand.com and sign up to receive our 2012 Stunting Guide (Completely Free - We created it to inform customers) that will list the other products sold on the market.

There are always cheaper alternatives to practicing. You can use a stick for a baseball bat and a hockey stick for a golf club. We designed the Stunt Stand to be multi-functional and adjust to the ability of the flyer using it - as well as being much safer than the numerous alternatives of home-made creations out there. While it is not cheap, we do stand behind the product with a 30-day full money-back guarantee and we can honestly say that we have never had a customer return the product because they didn't feel that it was worth it. We actually show our customers the different stunting options out there to practice on because we want them to be informed.

We have traveled across the US and visited hundreds of gyms that use home-made products and respect their creativity and are happy to see that they have created something for their flyers to practice on. Sometimes they have looked dangerously tall and wooden - as many of our earlier prototypes were. After more than a year of testing prototypes, we converted to a strong, but safe, 3000 PSI plastic and a rubber material in case the girls fell down on top of it while practicing. Here is just an example of one of our earlier creations which we felt was unsafe for girls to use, (I call it the metal monster):

We have spent over 2 years designing and testing different products and if anyone has any questions about the Stunt Stand or how it works, you're welcome to email me at [email protected], call me at (972) 244-3312 or visit our website at Http://www.CheerleadingStuntStand.com to learn more.

Thank you for making these home-made devices. I hope that the safety of the flyers using these devices are made a priority because honestly it is their safety and faster skill progression that we care about most which inspired us to create the Stunt Stand!

Sincerely,

Willis A. Yehl
Co-Owner & Inventor
Cheerleading Stunt Stand
[email protected]
(972) 244-3312

 

[MNCheerMom]

:cow:

 

[TheVipersMom]

So I will say this weekend at the competition, the people I live with bought a stunt stand! In one day I can tell a huge difference in the way my daughter was stunting.

Not only was she able to pull her stretches on it, but she was hitting switch tocks on it with no problem before she went to bed last night!

It really does make a difference! I'll post a video in the next few days!!

(Without a back spot or someone standing behind her)