I
imrichhowboutu
The only right way to compare all of the top Large Senior teams is to look at each individual section of a score sheet and discuss. You can say that this team is going to win, but back it up. ... and by ALL, i meant top 3.
Standing - F5 has the numbers in standing to doubles and Shooting Stars have the 7 "textbook" toe fulls with 6 standing fulls, and 6/7 hand fulls. CEA has a lot of standing tumbling but half of it ends in fulls, with their standing full section having majority standing tucks in it.
Running - Stars have the numbers in terms of passes ending with doubles due in large part to the 16 running doubles to the front of the mat then all of their specialties after jumps. F5 has the most number of specialty passes. CEA disguises their tumbling well by throwing fulls along side doubles and also having straight doubles chase specialty passes.
Sync - F5 and Stars both have large groups of tumbling with perfect sync and difficult passes.
Jumps - Spice is the exception to the top 3 with probably the best jumps in the division. F5 has a pike then triple jump back (hurdler, toe, pike). Stars have a double jump (hurdler hurdler), then the classic triple toe back. CEA has 4 jumps to back, with some timing issues in the last video i saw.
Stunts - CEA in terms of overall impact. They have the first stunt with 8 groups. F5 and Stars arent far behind at all in terms of difficulty AND have 9 groups. Then second stunt, Stars and F5 have harder team skills (3 out of 9 stunts doing something difficult doesn't mean a higher group stunt difficulty)
Pyramids - while everyone automatically thinks of cea, both F5 and Stars have stepped up their pyramids this year. They have a lot of elements that add to the overall effect and give you more of the feeling that everything is happening at the same time. So again, CEA may have the overall effect, but Stars and F5 both have a lot of elements that add up.
Tosses - While F5 does 8 of them and leads the pack with numbers, Stars give you 7 that are broken into 2 groups so you can see the amazing switch kicks. In addition, F5 also does 2 pikes and a toe touch. Stars also have a different level 5 basket in their opening with 2 hitch kick (no twist) baskets on either side. CEA has the switch kick and kick doubles in their sequence with 3 kick doubles in the opening of the routine and 2 pikes during tumbling. I'm gonna say Stars lead the pack in terms of variety with the standard level 5 basket, an elite 4 trick level 5 basket, and 2 level 4 baskets opposed to the standard level 5 baskets and level 3 baskets of the other 2.
Dance - F5 and Stars, lets just face it, these girls have been giving it to you since they were on youth teams and just plain dance better than CEA. Not putting them down, just saying, the dance isnt their forte.
Formations/Transitions - CEA should win this category since their transitions are all the same as last year. But F5 and Stars are always known for having smooth creative transitions with plenty of choreography to fill the gaps.
Routine Time - CEA has been over all year and this is the one place that it actually matters. Not sure what the timing is like with the new dance however. But if their music is the same length from previous competitions, they are definitely over 2:30.
Overall - Really whatever I say here is going to be argued with so maybe I will leave this blank.... If everyone puts the Kool-Aid down you'll see it is going to come down to the most perfectly executed routine.
Standing - F5 has the numbers in standing to doubles and Shooting Stars have the 7 "textbook" toe fulls with 6 standing fulls, and 6/7 hand fulls. CEA has a lot of standing tumbling but half of it ends in fulls, with their standing full section having majority standing tucks in it.
Running - Stars have the numbers in terms of passes ending with doubles due in large part to the 16 running doubles to the front of the mat then all of their specialties after jumps. F5 has the most number of specialty passes. CEA disguises their tumbling well by throwing fulls along side doubles and also having straight doubles chase specialty passes.
Sync - F5 and Stars both have large groups of tumbling with perfect sync and difficult passes.
Jumps - Spice is the exception to the top 3 with probably the best jumps in the division. F5 has a pike then triple jump back (hurdler, toe, pike). Stars have a double jump (hurdler hurdler), then the classic triple toe back. CEA has 4 jumps to back, with some timing issues in the last video i saw.
Stunts - CEA in terms of overall impact. They have the first stunt with 8 groups. F5 and Stars arent far behind at all in terms of difficulty AND have 9 groups. Then second stunt, Stars and F5 have harder team skills (3 out of 9 stunts doing something difficult doesn't mean a higher group stunt difficulty)
Pyramids - while everyone automatically thinks of cea, both F5 and Stars have stepped up their pyramids this year. They have a lot of elements that add to the overall effect and give you more of the feeling that everything is happening at the same time. So again, CEA may have the overall effect, but Stars and F5 both have a lot of elements that add up.
Tosses - While F5 does 8 of them and leads the pack with numbers, Stars give you 7 that are broken into 2 groups so you can see the amazing switch kicks. In addition, F5 also does 2 pikes and a toe touch. Stars also have a different level 5 basket in their opening with 2 hitch kick (no twist) baskets on either side. CEA has the switch kick and kick doubles in their sequence with 3 kick doubles in the opening of the routine and 2 pikes during tumbling. I'm gonna say Stars lead the pack in terms of variety with the standard level 5 basket, an elite 4 trick level 5 basket, and 2 level 4 baskets opposed to the standard level 5 baskets and level 3 baskets of the other 2.
Dance - F5 and Stars, lets just face it, these girls have been giving it to you since they were on youth teams and just plain dance better than CEA. Not putting them down, just saying, the dance isnt their forte.
Formations/Transitions - CEA should win this category since their transitions are all the same as last year. But F5 and Stars are always known for having smooth creative transitions with plenty of choreography to fill the gaps.
Routine Time - CEA has been over all year and this is the one place that it actually matters. Not sure what the timing is like with the new dance however. But if their music is the same length from previous competitions, they are definitely over 2:30.
Overall - Really whatever I say here is going to be argued with so maybe I will leave this blank.... If everyone puts the Kool-Aid down you'll see it is going to come down to the most perfectly executed routine.
