All-Star Level 5 Flyer But No Tumbling?

[Jule]

I feel the exact same way, except I am a base. Everyone says that since I don't tumble, my full outs should be a cake walk, except for the fact that I am stunting the entire routine.

this!

 

[336Teal]

This sounds very much like my CP. Her flying skills are far superior to her tumbling skills. I don't know if her tumbling will ever be where it needs to be. But I can promise you that it's not from a lack of effort. She beats herself up over it daily.

 

[CheerMomNTx]

Cheer Observer summed it up nicely. I think it's one of the interesting aspects of this sport, where you have to strike a balance between the choreography and the skillsets. It's natural to always associate "level 5" with tumbling requirements, but it still applies to stunting, baskets, pyramids.

Not everybody is an all around cheerleader that can do everything. As long as they are performing some aspect of level 5 cheer, it's legitimate to me. Another example, I've seen many excellent tumblers who do not do the jump sequence. It's not because they have ugly jumps, but simply a way for them to conserve energy for their pass.

You can also reverse the original observation, there are plenty of great tumblers who don't fly. Shouldn't be found unusual.

Yep this happened to my CP this season. She has pretty jumps and was in the jump sequence but was the 2nd set of tumblers to do the running pass, that she got taken out of jumps. Of course she was bummed but she understood why. Bottom line, you just never know the background story unless you are a member of that gym/team and why certain people are put in certain positions.

 

[AScheer]

You can also consider where they started. Many that come from school cheer have a higher level of stunting than they do cheer. Many of my school girls are level 5 flyers but if I put them on my allstars they'd be level 2/3 because of tumbling. Coming into the gym you have to decide where they are needed most, and if you need a level 5 flyer and this girl is experienced but doesn't have the tumbling, you'll probably just hide her unless you often get level 5 kids walking in off the street.

 

[AllyCat]

Drives me crazy! when flyers can't or wont tumble, i think that is mostly because in my experience it was biased...might have the skills to fly and not to tumble(or other way around) but that had nothing to do with anything it was who they were and how they "ranked" in the gym. picking favorites huge pet peeve of mine drove me out of the gym....

 

[AndyT_T]

This is pretty much exactly our gyms philosophy. There are kids on every level five team that don't have "all" the level 5 skills but contribute something that is needed or they wouldn't be there. I heard our coach tell a group of parents last week there are "many ways" a kid can be level 5 and that wasn't directly related to tumbling.

Now you do have to temper that with the scoresheet. You can't have a team of non-tumblers but if you have a kid who's an amazing tumbler and that's their strength and a great base or flyer that doesn't tumble at all, you can have kid 1 throw two passes to make up for kid 2 and you just evened them out.

Center dancer for TG large last year didnt really do a whole lot until the dance and then she worked the poo out of it. People are there to do certain things, if you can jump to back and you can contribute something super significant then you may very well make a level 5 team. Especially flyers.

 

[njallday]

Center dancer for TG large last year didnt really do a whole lot until the dance and then she worked the poo out of it. People are there to do certain things, if you can jump to back and you can contribute something super significant then you may very well make a level 5 team. Especially flyers.

i wouldn't exactly say she didn't do much... she is on HPU's Acro team this season and is one heck of a base. like doing unassisted hand in hands. granted she was a side base on TG last season, but i am sure she contributed a lot more than just the dance (though if the only thing she did was that dance she would still be phenomenal, because she's that good at it)

 

[336Teal]

Drives me crazy! when flyers can't or wont tumble, i think that is mostly because in my experience it was biased...might have the skills to fly and not to tumble(or other way around) but that had nothing to do with anything it was who they were and how they "ranked" in the gym. picking favorites huge pet peeve of mine drove me out of the gym....

While this may be true in some cases, it is definitely not true in all cases. I've seen cheerleaders who serve all positions be moved to higher level teams simply because they were needed in that position. Regardless of their tumbling level.

 

[Extrememom]

I will have to say, my oldest has been on a level 5 team since she was 6 ( Youth Elite). She was placed on the team for a specific reason, to fly. She is not the best tumbler, not from lack of effort. She constantly beats herself up about not having the tumbling skills she feels she needs to be on a level 5 team. Although, she has amazing flying skills, beautiful baskets, pretty jumps and can dance, its not enough in her mind. She has had her jumps to back, lost them, had them back again, only to lose them again. This year is the first year she has finally started landing her full fairly consistent. So, because she is not a level 5 tumbler, does she not get placed on a level 5 team???

 

[flcheermom]

My daughter went through a period of a mental block in twisting - she blames it on the fact that she does her round off one way and then turned the opposite way to twist - so her mind would sometimes not connect the skill and she could not explain why because she would be turning 2 different ways - She started out as a flyer, then grew taller and was moved to base or back spot. She can base or back level 5. She has done both in one routine in her time in All Stars. She had beautiful jumps to back, could dance well - and would fill any position her coach needed without complaint - so I think every person on a level 5 team has been evaluated by the coach and has a reason/place on the team. If during her mental block phase of twisting (which she continued to work thru, the coaches saw that) - they determined she should be moved, then she would have - and continued to work on what was needed.

 

[BBinNCsMom]

Cheer Observer summed it up nicely. I think it's one of the interesting aspects of this sport, where you have to strike a balance between the choreography and the skillsets. It's natural to always associate "level 5" with tumbling requirements, but it still applies to stunting, baskets, pyramids.

Not everybody is an all around cheerleader that can do everything. As long as they are performing some aspect of level 5 cheer, it's legitimate to me. Another example, I've seen many excellent tumblers who do not do the jump sequence. It's not because they have ugly jumps, but simply a way for them to conserve energy for their pass.

You can also reverse the original observation, there are plenty of great tumblers who don't fly. Shouldn't be found unusual.

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[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I'm a stickler for as close to all level skills as possible, but I've always tried to handle it case-by-case.

There were years where the scoresheet was pretty stacked with one of my teams, so if Jenny was my point flyer but was busting her tumbling every other practice, taking it down a notch or taking her out of tumbling was not a huge deal.

Then there are others where we were NOT maxing out on tumbling, so that awesome flyer with inconsistent tumbling had to be swapped out for another athlete who was just as good, but had the tumbling because we couldn't afford it.

 

[Keep_Believing]

Seems to be opinions to support both sides. Guess there are pros and cons, then Coaches just have to balance what is best for the make up of their current team.