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Cheerleading Coaching Tip: How to Motivate Your Cheerleading Team

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Are your looking for some great tips to motivate your cheerleading team?  Here are some tips to try:

  1. Set your goals together as a team! At your first team meeting, have everyone give their ideas on what you would like to accomplish as a team.  Once you have a list, have the team vote on them then pick your top 3 to 5 for the season.  Goals can include:
    • Stunt Goals
    • Attending a Competition
    • Community Service Goals
    • School Spirit / Involvement Goals
    • Pep Rally Attendance
    • Fundraising Goals
  1. Once you have your top goals for the season, discuss as a team, what the PLAN is and the steps you are going to take to achieve that goal.
  2. Make a Goals Chart or Vision Board so the girls can visually see what they have set and the progress they have made.
  3. At the beginning of every practice, remind your team of the goals THEY have set for themselves and talk about progress.
  4. REWARD the team for their progress.
  5. Give encouragement! Everyone loves recognition for their hard work 🙂
  6. Do Team Building Activities to strengthen relationships on the team.
  7. Make sure practice is FUN! This can include theme practices and games.
  8. Set up Cheer Pals within the team or Big Sister and Little Sister pairs.

Check out the Perfect Cheerleading Practice Planner HERE to help you EASILY set goals!

Have Fun!

Cheerleading Practice Tips to Make Your Practice More Productive and FUN!

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Everybody knows that PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!  Here are some tips for you to make your cheerleading practice more productive and FUN!

1.  The way you practice is the way you will perform it:    Many people think that they will just “walk” through their practice all of the time.  However, if you do not practice “full out” most of the time your performance will do be your best!

2.  Set a practice schedule for yourself.  Also, it is great to practice with a friend; this way you will be more likely to keep your appointment with yourself!

3.  Practice in front of a mirror.  This way you can see what changes or improvements you should make.

4.  Set a goal for your practice.  For example, a good goal would be to clean the first 3 – 8 counts of your performance routine.  Or to perform 2 toe touch jumps in a row at your best.

Remember, your goal should be to improve what YOUR BEST is.  Try not to compete with someone else, just FOCUS on your skills and you will be surprised at what you can achieve! 

For TONS of Tips and the #1 Cheerleading Coaches tool for the most productive practice, CLICK CHEERLEAING PRACTICE PLANNER HERE.

Cheerleading Fitness – Cheerleading Conditioning to Improve Your Upper Body to Improve Your Cheerleading Stunts

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Upper body exercises are a great way to improve your cheerleading stunts.  The Clean and Press is a great exercise to start with for your biceps and your shoulders!  Here are all of the details:

  • Start with light weights (2 lbs or 3 lbs) and work up to heavier weights like 5lb or 8lb hand weights.
  • Begin with 8 reps and work up to 2 to 3 sets of 8 reps.
  • 1.  The exercise starts with your arms in a “low touchdown” with your palms facing forward.
  • 2.  The next motion is a bicep curl with the weights in front of your shoulders.
  • 3.  Press the weights over your head to a “high touchdown” while turning your palms forward.
  • 4.  To finish 1 rep, bring your arms back down where the weights are in front of your shoulders.

Remember, this exercise is a perfect one while your watch TV as you can do it standing or sitting on the couch. 

For more exercises to improve your cheerleading skills, click CHEERLEADING EXERCISES HERE.

Enjoy!

Cheerleading Jumps Mistakes and Solutions

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If you want to master your cheerleading jumps, here are 4 common mistakes and solutions to get you started

1. Practicing with bad habits: Remember, if you want perfect jumps, practice is not enough.  When you practice you MUST use proper skill and technique to create awesome jumps!

2. Starting with your feet apart: When you start with your feet together, you will get the most power and lift off the floor;  also having your feet together looks clean when you perform jumps as a team.

3. Using a double prep: Tendencies to “double-bounce” or add an extra bend of the knees before taking the big dip is a big disadvantage to your success.  When you do this, you are cutting off momentum, wasting energy, and your timing will be off with the rest of your team.

For more cheerleading jump tips, CLICK HERE for our latest post on the Cheerleading Coaching Center.

Enjoy 🙂

Double Thigh Stands – the Beginning Cheerleading Stunt Every Team Should Be Using Now!

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The Double Thigh Stand is one of the most important beginner cheerleading stunts you should know and every team should be doing. Here are some tips to perfect your cheerleading Double Thigh Stand:

Tips:

  • Make sure your Bases have deep lunges for the Flyer to stand on.
  • Make sure the Flyer steps in the “pockets” of the Bases, not on their legs.
  • The Flyer should start with her right foot first and climb using the “Step, Lock, Tighten” Method.
  • Have the base hold the flyer’s legs by wrapping their arms around the flyers knees.
  • The back spotter should hold the flyer’s waist.
  • When you are learning the double thigh stand, you should add a front spotter. ( You can never have enough spotters!)
  • To dismount, have the bases hold the flyer’s hands and their armpit.
  • The flyer lands in front of the stunt with her feet together.

Here is an example of how to incorporate the Double Thigh Stand into a cheerleading stunt formation:

For more Beginning Cheerleading Stunts:

Check out the Stunting Section on Cheerleading Coaching Center HERE!