All-Star Conditioning As Punishment

[SthrnCheerMom]

If a team has issues (stunt drops, off count, etc) what is appropriate conditions? My CP's coach makes them do bear crawls. Everyone on the team has been complaining of back issues in the same spot because of them. I understand conditioning but there has to be a better option.

 

[CheerItFullOut]

If a team has issues (stunt drops, off count, etc) what is appropriate conditions? My CP's coach makes them do bear crawls. Everyone on the team has been complaining of back issues in the same spot because of them. I understand conditioning but there has to be a better option.

Doing the skill correctly the first time...if they’re not doing the conditioning correctly (cheating reps, which many kids do in order to get them done) their back will hurt.
It’s also important to understand the purpose behind the conditioning... dropping a kid, giving up on skills and careless stunting causes BY FAR more pain on a child than any correctly applied bear crawls would and is also very dangerous.
If conditioning is used as a means of constructive (note the word constructive) physical activity in order to reinforce the strength of the individuals doing the skill (I’m all for it)... to put it simply - many kids plain “just don’t like that conditioning isn’t “fun” and it’s unconfortable for them”...
In my experience, kids have a clear choice
People have been doing bear crawls, push ups, planks for years and managed to live perfectly fine through them.
Are the kids really complaining of hurt backs because they’re truly injured?
are they doing the skills incorrectly, being given physical activity as a means to correct the lack of effort and or lack of strength needed to build the skill?
or do they just don’t like that they are being reprimanded?
Dig deeper into the reason behind the activity.
I personally can’t see a better option than if the kids are not showing the strength, will and focus to do things correctly and efficiently at a practice then that physical strength, will and focus needs to be reinforced.

 

[C*A-Shelby K]

We always had conditioning for punishment which I am grateful for looking back. Helped us take responsibilities for our mistakes to help them not happen again. The worst we ever had that really kicked us into gear was 100 squat toe touches for not hitting one and a half ups. safe to say we started hitting those stunts and were sore for days lol. If we were having a really bad day or if its been awhile since we had hard conditioning days we would have an icecream (I-Scream actually) party where for the rest of the practice the coaches would set up stations and we would get into small groups and rotate through 4-5 stations of different conditioning and do that over and over. Our conditioning punishments typically included
-bear crawls
-running/sprinting more laps
-where you run to the first line back to edge of mat, then to second line and back, third line and back, etc
-push ups
-planks
- counting out 5 8 counts and doing pike, hurdler, hurdler, toe, triple toe and doing that on each line of the floor
-turning the music on and doing standing tucks/handsprings throughout the entire music we also would split in 2 sections and do running tucks/handsprings as well
-squat toe touches on the floor and in the pit
-candlestick tucks/handsprings
-sit ups
-mountain climbers
-hollow bodies
-bicycles

and probably more things I am forgetting becuase our coaches would always manage to find things from insanity and other work out videos that were popular at that time which always introduced new things and harder ways to do things such as push ups and sit ups. Which punishments/which combinations kind of depended on what section of the routine we were having problems with.

Every so often we would do endurance routines too which were harder than full outs. where we would set certain conditioning exercises for each part of the routine and do that between full outs.

 

[sarah_cheergirl]

My justification for conditioning if routines or stunts are a hot mess: when stunts and tumbling fall it says to me that you are not strong enough or don't have enough endurance to perform the skill, so lets condition and make you stronger. Not a punishment, just a logical consequence

 

[iskrip]

I used to do push-ups as a result of making the same mistake multiple times with my youth team. The issue I had was that they loved pushups and conditioning so they’d purposely do the wrong thing or do extra just for fun...
We ended up giving up on that idea!
I think the core concept of conditioning in response to mistakes is a good one, but it goes wrong when the people doing the conditioning don’t do the right technique.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Underestimated]

I also believe in ensuring that conditioning that is giving is allowing athletes to properly do them to make sure to avoid injuries because that can be caused due to athletes choosing not to condition correctly or coaches just getting frustrated and just seeing them condition is "making them stronger" coaches need to keep an eye on their athletes when conditioning.
for example:
id rather see 5 sets of 5 decent push ups with a 3 sec breather in between than to rather see 25 bad push ups.
if bear crawls are looking bad then we do 5 sets of 10 tap tap squats,and push up hold for 30 secs and ensuring that athletes are not breaking their hollow position in their push up hold and arms aren't out from texas to florida.

