Cheerleading 101
| 17
|
by Letsgojets
Since nothing interesting is going on in sports, I decided to give you guys a tutorial on cheerleading.
Toe Touch
In this jump, the legs are straddled and straight, parallel to the ground, toes pointed, knees up or back, and the arms in a T motion. Despite its name, you do not touch your toes during a toe touch. This is the most common jump.
Tuck
A jump in which the cheerleader uses stomach muscles to pull the legs up with the thighs parallel to the ground, and the knees pointed, together, and facing forward.
Hurdler
The straight leg is either forward (a front hurdler) with arms in a touchdown, or out to the side (a side hurdler) with arms in a T. The bent knee faces the crowd in a side hurdler and the ground in a front hurdler.
Pike
This jump is among the most difficult of jumps. Both legs are straight out, knees locked. Arms are in a touchdown motion out in front to create a folded position in the air. This is often performed at a ninety-degree angle to the audience in order to show off the air position.
The Around the World (Pike-out)
The Around the World, or the pike-out, is a jump where the performer hits a pike and then whips his or her legs quickly back around into a toe touch. This jump is regarded as difficult to accomplish, because two positions must be reached in the very short time while the jumper is in the air.
Herkie
Named for Lawrence R. Herkimer, the founder of the National Cheerleader's Association, this jump is similar to a side-hurdler, except that instead of both arms being in a "T" motion, both arms are opposite of what the leg beneath them is doing. Example of this would be the straight arm would be on the side of the bent leg, and the bent arm is on the side of the straight leg. One other variation of this includes the bent leg is pointing straight down, instead of out like the side-hurdler. The jump is speculated to have been invented because Herkie wasn't able to do an actual side-hurdler.
Double Nine
A jump similar to a pike except one leg and one arm are bent in to form two "nines".
Double Hook
A jump where the legs are in the "cheer sit" position.
Double Jump
This is the name for when one performs any jump twice in a row.
Power Jump
A jump where there is no swinging of the arms in preparation for the jump. All the power for the jump comes from the legs. This jump is also known as a "Dip Jump."
