Haven't answered the poll as such because a lot of what i've done has been in practice, drills or reps or whatever.
I broke my cocxyx (the very last bone of your spine, down by your butt) playing chicken in the hen house the day AFTER competition? *facepalm* - i get through a level 4 routine no problem but can't even play a GAME designed for younger cheerleaders without hurting myself?!
I've had problems with my hamstrings most of my life, but cheer related injuries are as follows:
- Pulled ligaments in shoulder. Done during tumbling drills (as I've mentioned in other posts i'm not a very good tumbler but I was determined to up my skillset at University so worked my butt off. This was a funny landing during handstand hops and the sharp pain had me terrified i'd dislocated until i got up and felt everything still where it should be. I got lucky)
- Sprained both ankles at the same time, right worse than left. Done during the learning process of the BHS. Took 2 weeks out of tumbling and jumps, stunted as normal and conditioned as best I could. Took me a few weeks to get back to my BHS drills and it dented my confidence more than anything, but the coaches we had were great for helping you through that kind of thing.
- Various bumps and bruises from wayward flyer limbs. Luckily I had a good, experienced flyer and 2 great bases once groups got settled on, so this rarely happened.
Out of those i'd say the worst was my ankles - my shoulder was more painful but my ankles were really frustrating because it left me with so little I could still do full out at practice and I was desperate not to fall further behind. I maybe should've taken longer to heal them because it does still affect certain things I do today (like I can't ice skate for as long, even in my comfiest hockey skates) but at the time they felt ok to return.
If I had any advice when it comes to injuries - listen to your body and don't try to play the hero. If it hurts, get it seen to ASAP and listen to your doctors, coaches and physios. If i'd had physio on my first hamstring pull, i'd probably not have had as many problems over the years with it.