All-Star Why Are Tryouts Tumbling Only?

[Iamshannon]

I see people say on here all the time that there is more to making a team than tumbling. That you may not have the tumbling but if you're the most beast base or backspot you might be placed higher...or for attitude you might be placed lower...etc. etc. etc.

Well, if this is the case, then why are most tryouts JUST tumbling? We've been to tryouts at a few gyms in our time, and every one of them the tryouts were tumbling only. I know they may know some of the kids' skills based on the previous season, but what about newer kids? Or kids who have been working reeeally hard in the break to perfect those non-tumbling skills? Or a new gym just opening up?

Why not just offer a stunting/jumping/dancing section too?

i think the fact that you can teach stunting faster than tumbling plays a part in it. Thats a reason why we have 4.2 teams. Think about it; a girl can learn how to double out of a stunt in one practice, where as it takes much longer to learn a full. if youre at a gym that you've been at for a year or more, the coaches know all of your abilities (and attitude at that ;) ). However, when starting at a new gym, they probably dont know squat about your abilities. If someone really thinks just their tumbling doesnt showcase their cheerleading abilities, they should go to the gym owner/coaches and say, 'listen. i know i may be a level x tumbler, but i think i am more advanced in other areas. id like to show you my stunting/dance/jump abilities so that i can be considered for a higher level team.'

 

[Iamshannon]

I'm the same way. I was a great tumbler when I was little. I stopped cheering, started cheering for school and didn't tumble much because it hurt on the concrete and hardwood floor. I haven't taken classes and I don't want to just throw a skill and wing it. I also want to be put on a team I belong on overall, not just because I don't have great tumbling.

very true. id rather not squat in the back during all the tumbling sections.

 

[Angelica]

i wonder the same thing too...sometimes. Im not the best a standing tumbling which completely makes me nervous when it comes to tryouts. But i can base and bust out jumps to a tuck whenever you need me too. Not everyone can tumble which i completely understand...but id rather have a girl on a team that can base then a girl who throws a janky stand two to full and can hardly base

 

[Angelica]

I know on team texas this past year, the tumbling was a given. We were all about the stunts.

 

[Iamshannon]

So then when everyone on here says it's not all about tumbling then that's not true? It IS all about tumbling and they can teach you whatever else?

(And for the record...I disagree with this. You can't "teach" strength and coordination. I know quite a few girls that can throw some fierce tumbling but couldn't catch a BALL let alone a PERSON)

i think you can 'teach' it to some extent. you can teach someone to constantly lift up when theyre flying, or to hold a stunt in their legs and shrug through their shoulders for a dismount, but youre right, strength is another story. you cant teach someone to have strong arms or a naturally solid core (work out all you want - some people just ARENT made to have athletic bodies). but if you really want to learn to be a good stunter, you can. look at teams like f5 or cali elite - every girl is used in in stunts. as you get to higher levels, i think the people that arent good stunters are weeded out and stop moving up. i think coaches have an instinct that tells them who works best on each team.

 

[notimeforthat]

It is hard for all to be spectacular in every area of cheer. The coaches need to put a winning combination on the floor. If you break down the percentages I am sure you will find a large group that are great bases. A smaller but still large enough group that have great jumps.... same for dance and motions. When it comes down to tumbling that is where the line is somewhat drawn. I think the coaches will pull what they need tumbling wise and then see who is second runner up etc to fill the team. If they need a backspot they will then look out of all the backspots who excelled in the other categories. Tumbling is something that is not a given.... I know plenty kids that have been this close to a skill for years. Some have mental things that they have to have a spot or someone standing there. It is always a crap shoot wheter or not the child will be ready to throw that skill come game day. I agree with Iamshannon... If you excel in other areas of the score sheet and not so much in tumbling you need to speak up at your tryout! Good luck to everyone!

 

[srt418]

I see people say on here all the time that there is more to making a team than tumbling. That you may not have the tumbling but if you're the most beast base or backspot you might be placed higher...or for attitude you might be placed lower...etc. etc. etc.

Well, if this is the case, then why are most tryouts JUST tumbling? We've been to tryouts at a few gyms in our time, and every one of them the tryouts were tumbling only. I know they may know some of the kids' skills based on the previous season, but what about newer kids? Or kids who have been working reeeally hard in the break to perfect those non-tumbling skills? Or a new gym just opening up?

Why not just offer a stunting/jumping/dancing section too?

As a tumbling coach, it is all about tumbling for me :) , but I do recognize when an athlete is much better at another area in cheerleading. Here's why I think we focus more on tumbling at my gym:

- Like others have said, tumbling does take a little longer to teach than motions, jumps, and stunting. Especially depending on the girls self confidence. Really confident girls tend to learn tumbling faster than those that aren'ts (IMO)
- It's much easier to separate it by tumbling level than by stunt, jumps, or motion level at tryouts. Since most tryouts don't include stunting (at my gym they don't), most girls won't know what it means if I ask them "what level jumper/motion/stunter/etc. are you?" However, everyone (except for new cheerleaders) knows what level tumbler they are.
- Also this is a point a lot of people probably won't like, but I know it's true for some coaches. Most of the time, a coach just does not want to work on tumbling in practice. So if they can facilitate a team from the beginning with more tumbling, then they can work on other things like jumps and stunting. So at tryouts, let's say a level 3 coach wants squad roundoff tucks, then separating tryouts by level will be the most efficient way to get a team with (almost) squad roundoff tucks.
- Lastly, I do think a lot of coaches determine at some level how hard an athlete works depending on her tumbling. There are always exceptions to this! For example, let's say Suzie has had a roundoff backhandspring for months. It's ugly. Legs apart and bent, many time she falls on her knees. IMO, if Suzie has had this backhandspring for months and it hasn't gotten better, she's probably lazy (assuming she isn't recovering from an injury, or something else). This might be the difference between Suzie being on the junior 2 team or the senior 2 team. Suzie's gym doesn't want to take their senior 2 team to Dallas with a lazy tumbler. Also, there are always those girls that don't have tumbling because they are lazy. I have about 3 of them in my tumbling classes. Their mom takes them every week, but these girls haven't progressed because they don't care.

