Transitioning From Gymnastics To Allstar Cheer

[Tumblinallday]

Hello,

So recently I've been thinking about transitioning from gymnastics to cheer. My strongest event has always been floor and its definitely the one I enjoy the most. Additionally I think that cheer is somewhere where I feel I could achieve more success. I've been struggling with beam for a while and its making me hate the sport. I've talked to my coach who actually suggested it because he had a daughter that did cheer.

I have some tumbling skills already ( I have running tumbling up to round off backhandspring back tuck. Currently Working on layouts and twisting.) Of course all of my technique is gymnastics based, so I don't know if there will be much to rework or change.

However, obviously there is more to cheer than just tumbling, so I'm curious on if anyone knows how learning to stunt has gone for a gymnast. I think I'd most likely be a base since I'm fairly short, but heavier and am concerned about how hard it will be to learn. Would stunt classes for a few weeks help? I may have a few weeks after the completion of my season and before tryouts that I could join them for if they seem to be helpful.

Thanks in advance for any help. This is obviously huge and confusing change for me to be making.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

1. It's fairly common to see kids transitioning from gymnastics to cheer, especially as they progress through levels and find themselves either struggling on or having a lack of interest in different events/apparatuses.

2. There are kids who have gone into tryouts never having stunted before. I would recommend a class first, though. It is quite overwhelming to have NEVER done something, but be asked to do it in an evaluative situation.

3. Understand that you have never done it and try not to be hard on yourself.

4. Be open to trying ALL positions. If you have never done it, don't assume that you will be best as a flyer. Or that you will for sure be basing. You really won't know what you're good at until you try all of them.

5. Remember that this is a team sport! Gymnastics is focused on individuals. So it can be hard to enter a sport in which the focus is on working together in groups. Be patient with others as they work with you in groups and remember that it is not all about you.

6. Understand that your level placement may not be based on tumbling alone. There have been former gymnasts placed directly on Level 5 teams their first season because they have such strong tumbling. Other times, that athlete is placed on a lower level team like a 3 or 4 to focus on building stunting skills. Depends on the needs of teams and what the coaches think is best for both the teams and you.

 

[Pebbles49]

@Tumblinallday, I must admit, my daughter transition from gymnastics to cheer for 2 reasons- 1st, like you, she grew to only enjoyed 2 events in gymnastics: floor and vault and I think, in gymnastic, you must reach the higher levels in the sports before you are allowed to specialize and 2nd reason, my daughter had reached the levels, when she was expected to practice more than 16 hours a week.

Like you again, my daughter came to cheer with no stunting, but lots of tumbling experience. My daughter learned and was taught all of her stunting by the cheer coaches. Additionally, some of the tumbling techniques they taught gymnasts to do with their approached into the tumbling and how they finish off tumbling passes with the hands straight up, she was taught the tight cheer motions and different placement of the hands.

I cannot advise you on what will be best for you and since @oncecoolcoachnowmom is/was a coach, she probably can tell you better. But my daughter went into cheer with 0 experience and learned everything in the cheer gym and she made out well in the sport.

 

[MissCongeniality]

My favorite comment that my daughter made when she transitioned to cheer at 8/9 was that her coach said she needed to "ugly up" her tumbling. I guess they didn't like her gymnastics style set at the start of each pass. You will tumble in sync with others in cheer so that plays a role too. Anyway, my CP is thrilled to have switched to cheer (she hated bars).

 

[CoachCeleste]

I don't know if I'm just weird, but as a coach, I prefer gymnastics tumbling technique. Granted, there are obvious things that need to be changed (like no arms up when finished, etc.). However, in my experience, cheerleaders with a gymnast background have beautiful tumbling. Our other director, who is head of tumbling, has a background in gymnastics as well and likes to teach that technique. I feel it makes for cleaner tumbling that scores higher on a scoresheet.

Anyway, @onecoolcoachnowmom left a lot of great advice. Try to get some stunt experience in and be open to all stunting positions. Good luck!:cheering:

 

[SunnyinCO]

Our gym is a fairly new cheer gym, and most of the team is made up of former gymnasts. They generally score very well in tumbling. OTOH, they tend to be more stoic while performing than our coach would like, so that has definitely been a transition area for some of them.