How Long Is Too Long / Short To Practice?

[Karl P]

I'm doing some research regarding a debate I'm having with another coach.

The debate is which is better a 3 hour practice or a 4 hour practice?

Cheers,

 

[megaroo714]

i would say 3. you would be too tired to finish a 4 hour practice in my opinion

 

[quitthedrama]

I think it depends on the age, level, and time of year. In general, older kids and/or younger ages at a higher level tend to take practice more seriously and can stay focused for longer periods of time. During the summer, 4 hour practices are fine, although our gym doesn't do more than 2.5-3 hour regular practices and has longer practices only on occasion. I think 4 hour practices during the school year wouldn't work for anyone unless it is on a weekend.

 

[Velchs]

It depends if this is high school or allstars and what pace you go out. If its high school i would say 3 because of the heat from the sun and on my team you cant reapply sunscreen during practice so theres a chance people are going to get burnt and depending where you get burnt it will get painful to do some cheer stunts, tumbling, motions etc. If it is allstars like i said depends on pace. If its a relaxed pace where you have a lot of breaks i would say 4 or your choreograping a routine. If it is tumbling and stunting like nonstop with of course quick small paces then 3 hour practice.

 

[INeverStopCheering]

We only have a practice that long during choreography and we ususally get a 20 or so minute break to have a snack and rest. I personally think it's a really long time, especially for non-senior teams. In this sport the more tired you are, the more likely it is you're going to drop someone or injure yourself tumbling.

 

[alexamarysouza]

Yeah, our only 4 hour practices are during choreo week. But we get plenty of breaks so we're not dying by the end. We also have practices before comps with the entire gym, and we usually have a 3.5-4 hour practice then, but it's all our teams switching off. Personally, I feel like a 3-4 hour practice is too much for certain ages/levels. Like quitthedrama said, the higher age and level you go up, the more mature and focused the kids tend to be. So lower ages/levels might have a hard time staying focused in a 4 hour practice.

 

[cheerforeverever]

Even for middle school & high school age, I'd say that realistically after 3 hours for normal practices, you lose their focus. Will they spazz out like the younger groups if you keep them longer? No, but what you get accomplished in that extra hour is typically not much in my experience, since the kids are already tired. They just get frustrated and we end up having to work on things that normally would never be a problem,i.e. stunt/pyramid issues, cleaning, sloppiness. If its a camp or choreography session where the kids are being switched to work on different activities throughout the day & there are some snack breaks/teambonding mixed in, then 4 hours can work however.

 

[stretchyflexi]

I am on a worlds team and we practice 3 times a week for 3 hours each. Around Worlds we practice more. In our gym there is only one team in the gym at a time, so you never have to wait for the floor. We are constintly working. I think 3 hours is a good ammount for me, but if you have to take turns on the floor then I would say 4 hours is better.

 

[cheer coach k]

I coach a high school team and we never go longer than 3 hours....I feel like they kinda check out after the 3 hour mark and then it's. Kee of a waste. Just my thought. :)

 

[cheermomforever]

4 hours is too much, when you are tired is when accidents and injuries happen.

 

[cheerheart4life]

3 hours- not too much, and not too little. A happy medium!

 

[canttouchthis]

4 hours with a good 10-15 min break

 

[Karl P]

Thanks for all the input guys.

 

[CEAJoeA]

Well at CEA today we had practice from 1-4 and we were still alright but its because of the way they split up the time. like we first started in partner stunting the first hour, tumbling the second, and group stunting the last. we had one 4 minute break lol.

 

[cwymer1412]

definitely 3 hour practices are enough. no matter what the age/level 4 hours is too much