There are girls however, that don't have tumbling, but are valuable enough in other aspects of this sport to be on a higher level. It happens at my gym all the time. We had a girl that really didn't throw any tumbling, but was an awesome backspot. Any flyer would stay in the air because of her! This kind of athlete is very easy to recognize. Which is probably your daughter :)

 

[CoachLilly83]

As a coach I do not like the idea of "try-outs". Perhaps for more elite teams that is the option they would have to take in order to construct a team that has all the skills to reach their goal so yes.

But for youngins, or girls who are new to cheer and want to be with their friends (on the same team etc). I feel like placements, sure, but same thing, little Sally might not have her standing bhs YET, but perhaps mid season she will get it, but she has all of the other skills for level 2, then why not.

I think the the USASF athlete program will really help with determining the level each athlete is really at, and the decision to choose the level your team competes at should be based on the majority of skills, with a goal to hit the higher level and perhaps move up futher in the season.

 

[wcdad]

I see people say on here all the time that there is more to making a team than tumbling. That you may not have the tumbling but if you're the most beast base or backspot you might be placed higher...or for attitude you might be placed lower...etc. etc. etc.

Well, if this is the case, then why are most tryouts JUST tumbling? We've been to tryouts at a few gyms in our time, and every one of them the tryouts were tumbling only. I know they may know some of the kids' skills based on the previous season, but what about newer kids? Or kids who have been working reeeally hard in the break to perfect those non-tumbling skills? Or a new gym just opening up?

Why not just offer a stunting/jumping/dancing section too?

I don't think it is. A good gym will conduct a tryout based on Stunting, Jumps, Standing and Tumbling. I know several Gyms that use tryouts to level an athlete under USASF Guidelines as well. A team is going to put an athlete where they need the skill in most cases. If the need a strong back spot or base they make an exception to some other skill in order to fill the position in need..

 

[omgitssydthekid]

We do a formal tryout with running tumbling, standing tumbling, jumps to tumbling, jumps, dance, and a cheer. And then we have about a month of practices for placement on your actual team but team are never set in stone and you can move up if someone else isn't getting the job done.

 

[tumbleyoda]

Moving a kid up is never the issue. It is moving a kid down that causes the grief. The same ones who were given a chance but for whatever reason hasn't attained the skills needed will be the first ones saying how unfair it is that they were placed on a lower level team. You can only reward potential so much before it handicaps a team Conostency is what you must bring to the mat.

 

[Hi-Phlyer21]

at my gym usually only the flyers have to tryout with stunting skills. but this season everyone had to tryout. and everyone was evaluated...on everything. they wanted to see bases as well as flyers so they can make the best possible choices. even in tumbling they had their little sheet and made us go through every single skill on the sheet from 0-lvl5 in evals. and the same with stunting. while i did not like stunting at tryouts because i didn't necessarily trust all the people i was stunting with to not hurt me; and my coaches clearly know what my stunting is like i thin it will be better for our teams. there's nothing that annoys me more than someone who is an...okay tumbler and no real stunting ability. i feel like we've come across that too many times.
however i think that many would argue that it is easier to learn how to stunt at any level, if one has the talent, than it is to learn how to tumble. i mean if you look at when kids come into clinics and it's like "have oyou ever based before...can you do...?' and they go "no" by the end of the clinic you could have someone basing a 1-1/4 up or switch up. form and technique in stunting is much easier to learn than in tumbling

also i had asked one of our owners about it and, correct me if i'm wrong, but i remember seeing something about making sure your kids are credentialed or something appropriately for the level at which they are to be competing?? idk. anyway i asked if that had anything to do with it as well and she said yes so... yeah.
we also have a jump and dance/motion portion as well although this year there was no dance just motions and jumps.

 

[alliebby33]

My gym (new gym) had tryouts last week. We did everything but stunts and I still managed to make senior 4 with a standing handspring & roundoff 2 handsprings. I tumble with one of the coaches of senior 4 and she said she talked them into letting me be on level 4 instead of 2 because she knew how quickly I learn everything. So my only requirements now are to have a standing tuck & roundoff tuck by the end of summer. And I'm already close to both. So I guess I got lucky because one of the coaches knows how I learn skills somewhat quickly.

 

[Rudags]

I wish the gyms we've been to would have done this. So far all we've seen is you go in, get a number stuck to your tummy or chest, wait in line. Then when it's your turn you throw your best running tumbling. Same process for standing tumbling and jumps.
Within 48 hours after that complete team rosters are posted and that's that. Practice with your team starts the next week. Of course, I guess some kids get moved around during the season, but I think this is fairly limited.

At the gym Im currently at, stunting will be assesed and changes will be made according :-)

 

[blunchin]

i think a lot of gyms base their tryouts on tumbling simply because it saves time, especially with bigger gyms. you know what kids are beginners and you know who is an experienced cheerleader. the stunting gets figured out with the actual teams because you get to figure out what stunt groups work best together.