The A,B,C's of Cheerleading Stunts

Cheerleaders jump, tumble, dance, cheer, and stunt. While all these things make up a cheerleader; stunting is arguably the most athletic part of it all. We lift and toss girls our own size into the air, but what are all these stunts called?

Arabesque



Arabesque - A fully-extended, one leg stunt where the flyer stands on one leg and extends the other straight out, behind her, while keeping her chest upright and arms in a "T" motion

Awesome - A fully-extended, two legged stunt where the flyers feet are together, instead of shoulder width apart in the air

Back - The person behind the stunt holding the flyers ankles

Base - The person supporting the flyers weight in a stunt

• Main Base - The person supporting most of the flyers weight in a one legged stunt
• Secondary/Side Base - The person helping the main base support the flyers weight in a one legged stunt

Basket Toss - A stunt using two bases, a back, front, and flyer. The two bases interlock their arms in a basket position; the flyer stands on the balls of her feet on the basket; the back and front have their hands under the basket and help the bases throw. Once the flyer is in the air she rides the toss to the top then hits a trick like a toe touch, pike, or any verson of a twist. The flyer then returns to the cradle position and the bases, back, and front catch her.


• Back Tuck - A basket toss where the flyer rides the toss to the top then does a back tuck in the air and returns to the cradle position to be caught, ground stunters all do the same thing as a regular basket toss




Toe Touch Basket Toss


• Kick Twist -  A basket toss where the flyer rides the toss to the top then kicks on leg to the corner and uses that momentum to then twist her body 360 degrees while in a laidback position, ground stunters need to watch flyer and move with her but catch the same as a normal toss
• Twist - A basket toss where the flyer rides the toss to the top with her hands in a touchdown motion then twists her body 360 degrees by taking her arms from a touchdown position to a motion where you put your right hand in your left pants pocket and your left hand in your left back pocket (not literally), ground stunters do the same thing as in a regular toss
• X-Out - A basket toss where the flyer rides the toss to the top, balls up and then makes an "X" with her body then returns to the cradle position to be caught, ground stunters catch the same



Bow-And-Arrow



Bow-And-Arrow - A one legged stunt where the flyer stands on one leg and kicks the other up and grabs it with the opposite hand in a stretch position and the other arm is in a "Half T" motion

Cradle - A dismount from any stunt where the bases and back have hold of the flyer, they dip together and pop the flyer into the air, the flyer rides the pop to the top and then sits and is caught by the ground stunters and raps her arms around the bases neck to help catch herself

Full Down/Twist Cradle

Double Down - a cradle dismount where the flyer rides the pop from her bases then twists 720 degrees in a laidback position and then is caught by her bases

Elevator/Half - A two-legged stunt, where the bases keep hands at chest level and flyers legs shoulder width apart, back holds ankles

Extension/Full - A two-legged stunt, where bases arms are fully extended and flyers feet are shoulder width apart, back hold ankles

Full Down/Twist Cradle - a cradle dismount where the flyer rides the pop from her base and then twists 360 degrees in a laid back position and then in caught by her bases

Heel Stretch - A fully extended one-legged stunt, where the flyer stands on one leg and kicks the other to the same hand and holds it in a stretch position, her other hand is in a "High V"



Heel Stretch Pyramid



Liberty - A fully extended one-legged stunt, where the flyer stands on one leg and bends the other at the knee with her foot placed at the knee of the leg she is standing on

Pyramid - Multiple stunts connected

Scorpion - A fully extended one-legged stunt, where the flyer stands on one leg and hold the foot of her other leg behind her head with both hands in an extremely arched position

Single- Base Scorpion

Sponge - A dismount where the bases keep both feet and lower the flyer back down to the load position, having their hands near their bellybutton; the flyer bends at the knees and catches the bases on their shoulders, holding her weight; the back slows the flyer down by catching the butt

Single-Base - A stunt where only one base holds the flyer