Coaches New Ideas for Cheer Tumbling?

[coachmolly]

I coach 2 cheer tumbling classes a week (no tramp, so only floor tumbling) and am getting pretty bored with all the "same old" stuff. It's not a particularly advanced group, I think one girl can do ro-bhsx2, but the vast majority do not have a bhs at all. It's lots of floor basics, round off drills (from a knee, off a panel mat, over a panel mat), spotted bhs & fhs, walkovers, and some ro-flatback type stuff. Every once in a while we'll throw in something new and fun (like front tucks), but for the most part it's the same. I was just hoping someone could suggest some new ideas, even variations of the skills I already mentioned?
I coached some power tumbling classes for a bit (rec-pre-team), so I feel like I have a pretty good repertoire of basic tumbling drills, but cheer tumbling just has me stumped.

 

[CoachTodd]

I coach my cheer tumblers as if they were gymnasts. I'd prefer for them to get the skills correctly instead of chuck and pray. I'll mix things up every now and then with maybe some handstand walks (even though most of them can't even do a handstand). I'll have them do run forward rolls down a wedge mat. The better they get at it, they get to do a dive roll. This one seems to be one they like. I'll toss in kip ups using the down hill just for fun as well. I agree it's difficult to find fun ways of working basics.
There is also the contest of doing cartwheels between 2 mats that are standing on end. Move the mats close and close together and see who can get their cartwheel through the narrowest path.
Let me know if you come up with more stuff that keeps them working the basics most cheer gyms don't seem to want to teach.

 

[coachmolly]

Thanks for the ideas, I'll have to try those! I feel like the skills themselves are so similar to what I do with the intermediate type rec classes, it's just such a different dynamic. And the girls seem unhappy to keep working on handstands and round offs when they "could" be working on bhs (even though they are nowhere close) and I feel like the gymnastics buzz kill.

 

[hawaii_gymnast]

Try to choose some basic BHS drills, so they are working them even if they are very simple. Like snap down drills and the lean sit jump to their backs.
If they have stong enough handstands you could do handstand walk contests or handstand walk obstacle courses or if not you can do wheelbarrow walk obstacle courses to mix it up.