Cheerleading Routines

Cheerleading routines have changed drastically over the years. In the earlier part of the Twentieth Century, the “routine” consisted mainly of yells and chants to get the crowd excited and behind the team. Today, cheerleading routines are often highly choreographed routines that include dancing, jumps, stunts, and tumbling.

Chants and yells can be created by the coach or cheerleading squad, but there are also many standard chants and yells available on the Internet. Just a quick search online can produce many cheers, some that have been used for years, but are still appropriate for today.

Routines that require risky acrobatics are usually reserved for older, more skilled cheerleaders. It is a good idea if the younger cheerleaders develop some basic movement skills and get used to those before gradually moving up to more complicated routines.

Before performing any cheer routine, cheerleaders should warm up for about 5 to 10 minutes. By stretching muscles such as the hamstring, quadriceps, those in the shoulders, and calf, muscle strains and other injuries may be avoided. Remember to keep safety number one when cheering!

Competition routines usually last around 2 minutes and 30 seconds and require cheer, dance, jumps, tumbling, and stunting portions. When developing a cheerleading routine, especially for competitions, coaches often divide the routine into three sections. The beginning of the routine sets the tone. Often, the intense tumbling and difficult stunts are used at the beginning of the routine. Make sure the best tumblers are out front if at all possible.

The middle of the routine is a good time to show off dance moves, cheers, and chants. Moderate stunts can be done, but save the difficult ones for last so the team can have a big finish. Some coaches choose to not have the team dance in the middle, but instead choreograph small pockets of dancing to showcase the squad members separately. Dance moves should be age appropriate. Younger cheerleaders who use dance moves that are too suggestive can see points taken off in competition.

Dance routines can be derived a number of ways. Cheerleading squads with a larger budget may be able to hire a choreographer to develop then teach new cheerleading routines to the squad. Teams who may not have the money to hire a choreographer can draw inspiration for new cheerleading routines by watching movies, televised dance shows, or music videos. The squad can work together to come up with ideas, even inventing new moves through collaboration with one another.

The end of the routine should leave a lasting impression with the crowd, or in the case of competition, the judges. Having the full team dance in formation can leave a visually impressive image. Ending the routine with an easy pyramid can keep the routine clean and crisp. If the cheerleading routine is for a pep rally, the coach may want to incorporate more cheers or yells to get the crowd more active.

Cheerleading routines are a fun, exciting way to work up the crowd to cheer for the team, whether it is through the use of chants, yells, dance moves, tumbling, or complex stunts.