Parents Thoughts? Cheerleading AND gymnastics

[onebusymama]

My DD is on L3 gymnastics team. There are a few girls on her team that do competitive cheerleading too. From what I have read on this site gymnasts shouldn't be coached by cheerleaders & they will learn to tumble incorrectly. I don't know much about gymnastics, but these girls seem to tumble better than the girls that don't do cheerleading. My DD LOVES gymnastics & she recently said she wants to try cheer too. Should I look into it or is this a "NO NO" for gymnasts to not do Cheer too?

 

[wallflower]

If she wants to do it and the coaches are okay with it (obviously they are if other team members do it), then go for it.

 

[gymgal]

What do you mean by they seem to tumble better? Do they have more tumbling skills or do they seem to have better form? Often times cheerleaders will have more skills because they are working solely on tumbling, not other parts of gymnastics, and they are looking to just get the skills, not perfect them.

If tumbling is being coached by a gymnastics coach, it's not so much a problem but often it is not and the coach doesn't have the background experience to teach the skills properly. Girls are often told to "just chuck it". And even if the girl has learned it correctly in a tumbling class or at gym, if she is practicing it in cheer without proper guidance and correction, she is likely to gradually pick up bad form. And, whereas most cheerleading skills end with just that one skill, and therefore a girl can get away with a messy backhandspring or back tuck, gymnastics has to build upon those skills for higher level tumbling. If the skill was taught incorrectly in the first place, the girl will have a harder time relearning it to build upon it. Also, too often, in cheer practice, the skills are taught on a regular floor with mats, instead of on a trampoline, tumbletrack and/or spring floor. Not only does it make it harder, but it increases the risk of injury.

Having a cheer program inside a gymnastics program seems to work the best, where the gym coaches are teaching the tumbling and better equipment is available. As long as you are minimizing the risk of her learning skills wrong, minimizing her risk of injury, and she has a qualified coach teaching her the tumbling skills, let her try it out.

 

[LJL07]

My DD did it this year and had a lot of fun doing both. I didn't find the tumbling to be much of an issue bc they placed the girls according to tumbling skills they already had, and the practices were mostly routine/choreography based. We may not be able to do it again next year unfortunately bc the competition seasons overlap, and she would likely be missing meets or competitions. If you can swing it and your gym doesn't mind, go for it!

 

[onebusymama]

They are able to do more tumbling (bhs in a row) & some can do a back flip at the end. Now IDK how great their form is, but it looks better than my DD (she can only do a ROBHS but her legs are bent. I think we might look into it. She loves gymnastics, but isn't a "natural" at it. She is very "girly", so cheer might be her thing. We will see. She's definitely wants to stay in gymnastics & compete in the fall.

 

[MILgymFAM]

My DD did it this year and had a lot of fun doing both. I didn't find the tumbling to be much of an issue bc they placed the girls according to tumbling skills they already had, and the practices were mostly routine/choreography based. We may not be able to do it again next year unfortunately bc the competition seasons overlap, and she would likely be missing meets or competitions. If you can swing it and your gym doesn't mind, go for it!

We had the same experience. DD loves cheer and will continue at her new school.

 

[LJL07]

They are able to do more tumbling (bhs in a row) & some can do a back flip at the end. Now IDK how great their form is, but it looks better than my DD (she can only do a ROBHS but her legs are bent. I think we might look into it. She loves gymnastics, but isn't a "natural" at it. She is very "girly", so cheer might be her thing. We will see. She's definitely wants to stay in gymnastics & compete in the fall.

Some of them did not have good form. Actually my DD was one of the ones with the best form, which is funny considering she has the worst form at gym! She definitely got to do more tumbling in the cheerleading than she did at last year's gym level. I was half hoping she would say she wanted to switch over to cheer (less pressure!), but she was pretty adamant that she wants to stick with gym. Just try it if it's feasible and see if it's something she even likes.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Depends on what your DD wants to get out of it. The net effect on her gymnastics will more likely be negative than positive. It is likely to hinder her long-term development in gymnastics, mostly in ways that won't become apparent until much farther down the road.

That said, if she just wants to have fun and flip around, then what the heck.

 

[Flipflopz]

I did both. But more cheer. I even cheered in college. I regret not focusing more on gymnastics. Around here I see cheer being dangerous. Lots of stunting falls. I am not interested in dd doing cheer. She could quit gym tomorrow and do anything besides cheer.