All-Star Correct Basing Grips

We have both bases facing each other. The main base has one hand under the heel and one hand under the foot; the secondary base holds under the middle of the foot and the main base's wrist.

ChelleShocked said:

We have both bases facing each other. The main base has one hand under the heel and one hand under the foot; the secondary base holds under the middle of the foot and the main base's wrist.

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Same as we do. We make sure the main base's hands are really far under the shoe so the flyer has a bigger platform to stand on.

ChelleShocked said:

We have both bases facing each other. The main base has one hand under the heel and one hand under the foot; the secondary base holds under the middle of the foot and the main base's wrist.

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That's what we do for group stunting, dual has the assist or secondary on toe and ankle with the primary single basing.

thebowqueen said:

Stunting this way makes the transition to two mans much easier. The side base always faces the front.

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but in 2 man stunting the main base faces out

pailum520 said:

but in 2 man stunting the main base faces out

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Faces out - to the side?

Our two mans we have the "back spot" on the front of the foot and the ankle facing the other bace. The base stands facing the front with both hands under the foot.

My gym has it so:
Backspot just holds ankle with both hands
Mainbase.. self explanatory
Sidebase has both hands under the foot so they are facing forward.

I always ask myself these questions when basing
Side Base Checklist
- Is her foot stable (this is when you squeeze the foot or come in towards your main base if you are facing to the side and not the front)
- Is my grip good?Can I effectively pop her giving her enough air to perform a cradle, single or double down
- Look up at your flyer, move with her if necessary

thebowqueen said:

After reading the discussion and seeing the pics of the many different ways to pull poses, what basing grips do you use?

We have the side base facing the front with both hands under the foot - the flyer is directly over the side base. The main base has an open finger grip with the middle finger facing forward. The back has right hand on ankle and left hand under the heel.

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what does the main base do with their other hand if the backspot has the heel?

I have been a side and backspot, and this is what i always did: as a side, i would put my right hand under the foot and grip . With my left hand, i would either A. slide my hand in sideways so that my thumb was under the foot & my fingers were on top. I used this when i needed to turn my flyer's foot to the inside/outside. Or, i would B. put my left hand also underneath the foot. As a back, i always just grabbed the ankle with both and and squeezed the poo poo out of it! Haha my thumbs would always ache after practice from squeezing her ankle so hard. As for main (which i am absolutely terrible at), they always hold toe and heel.

I feel like each person in a stunt has a specific role that they play in any and every stunt at any gym using any technique. The best example i can provide to illustrate it is a full up. This is my philosophy:

Main Base - You have the most control over the stunt because you have the most contact with the stunt. Both of your hands will always be in contact with your flyer's foot. Your job is to spin her foot, ensure that she will have a surface to stand on, control toeing/heeling, and keep the toe facing forward. You are the CONTROL!

Side Base - You are the muscle of the stunt. You do not keep contact through the entire stunt, so your job is to throw that little fetus foot as hard as you can so that your main can do her job, then catch it & stop the spin. If a one-legged stunt bobbles, lets face it: you dont have much control over getting it back up, merely because your grip is awkward (for lack of a better word). So, hold that stunt! You are the MUSCLE!

Backspot - I have one letter for you: S. Savior, Support, Safety. Like the side base, you do not have contact with the flyer through the whole full up. You can add some height and power to it, but you just need to catch the stunt as it comes around and save it shall anything go wrong. In whatever stunt you are doing, YOU have the power to save it! You're the savior. You can reach and push up her butt if she sticks it out, you catch her when she is falling (and push her back up), you can steady the stunt when it is shaky, and always PUSH IT BACK UP. You're the support because you help your main by squeezing the ankle and controlling, and you help your side by pushing up and holding some of the weight. You're the safety because you are the most conveniently located stunter to reach up and grab your flyer when she is falling. I believe there is a rule out there that if a stunt passes through or is at the extended position, someone must have a grip on the ankle to act as a "backspot" (Dont know how that applies to coed one-mans). Its a safety rule. As a backspot, I NEVER EVER let my flyers hit the ground because i figured that it would hurt a lot worse for her to fall from 6+ feet up that for me to fall when my feet are on the ground. What if shes falling forward, you ask? So then i cant reach her? Nope. I pull her towards me so that i can catch her You are the S!

Flyer - pretty. tight. light. fierce. i was never a flyer so i cant help you much there... I just know what kind of flyer i like

this is long, i know. but i find things easier when i can focus on one element (IE controlling, or holding weight, or saving, not all 3 at once). I hope some of this can help with teams/groups that need stunt advice!

When I do these posistions, I usually main, but when I main i have the same grip as the picture shown above. When I side it is a little different, when I load in, I have left hand on the shin and right hand under the foot. When it pushes off, I slide my left hand down onto the foot and brace it like normal!

With level 5 teams, I feel like the stunting grips is pretty much whatever works for that group. Bases/back-spots change technique Depending on the flyers weaknesses. If the flyer puts a lot of weight on the toe, Ive seen secondary bases hold under the foot with both hands, if the flyer is back heavy ive seen the secondary grab heel so the back-spot can help the main base push the heel up and the calf forward.

Now I do concur that the secondary base doing the hamburger grip is just stupid. In no way is that top hand helping that stunt. If anything, its IN the way.

This is how we do it:


The main base grips the heel and toes. The secondary base grips with her right hand underneath and a little around the foot and puts the left hand (I'm crossing the thumbs usually.) onto the side of the foot that's facing her.
This way, she can control any tilting of the foot either towards or away from her and is able to hold some weight as well.

The backspot either grips the the ankle with both hands or (in the case that (s)he cannot reach that comfortably) grips underneath the bases hands. But the later is really just used when our stuntgroups have to be switched due to missing people and therfore someone has to backspot a group of bases that are too tall for them.

main base (one on the left from the backspots pov) grabs middle of the foot with right hand and with left hand supports the right wrist of side base
side base hold like a normal prep-toe and heel
backspot all on ankle

before my gym switched to this grip we used the "hamburger grip"

Really interesting thread, although it is taking a lot of brain power to follow all these grips without pictures lol.
Over here most squads use hamburger grip but it is changing.

At camps with american coaches they have described a better technique as the 'butterfly grip'. The side base has right hand and left hand underneath making a butterfly shape (ie a V). To load in hand starts on top and then slides to bttterfly. It seems to work well if you have a solid flyer but if your flyer has a weak ankle and needs that squeeze rather than lift then it is better to have fingers more on top.
Would love to see some more pics!

Iamshannon said:

what does the main base do with their other hand if the backspot has the heel?

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The main base still has the heel like normal. The back puts her thumb under the heel and her palm is against the inside of the ankle bone preventing the foot from rolling.

As a flyer sitting here reading this thread, all I have to say is as long as you have my foot I'm happy! hahaha