Types Of Stunts For Competitive Cheerleading

Cheerleading stunts add excitement and difficulty to your competition routine. Understand the different types of stunts to create a more effective routine. Study the scoresheet for each individual competition you enter. Note the number of points given for each stunting category and include each type of stunt required for that competition. Avoid any stunts that violate safety regulations, as most competitions deduct points for illegal stunting.

Extended Stunts

In an extended stunt, the entire body of the top person is extended above the base or bases. An extended stunt can be one-footed or two-footed. A back base, sometimes referred to as a spotter, is required for all extended stunts. An extension is an example of a two-footed extended stunt. In an extension, two side bases have the top person's feet in their hands. The bases' hands are extended above their heads with both arms completely straight. The back base in an extension should grip the top person's ankles, steadying the stunt by helping pull the top person up. The top person remains tight, balanced on both feet.

One-foot Stunts

One-foot stunts allow your top person to impress the judges with her flexibility and balance. While one-foot stunts can be done at shoulder-level, they are more often extended. The most basic one-foot stunt is the liberty. In this stunt, one side base holds the foot of the leg on which the top person is standing. The other side base places one hand under the arch of the top person's standing foot and one hand on the other base's back wrist for support. The back base grabs as high as she can reach on the top person's calf, pulling up to help steady her. The top person balances on one foot with her other leg bent. The thigh of her bent leg should be parallel to the ground and her foot should be near the knee of her standing leg.

Transitioning Stunts

Transitions connect different stunts. Stringing more than one stunt together with a transition adds difficulty to your routine and increases the number of points you can earn. A double take is a basic transition connecting two elevators. From an elevator position with the top person's foot at chest level, all bases should dip down and then push the top person's foot up as high as their eyes. Next, the top person is lowered down into the load-in position. Without holding this position or even pausing, bases should immediately lift the top person back up into an elevator position.

Pyramids

Many competition scoresheets have a separate section for pyramids. When two or more stunts connect, it is considered a pyramid. For example, a shoulder sit between two liberties is simply three stunts, but if the top person in each of those liberties places her free foot in the hand of the top person of the shoulder sit, they have now connected and form a pyramid. If a top person begins bearing some of another top person's weight, the pyramid becomes an illegal stunt. Connections can also be made by each top person in a stunt grabbing hands with the top person next to them. Hand to foot connections must never become weight-bearing.