All-Star Level 5 Flyer But No Tumbling?

[Keep_Believing]

I just watched an awesome video of a prestigious level 5 cheer team. I am pretty positive at least one of the flyers did not tumble any. Her jumps and flying were great. She didn't have a brace on to indicate an injury. So, I am guessing there wasn't an injury. It surprised me. I sort of thought at this elite level you would have to be able to fly or stunt and tumble. Curious, is it common to have members on top world class teams that don't tumble?

 

[cheernerd5678]

I wouldn't say "common" but it does happen occasionally. They're usually role-players, as in, they're there mainly for their one role, in this case, flying. Sometimes it's a beast base that doesn't have the level 5 tumbling. Of course, it could also be a fill in for another flyer.
When it happens, usually there are only 1 or 2 girls without the tumbling on a team, because you have to have a majority to get your points.

 

[Keep_Believing]

Thanks


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[DJ]

If this is about the team that I assume it is, my understanding is that she is possibly injured & not in tumbling, but can still do jumps to back & fly..... we'll see what happens.

 

[Angelica]

I think the answer your looking for is, Mental Blocks.


Every gym handles it different & every athlete is different.

 

[CheerMomNTx]

I think it's more common than not.

 

[Cheer Observer]

Every athlete has skills that they are proficient at and others skills that they may struggle with but ultimately it is up to the organization and the coaches to add talent to the given team where they see fit. To say that if a certain athlete does not do jumps to back or tumble makes them not worthy of a Level 5 team is just plain wrong in my opinion but I have been seeing it more often and I don't necessarily think its fair.
There are many aspects to building a team and each member brings a certain skill set that can add to the teams overall performance so lets not "lock out" certain athletes because they may not have all the skills you might think they should have. As long as the team meets the requirements to max out on the score sheets there can always be a place for athletes that don't possess all of the "Level 5 Skills" if they can bring a certain skill to the team. I know of several level 5 teams that compete at Worlds each year that have athletes that don't tumble but are incredible as a base, back spot or flyer so they certainly serve a purpose for the team. If your gym is overloaded with amazing athletes that have all skills this is not a problem for you but I think that is likely a rare situation.
Not all major league baseball players can hit HR's or are the best in the field but they bring a skill that is valuable to the team and therefore they are part of that team and they are at the highest level of their sport.
For some of the smaller gyms it is not easy to fill a level 5 team because the number of athletes that have all tumbling skills plus the other intangibles are just not available. As long as the kids can contribute to the team and fill a need I see no reason to question why they don't tumble, do jumps to back or anything else. Let them go out, have fun and compete which is what this is all about. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not singling anyone out who has already commented on this post I'm just giving my .02 from the cheap seats, I'll get off my soap box now. ;)

 

[The Sixth]

Cheer Observer summed it up nicely. I think it's one of the interesting aspects of this sport, where you have to strike a balance between the choreography and the skillsets. It's natural to always associate "level 5" with tumbling requirements, but it still applies to stunting, baskets, pyramids.

Not everybody is an all around cheerleader that can do everything. As long as they are performing some aspect of level 5 cheer, it's legitimate to me. Another example, I've seen many excellent tumblers who do not do the jump sequence. It's not because they have ugly jumps, but simply a way for them to conserve energy for their pass.

You can also reverse the original observation, there are plenty of great tumblers who don't fly. Shouldn't be found unusual.

 

[12stepCheermom]

Every athlete has skills that they are proficient at and others skills that they may struggle with but ultimately it is up to the organization and the coaches to add talent to the given team where they see fit. To say that if a certain athlete does not do jumps to back or tumble makes them not worthy of a Level 5 team is just plain wrong in my opinion but I have been seeing it more often and I don't necessarily think its fair.
There are many aspects to building a team and each member brings a certain skill set that can add to the teams overall performance so lets not "lock out" certain athletes because they may not have all the skills you might think they should have. As long as the team meets the requirements to max out on the score sheets there can always be a place for athletes that don't possess all of the "Level 5 Skills" if they can bring a certain skill to the team. I know of several level 5 teams that compete at Worlds each year that have athletes that don't tumble but are incredible as a base, back spot or flyer so they certainly serve a purpose for the team. If your gym is overloaded with amazing athletes that have all skills this is not a problem for you but I think that is likely a rare situation.
Not all major league baseball players can hit HR's or are the best in the field but they bring a skill that is valuable to the team and therefore they are part of that team and they are at the highest level of their sport.
For some of the smaller gyms it is not easy to fill a level 5 team because the number of athletes that have all tumbling skills plus the other intangibles are just not available. As long as the kids can contribute to the team and fill a need I see no reason to question why they don't tumble, do jumps to back or anything else. Let them go out, have fun and compete which is what this is all about. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not singling anyone out who has already commented on this post I'm just giving my .02 from the cheap seats, I'll get off my soap box now. ;)

This is pretty much exactly our gyms philosophy. There are kids on every level five team that don't have "all" the level 5 skills but contribute something that is needed or they wouldn't be there. I heard our coach tell a group of parents last week there are "many ways" a kid can be level 5 and that wasn't directly related to tumbling.

Now you do have to temper that with the scoresheet. You can't have a team of non-tumblers but if you have a kid who's an amazing tumbler and that's their strength and a great base or flyer that doesn't tumble at all, you can have kid 1 throw two passes to make up for kid 2 and you just evened them out.

 

[Mclovin]

My youngest daughter made Obsession this year. At the time of placements, she was throwing a toe two to full and a running double (both not real pretty, but landing them). Then choreography came and the constant working of skills stopped and they worked on nothing but routine for weeks. She lost those skills and when it came time to throw them in full outs she was busting on her face. So her standing pass became a toe to to layout and her running pass was never choreographed in. She has finally started competing a two to full on Heart and throws a running full on Heart as well.

So my answer to your question is often times kids might have the skills to make the team, but not consistent enough to compete them. The coaches could have opted to remove my daughter and replace her with another flyer, but for whatever reason, felt that the other strengths she brings to the team were worth the lack of tumbling. They see her working on getting better every week so maybe they're just giving her grace. :)

 

[shoptilldawn92]

there have been several level 5 "cheerlebrities" like this off the top of my head whitney sharpe and mason baker both amazing cheerleaders! they just don't tumble, madi gardner had level 5 skills but certainly not senior elite level 5 tumbling skills

 

[arispurplecheerkitty]

Panthers? 2013?


No fear in fierce

 

[MissCongeniality]

I know of at least one well known team that has a couple of flyers who are injured so they are using fill in flyers (who are great at flying but lack tumbling)

 

[Aussiekat]

It's not common but it happens partly because of percentages. And let me say from experience, none of these flyers feel good about it. It's great that you have a specialised skill set but you feel awful when people turn around and say "you can't even do (insert basic skill here)" because it's not from lack of effort the majority of the time. It's mental blocks, or you picked up stunt skills faster than tumbling, or your level tumbling is inconsistent; there really is myriad reasons. And rarely is that reason "oh I can't be bothered".


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[yooolizzi]

It's not common but it happens partly because of percentages. And let me say from experience, none of these flyers feel good about it. It's great that you have a specialised skill set but you feel awful when people turn around and say "you can't even do (insert basic skill here)" because it's not from lack of effort the majority of the time. It's mental blocks, or you picked up stunt skills faster than tumbling, or your level tumbling is inconsistent; there really is myriad reasons. And rarely is that reason "oh I can't be bothered".


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I feel the exact same way, except I am a base. Everyone says that since I don't tumble, my full outs should be a cake walk, except for the fact that I am stunting the entire routine.