When athletes complain about conditioning hurting its not because conditioning is supposed to hurt to get them stronger but alot of time coaches dont break it down and dont correct it because they just want their athletes moving because thats "getting them stronger"

 

[Cheerfun2]

As a parent I have absolutely no issues AT ALL with our coaches using conditioning as a “reminder” when they don’t hit a stunt or throw a pass or anything, really. Because I trust our coaches; this is their job. And my kid is in her 9th year of cheer on a level 5 team. Playtime is over...these stunts and tumbling are very difficult and safety is paramount. This is a very physical sport and I applaud extra conditioning.

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

Haven’t used conditioning as a punishment in two years after learning about Proactive Coaching and utilizing their materials with my team.

The end result...

I get full out effort from my team virtually all the time.

No kid does conditioning as a punishment with full effort and intensity. It’s pretty much a waste of valuable practice time.

 

[123jump4!]

Haven’t used conditioning as a punishment in two years after learning about Proactive Coaching and utilizing their materials with my team.

The end result...

I get full out effort from my team virtually all the time.

No kid does conditioning as a punishment with full effort and intensity. It’s pretty much a waste of valuable practice time.

I like this so not criticizing, just curious. What do you do if a stunt doesn't hit? Just work more on it and... coach?

For me I can't see how bear crawls can help a stunt hit. The kids are just more tired after the conditioning punishment and that seems more dangerous.

Any other coaches not doing C as P much?

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

I like this so not criticizing, just curious. What do you do if a stunt doesn't hit? Just work more on it and... coach?

For me I can't see how bear crawls can help a stunt hit. The kids are just more tired after the conditioning punishment and that seems more dangerous.

Any other coaches not doing C as P much?

John Wooden felt practice was sacred. That’s an idea that we have instilled in our athletes: being good is a privilege, and one that isn’t to be taken lightly. Being good requires practice. Therefore practice is a privilege. Errors and mistakes made at full effort will make you better, and I don’t punish those. If you’re lazying your way through it (which is easily identified as well as we know these kids by things like body language, and their typical ability level), you have not earned the privilege. Under those circumstances, you are given a reminder and an opportunity to correct your behavior. Blow the second chance, and you’re removed from the situation.

 

[cachoi]

I have them do whatever they busted/their hardest tumbling skill 5 times in a row or hold a bridge or split for 30 seconds. Something productive.

If they flat out drop a flyer on their face and don’t move an inch to try to catch her, I make them do burpees or run clean because that deserves an actual punishment since they’re all old enough to know better.

 

[ChicagoCheerDad]

Over conditioning of athletes is a major cause of injury in youth sports. Conditioning is something that has to be built over time. Coaches who do this haven't been properly trained on the risks this causes or don't care if they injure the athletes who have been put in their trust.

 

[Keep_Believing]

Conditioning makes you stronger. In my opinion bear crawls is appropriate conditioning.

 

[XtremeWpg]

It depends what the punishment is for. I've never in my life punished athletes for stunts not hitting or things in that vein with conditioning. I have however used it for not listening/following instructions/being lazy/not caring. If you don't want to practice and would rather have chatter time? You can condition because at least you are doing something something to get better, and if you're conditioning, you're not going to be able to chat.

That said, it's always age appropriate. The conditioning handed down to open or senior athletes is dramatically different than my minis. Mini rarely has it happen because they don't get it. Usually in their case when they can't focus we start playing games like Simon Says where everything said is part of their routine, or tumbling etc. Trick 'em into learning.

 

[catlady]

I asked my PT today about bear crawls for you, and he said that was a "negative" on being an exercise that is common to cause back pain. He said they are great core, legs, shoulder and stamina builders. He said the most common issues for cheerleaders with back pain are:

• weak core muscles are #1
• not stretching prior to tumbling
• bases not stunting closely together and the weight load is on their lower back
• back spots bending over instead of squatting to lift/boost with their legs
• flyers not having the core to stay tight and trying to balance themselves
• a poorly constructed stunt team (height, weight, ability)

He said a PT visit could help determine what is causing her lower back pain and they could provide her and the coach alternative conditioning if they truly feel bear crawls are the culprit. He's 100% for conditioning over stunt repetition if it's to the point the stunt is falling more than hitting at practice.