Practice And Skill Level(s)

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Tosh

Cheer Parent
Nov 22, 2011
695
767
Hey all, I really like this forum and want to keep it alive, so I thought that since rec programs are now practicing, preparing for games and competition, we could talk about how practice is going, the different levels of your teams and their skill level.
Are their skill level where you expect them to be?
What skill level are you trying to get them to?, etc.

Thanks,
Shayne :)
 
I think the big thing that is a challenge in the rec world is the fact that there is no ability to separate girls who are a higher level than others and put them on a different team. I work with 10 and 11 year olds, I would love to have 6 libs that do quarter turns to an arabesque but after three weeks of falling over that is not going to happen.

This week we have a 2 hour practice on Saturday to figure out the rest of the single stunt variations (I am thinking fulls for those who cannot get libs or just pretty looking torches) and then get a half twist up double ball back to cupie. I'm crossing my fingers and wishing on my lucky stars.
 
Sounds great. Our girls have been practicing now for 3 weeks and we are drilling halves and fulls (extensions). They are starting to look pretty solid, so now we are going to progress to one legged stunts. We do a lot of drilling because, as with you, we can not seperate the experienced from the inexperienced, so we always start from scratch. The plan is to spend one week drilling each stunt/skill before moving on the the next level. Every year is the same thing and I find that by the time competitions start, the girls can pretty much do everything in their age group so that they are competitive. So our choreography is always harder than their current skill set. If we see that they are not progressing as planned, then we modify the chorographed stunts and make them less difficult.
 
We recently found that it's easier to gage which groups are falling behind by having them all stunt to the same counts at the same time. We used to break them off with one coach per group and then had "show off" at the end of practice but it turned out that just made the groups that were struggling feel bad and do even worse.
By having them all do the same thing at the same time it allows them to not worry so much about what Suzies stunt group is doing and why they aren't. When a group needs more help we have the coach assigned to them help them while everyone continues with the same counts as a group.
As a bonus it keeps them all busy and quiet.
 
I'm really proud of my girls so far. We've been practicing just over a month and they've been working really hard. We've been working full ups and trying different body positions. We're hoping to get full up to stretch in our routine but it looks like they might just be libs
 
We're doing really well! We had a lot of brand new girls, so we had to start from scratch. We've pretty much mastered all level 2 skills and now we're going to start working on level 3. We hope to be solid level 3 stunters by late November, but if not, it's alright.
 
Im really frustrated- we cheered UCA last year so very classic style and are going all star this season. Same girls same stunt groups cant hit same stunts as last year. They were basically doing level 3 stunts last season- single legged twist down- this season level 2 stunts and cant hit them. I want to beat my head against the wall- there is no reason for it and the girls are mad at me for keeping them level 2. I told them stick this perfectly and we will work level 3 skills but its just not hapening. GRRRR
 
Im really frustrated- we cheered UCA last year so very classic style and are going all star this season. Same girls same stunt groups cant hit same stunts as last year. They were basically doing level 3 stunts last season- single legged twist down- this season level 2 stunts and cant hit them. I want to beat my head against the wall- there is no reason for it and the girls are mad at me for keeping them level 2. I told them stick this perfectly and we will work level 3 skills but its just not hapening. GRRRR
Hang in there, if they are like any other team, you will be very pleasantly surprised when the hit the mat. I do know how you feel but after 12 years I have accepted the fact that I just need to keep doing what I am doing as far as coaching them goes, and they never fail to shock me by not only hitting, but making it look easy, after I have pulled all my hair out.....It will get better :)
 
Ughhhhh I am getting so frustrated. My girls are just not "getting it" when it comes to stunting. My flyers are driving me insane and not locking out and staying tight. I could honestly scream because I'm so tired of being excited because ONE stunt stayed in the air.
 
Callmeboots have them go back to thigh stands and work their way up through stunts again. Thigh stand then prep then fulls then torches then Libs then baskets. It's tedious but it really helps, after all if you can't hit a thigh stand and stay stiff and stable you have no chance at a lib. I made my flyers hit their single leg stunts while standing on my knee today and it helped a lot as well. When all else fails you can bribe them with cookies or a year end pizza party.
 
Callmeboots have them go back to thigh stands and work their way up through stunts again. Thigh stand then prep then fulls then torches then Libs then baskets. It's tedious but it really helps, after all if you can't hit a thigh stand and stay stiff and stable you have no chance at a lib. I made my flyers hit their single leg stunts while standing on my knee today and it helped a lot as well. When all else fails you can bribe them with cookies or a year end pizza party.

Yeah, I'm pretty much done with their laziness and if they're going to act like mini aged cheerleaders, I'll treat them as such. Some of these girls have been cheering for 5 years, and they have all done these stunts, there is literally no reason except disobedience for them not locking out. My frustrations are clearly talking right now hahah
 
Yeah, I'm pretty much done with their laziness and if they're going to act like mini aged cheerleaders, I'll treat them as such.
Could be worse. We got fed up and are competing tonight with hilarious looking pyramids due to the fact that some girls couldn't get it together enough to hit a torch.
What does your team do in the case where you have several stunt groups and one doesn't get the right stunt well enough for an early comp? Do you substitute full for a lib or make both groups do fulls and hold back the other group when you know both will have Libs by the next comp?
 
We make the group who cant fake it- because I refuse to hold back the girls that are trying hard- stretching and fighting for their stunts. Sometimes its being lazy and sometimes the girl just cant control her body. so Fake it till you make it.
 
Could be worse. We got fed up and are competing tonight with hilarious looking pyramids due to the fact that some girls couldn't get it together enough to hit a torch.
What does your team do in the case where you have several stunt groups and one doesn't get the right stunt well enough for an early comp? Do you substitute full for a lib or make both groups do fulls and hold back the other group when you know both will have Libs by the next comp?
Because you used the phrase "not well enough" I'll assume that hit it sometimes and not perfectly. If this is the case, I would keep it in, I'm usually surprised at how well the pressure of competition makes the girls perform....they will usually hit it....Now, if the do not have it, to the point of where there is a possibility that someone can get hurt, I would have them do something else for competition, but continue to drill them at practice. Maybe their placement at their first competition wth a dumb down routine will inspire them to push a little harder so they will have for the next competition......Good Luck
 
I have a wide variety of age due to my rec regulations through the town are crazy. So far we are three weeks into practice and all my stunt groups have halfs and most have fulls. This is impressive because my youngest girl is 4 and dshe is right up in those stunts with my 14 year olds.
 
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