hello! I am one of 3 captains on my high school team, and we have been experiencing stunting challenges with a particular team member since the beginning of our season (June). This team member is new to cheerleading, and she attended UCA camp over summer with the rest of the team to learn the basics. However, she has a bad habit of lifting or tossing with her back in every stunt. Both our coaches have tried giving her advice to correct it, the UCA staff at camp tried talking to her about it, i and the other captains and tried numerous times as well. Her fliers have confided in me that they feel unsafe basing with her and that it "feels awkward" when even going into a prep level since she lifts with her back. Please, I need advice on what to do next. Every time someone tries to correct her she just agrees with them but doesnt actually correct it. We want safety to be our priority as a team and girls do not feel safe stunting with her. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!:)
I agree with everything AScheer mentioned above, but let me add some training drills to the list.
The one thing that I've found to be almost inherently true through coaching high school cheerleaders is that you are much less likely to find a new female cheerleader who knows HOW to lift. I can speak to the guys, especially football players, who join my team in common powerlifting terms and BOOM they get it. With girls, it takes some type of demonstration. Here are some suggestions from the world of strength and conditioning that might get her on the right track:
1) demonstrate to her in an "aha" moment that she is unable to lift anything, even so much as a single piece of paper, off the floor using only one muscle at a time. Her body was designed to function using multiple muscles at once, and you're about to show her how much stronger she can be by doing this.
2) Start with a few unloaded wall squats. Not the kind where you squat down and lean your back against the wall (wall sits), but have her face the wall instead. She should start by doing it with her toes about 6 inches from the wall, feet a little wider than shoulder width, and then have her squat and reach her hands to the floor in an attempt to pick up a small item off the floor. The purpose of this is twofold. She needs to feel what it's like to move through a range of motion with her shoulders, knees, and toes in alignment. Second, someone needs to see if she has the kind of knee and ankle flexibility to allow for this type of movement.
3) You can make the movement more difficult and further train her to lift correctly by having her lift heavier items (I recommend starting with a 25 pound dumbbell from your weight room) in the following ways/order:
A. Dumbbell stood up on one end and placed between her feet where she doesn't have to get as deep to pick it up
B. Dumbbell laid down on floor between her feet where she has to reach low enough to pick up the handle
C. Two Dumbbells, one at each side
D. One heavier dumbbell placed at her side (causes core to engage to maintain balance, called "suitcase deadlift")
E. A dumbbell held by it's end cupped in her hands at chest level (she can judge whether she is squatting deeply enough by her elbows touching her knees).
F. A VERY light weight held overhead with both hands (preferably something she won't drop and crack her skull with if she loses her balance, overhead lifting is hard).
G. A VERY light weight held overhead with one hand (preferably something she won't drop and crack her skull with if she loses her balance, overhead lifting is hard).
By the time she can do C above, I'd be willing to bet her lifting technique is much improved.
