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Cheer Basics- Your beginners guide to cheer...

Positions

Flyer/Top person: the person who is lifted/tossed and performs tricks

Bases: main weightbearers and always in contact with the floor – holds/tosses/lifts the flyer into the stunt

Back: provides support from the back – usually the tallest of the group to ensure a high firm grip

Front: can also be a base – provides support from the front to stop the flyer falling forward – understatedly a weightbearer

 

General Terms

Clean: position in which the person stays tight with arms by the sides

Pre-bounce: a dip before lifting/throwing a stunt to ready the group and give momentum

Pop: a shrug/small throw from the bases in which the flyers feet leave their hands

Cradle: a pop from the bases in which the flyer flattens out and is caught lying down by the bases, back and front

Smush/load: flyer hangs on bases shoulders and feet are loosely held in their hands – flyer should be able to hold their own weight up

Reload: the transition from cradle to smush – bases pre-bounce and throw up while the flyer whips their feet in to the bases' hands with the assistance of the front – the front is key to the success of this transition

Stick: if a stunt sticks it means the trick/mount and ultimate stunt is stable and does not fall

Extended position: bases arms are locked out straight and bearing weight above their heads (relevant for preps, libs and transitioning through the extended position)

Two-Legged Stunts

Prep: when the flyer is held at shoulder level by the bases resting their feet on the chest – weight is equally balanced

Show and go: transitional stunt which moves from smush all the way through the extended position landing back in smush/back up to prep

One-Legged Stunts

Lib: can be held at prep or extended level – flyer centres their weight on one leg and pulls shapes in the air with the other

The shorter base adopts the 'flower' grip (same as in a prep) where the taller base adopts the 'burger' grip (right hand holding the middle of the foot and the left hand stabilising on top

Yoyo: flyer starts in lib-load position and inverts hips over head, splitting legs in the air – front then catches the free leg and throws it back to the load position

Lib rep: bases push the flyer into full extended lib position and at the top bring it back down to initial position

Mounts

180 load: flyer starts in smush facing the back with legs crossed right over left, bases grip toe and foot but arms crossed right over left – as the bases push up same as going to a prep arms uncross and the flyer performs a half twist landing in the prep position

360 load: flyer starts in smush and the right-hand base reaches across to grip the right foot on the inner side – as the stunt is pushed up the right-hand base twists the foot at the top enabling the flyer to perform a full rotation landing back in the prep position

 

Dismounts

Tip Out: from a cradle, the bases tip the flyer up into a standing position on the floor

Trick cradle: as the flyer is popped from a stunt they hit a position/trick before ending in the cradle position – this is usually a full twist

Suspended forward roll: flyer makes hand to hand contact with front or bases and forward rolls out, landing either on standing on the floor or, if the bases move, in a cradle position

Flip Out dismount: flyer takes hand to hand contact with the back in the smush position – as the bases throw them up they perform a tucked forward roll opening out to land in the cradle position

Flat back/Superman: the bases release the flyers feet as the back maintains contain and pulls them out, the flyer then lands in a prone position – a twist can be added so the flyer then lands in a cradle position facing the other way

 

Release Moves

Ball-up: starting in smush the bases release the flyers feet going up the prep to then catch them again at prep

Tick-tock: in a one-legged stunt the bases throw the foot to then catch the other as the flyer switches from one to the other

Switch-up: flyer sets a lib on one foot, then as it goes up swaps feet to land in lib on the other

Barrel-roll: flyer is in cradle position and is thrown upwards by the bases whilst  performing a full twist

Basket Tosses

Basket: bases act as a platform for the flyer's feet in an interlocked position (right hand grips left wrist and left hand grips base partner's right wrist) and throw the flyer straight up releasing each other to prepare to catch.

Flyer maintains a straight ride to the height and can perform various tricks at the top. Common tricks are pike, toe-touch, twist, ball out – more advance tricks include kick-twist, back-tuck and switch-kick

 

  FLYER  

  FRONT  

  BASE  

  BASE  

  BACK  

  SCORPION  

  EXTENSION  

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