Difficulty Levels & Cheerleading

Video Transcript

"Hi! I'm Lucy Spain on behalf of Expert Village here to talk about cheerleading jumps and tumbling. In cheerleading, there are about 20 jumps that we can learn all at different levels. What makes one jump difficult or more difficult than any other jump? Well basically, it's going to start out with the height. The height of the jump is going to make it easy or difficult. If we do a lower jump that's not too far off the ground, that's going to be an easier jump. To increase the difficultly, you're going to have higher jumps. Basically, the placement of your legs is what's going to dictate the height. The lowest a jump can be that's appropriate is probably about 6 inches off the ground. The highest jumps can be is to where you can actually get skill enough to lift your legs to where they're going above your head. That's going to be the most difficult. Another thing that dictates the difficultly of a jump is the alignment. The hardest jumps are going to be when both feet are in the same position in the air. It's really important if you want that jump to be appropriate, both are going to have to be on the same plane level. Some easier jumps would be when one leg is in a completely different position because then you're not going to have to worry about that as much. It's important to keep in mind these difficulties, especially when you're competing because you're going to get different points. Just remember when you're starting out with your jumps, definitely begin with the basics and then build from there. There's a lot of adding on. If you start with the basics, you can build from there to end up with extraordinary jumps."