All-Star Any Former Competitive Gymnasts Switch To Allstar Cheer?

My friend was a gymnast and switched to cheer! She wasn't competitive, she was only level 2 or 3 in gymnastics. She hasn't completely switched to cheer (no nearby gyms her family will let her go to) but she is going to try out for high school cheer!
Depending on your gym, if they have flyer/base classes, I would definitely put her in them! Gymnasts aren't familiar with a lot of stunts (at least my friend wasn't). Thats all my friend really struggled with, well that and motions...

Good luck to her and I hope she falls in love with this sport

FierceIsTheName said:

My friend was a gymnast and switched to cheer! She wasn't competitive, she was only level 2 or 3 in gymnastics. She hasn't completely switched to cheer (no nearby gyms her family will let her go to) but she is going to try out for high school cheer!
Depending on your gym, if they have flyer/base classes, I would definitely put her in them! Gymnasts aren't familiar with a lot of stunts (at least my friend wasn't). Thats all my friend really struggled with, well that and motions...

Good luck to her and I hope she falls in love with this sport

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I have noticed that motions are hard for gymnasts! They're so used to being graceful, and cheer is all about being tight, sharp, and fierce!

I too made the switch from gymnastics to cheerleading when I was 12! Haha Anyway I will be starting my 3rd season cheering this year. For me it was a huge difference going from practicing 16 hours a week to 5 ( and a extra tumbling class). I will say one of my biggest problems was choreography/motions. My first season I came in September (someone had left) and they had already learned their routine. I had the old girl teach me her choreography and it was hard for me to remember at first. I think it was because i wasn't used to the motions and things, I almost got overwhelmed. My teammates would get a little annoyed that I would bump into them during transitions (or not move fast enough) , or kinda forget where I was supposed to go. Now i would say I'm a pro at learning cheer choreography. Besides that everything came pretty easy. Stunting was interesting. Learning how to base was different but quite easy because of all the muscle I had built up in gymnastics (especially my legs). Tumbling is going to be a breeze. Especially when you do full outs. When we do full outs and you start to get tired, you won't have to worry about landing your pass because all the technique pays off even at your weakest point ( if that makes sense, like no matter how tired I am I always am able to set and land easily in my feet). I almost forgot, performance! That was another struggle for me. I was used to doing some what of a smile on floor but it wasn't a big deal. Actually smiling and seeming upbeat for 2 min 30 sec was a challenge. I'm always reminded for at a minimum KEEP A SMILE. Also, you probably know this but competing is a lot different, besides the fact that its not just you out there. It's very loud! I remember being so nervous on deck at my first competition. Not because of hitting but because of the different atmosphere. Especially NCA. Sorry it was a tad long but, I can honestly say I've loved the cheerleading experience and I hope your daughter does too. I'm not sure if this will apply to her but I know I gained a lot of respect for cheerleaders after I cheered. I am still working on that with some of my old teammates but its a work in progress, and they have cut back on some of the cheer bashing/ jokes lol.





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I forgot to add, flexibility along with a lot of the plyometric history from gymnastics helps ALOT with jumps! After I got the motions down (I guess you could say) to do a proper jump, I was moved to the front row


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My flyer came from being a level 8 or 9 gymnast to cheer and was put on our j4 team. Her biggest struggle was learning to fly and jumps. She was used to leaps so the arm motions and such confused her, especially tumbling out of it. It was also a tough transition for her learning the "team" aspect of cheerleading, because in gymnastics you're out there all by yourself but in cheer everybody has to count on each other, because if one person messes up, the whole team is penaltized. She is now going into her fourth year of cheer, is arguably one of the best flyers at the gym and competed at Worlds last year. Looking at her tumbling you can tell she came from a gymnastics background. She still lands her standing tumbling with her feet staggered like she's on a beam I'm sure your daughter will love it! Good luck!

Thanks for all the replies... good advice

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A majority of girls on my allstar team did competitive because we were based out of a gymnastic gym. They all had beautiful jumps and tumbling but they didnt really grasp the stunting or dance learning. Gymnastics is such a delicate and graceful sport while cheerleading is more fast paced and flashy. The dances in cheer are more "stiff" (can't think of a better word) than gymnastics so they were really flowy with their motions. Other than that I think gymnasts are excellent cheerleaders! Especially cause most of them are super strong!


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One of my close friends was a level 8 gymnast and started all star last season. She started late so she had to be placed on a level 3 team which is what had space. She tried out this season with a specialty to full and made restricted 5 to learn stunting. She now has multiple specialties to full an one to full. She learned super fast an loves the sport!


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I transitioned from competitive gymnastics (5 years) to allstar- and I am just going in to my 6th year.
Besides what has already been said about motions and choreography (I personally didn't have a problem with it because I also had a dance background, but I do know it is generally common for gymnasts to struggle with motions) here is my biggest advice!!
Train tumbling privates AT A GYMNASTICS CLUB- and demand the coach does proper 'gymnastics style' conditioning, technique building etc.
I lost a bunch of my muscle mass, flexibility etc, once i started cheer because I wasn't trained at the level that I used to! If I could do it all over (I am 19 years old now) I would 100% BEG my mother to put me into a gymnastics environment for conditioning, stretching etc and learning new skills. IMO it is a must.
The other stuff such as dance/motions/choreo will come with time and practice during cheer practice hours. But as for maintaing what has already been built from her gymnastics background- take that on as your responsibility.
GOOD LUCK

cfwp.cheerleader said:

I transitioned from competitive gymnastics (5 years) to allstar- and I am just going in to my 6th year.
Besides what has already been said about motions and choreography (I personally didn't have a problem with it because I also had a dance background, but I do know it is generally common for gymnasts to struggle with motions) here is my biggest advice!!
Train tumbling privates AT A GYMNASTICS CLUB- and demand the coach does proper 'gymnastics style' conditioning, technique building etc.
I lost a bunch of my muscle mass, flexibility etc, once i started cheer because I wasn't trained at the level that I used to! If I could do it all over (I am 19 years old now) I would 100% BEG my mother to put me into a gymnastics environment for conditioning, stretching etc and learning new skills. IMO it is a must.
The other stuff such as dance/motions/choreo will come with time and practice during cheer practice hours. But as for maintaing what has already been built from her gymnastics background- take that on as your responsibility.
GOOD LUCK

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Yesss!! I lost a lot of my flexibility, especially when I first started cheer. I guess I didn't realize how much I was stretching in gymnastics, I never really stretched at home. During my first season of cheer I lost my left leg split and middle! I actually had to start stretching at home to get my splits back. Still working on middle, I swear it just doesn't like me haha. It might be different for your daughter but flexibility has always been a struggle for me anyway, so losing my splits didn't help.


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Train alot of wrists and ankles. In my experience They get worn out real fast on former gymnasts. But maybe that is because we train on hard floor here(still...) and they're used to airtracks etc.


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My daughter is super flexible. She still stretches her splits at home. I hope she doesn't lose her flexibility. I would assume she wouldn't if shes cheering but i already notice shes not conditioning as hard as she did in gymnastics.

Thanks for the tips!

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Best decision I ever made.

cheermom1981 said:

My daughter is super flexible. She still stretches her splits at home. I hope she doesn't lose her flexibility. I would assume she wouldn't if shes cheering but i already notice shes not conditioning as hard as she did in gymnastics.

Thanks for the tips!

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Yea my mom always told me (right when i quit gymnastics) its easier to maintain the muscle you've already built than it is to regain it all...5 years later, Im trying to regain everything, haha. Tell your daughter she will honestly regret not keeping up with that conditioning in a few years. Best of luck in cheer! I hope she loves it!!