flyers:
stay very tight at all times (pinch a penny in your butt)
always look up
trust trust trust
don't point toes in any sort of prep, extension etc.

spots:
arms up ready to catch at ALL times

Bases work together on timing-- a good way to do this (sounds crazy, get flyer
to take off shoes, prep the shoes and act like the flyer is in the shoes, they
can get timing right w/o killing the flyer in the process

NO talking when a stunt is going on- distracts flyer and that also means spots
aren't paying attention, bases aren't concentrating

Only one stunt up at a time when you are first learning or pract.

i am on a college squad- we rarely have anyone hit the ground b/c if a flyer
hits the ground every person in that group (minus the flyer) has to run laps.
NO ONE SHOULD EVERR HIT THE GROUND FOR ANY REASON. people fall in cheerleading
all the time, its part of learning your abilities, but noone should hit the
ground, if the flyer has to worry about falling and getting hurt, she cannot
concentrate  on what she should be doing

hope this helps
lauren

I agree that preps seem to take away the energy of the jump.  also, they
make jummps look not so clean, in my opinion.  I suggest doing as little as
possible before your jump.  How about just clasping your hands as you go up
on your toes a bit, and then swinging through for the jump.

Also, here's my tip for front hurdlers:

This jump is really just a herkie with your chest and arms turned to the
side, right?  So if you have good herkies, try doing the herkie and turning
to the side at the top of the jump.  I've had my girls learn them this way
with fantastic results!

Happy jumping!
Shannon Juujarvi
Minnesota Coach

I just thought I would fill you in on my flyer tips.  I hope they help some
of you out there!

1.  Don't wiggle your feet!  Learn to not-balance so that your feet don't
wiggle.  Try this - stand on the ground liberty-style without wiggling.
You will have to stand tall with your hips centered in order to do this.
Next, stand on a mat and do it again.  The squishiness is much like
standing in your bases hands.  Practice this for every new stunt -
heelstretches, arabesques,torches, etc.  If you don't wiggle, your bases
don't have to counterbalance you and you will feel much more stable up
there.

2.  Liberties:  Suck in your tummy and pull up your leg as high as
possible.  Usually it's the left leg.  Most people I've seen do this
incorrectly have the arch of their foot tucked into the other knee.  It
should be higher.  When I pull up my leg, my toe is touching my knee.  If
it's pulled up high, then your hips will be square.  Also, keep your high V
in front of you a bit.

3.  Heel stretches:  If you are pulling up the left leg (this is standard
unless you're in a pyramid or something), reach OUT with your right arm in
the high V.  Try to extend your arm in the V as far as possible.  This will
keep you from tipping over to where your left leg wants to go - down to the
left.

4.  Torches:  Normally you will be standing on your right leg liberty style
but your chest and arms are turned to the left.  Instead of standing tall
as you normally should, try crunching the left side of your abs.  You
should be pulling your shoulders over your left hip.  If you don't do this,
you could very easily topple off the back of the stunt, exactly where your
base can't catch you.

5.  Cupies:  So if you're standing with your feet together, you would
assume that you should squeeze your butt like usual.  In this stunt that's
not the case because squeezing your butt will pull your toes apart a bit
and you want your feet as close together as possible.  Instead, think of
pulling your knees and ankles together, smoothly so that you don't jam your
poor bases fingers.

Happy stunting!

Shannon Juujarvi
Minnesota Coach

What I do, and I find it gives me the best height is Put my arms in a high
V, pulling up through my shouldes, and going onto my tippy toes.. I swing my
arms around crossing, and pull up to a T.  I use my upper body to get the
height in my jumps, and find it works great.  When I do multiple jumps, I
land pull my arms up above my head in a clasp position and do the next jump.

A lot of times I see girls taking prep jumps before their jumps.. I find
this takes away from the height in a jump, as well as not looking as clean.
Also girls tend to throw there arms back when doing a high V..this takes
away from the lift your arms should give you.  The High V should stop
infront of your body lifting you up.
Byebye Jennifer

So let me just clarify this:

1.  You go up on your tip toes bringing your upper body up with it
and arms in a high V.
2.  You swing your arms in a wide circle in front of your face
crossing your arms and bending your knees to propel you into the
jump.

That's what I got, and it sounds much better than the step and prep
jumps.  I will try that in addition to the jump exercises.

Thanks folks!

Susan

I've done billions of these in my time and personally I feel that roundoff
back handsprings are much easier and less
scary than standing back handspring - you don't have time to get scared!
Make sure that you take a big step into your roundoff and land with your
legs together, bent and arms down in prep for your back handspring. You
really have to push out of your legs here and jump upwards and backwards
equally <- this is important.  It should be one flowing movement, don't
hesitate ofter your roundoff.  You need to work on what amount of momentum
you need to get just the right amount.  Make sure that you REBOUND after
the back handspring, this will prevent you over rotating and landing on
your head.
Be sure to warm up your wrists before hand, this may be causing the pain.
Feel free to mail me if you need more info!

Hayley
Spirit All-stars &
Canberra Cannons
Australia.