3 Signs Your Athlete is READY to progress in Tumbling

Do you often catch yourself thinking it is time for a greater challenge for my athelte? Do you think they are ready to move on to more advanced skills? Here is the checklist for help you know when your athlete may be ready to progress both your tumbling (and stunting skills) to the next stage.

1)      Perfection over progression.

 But what do we really mean by perfection? Perfection is defined as:

“The condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects”.

Analyzing the flaws and defects in technique for current skills is the first step in knowing when it’s time to progress. If any one of these shapes is missing from our skill, it can ripple into the remaining shapes, causing each one to be more difficult and causing the skill to be harder to complete. It makes progression difficult if not impossible.

If the athlete can clearly pass through each shape at the right time, you may be ready to progress.

2)      Consistency is the key.

 Hitting all the shapes is a good start, but what we really want to see is consistency! If we were to perform the skill 10 times, can we hit all the shapes all 10 times? Ensuring consistent execution for current skills is the next step in knowing when it’s time to progress.  New skills are not going to be consistent; If current skills are not consistent either, you’re setting yourself up for failure! Progressing before consistency increases chance for error, and the likelihood of failure. This can form a psychological barrier and fear or mental block of the new skill.

 If the athlete can consistently complete your current skills, you may be ready to progress.

3)      You must have the right tools for the job.

You wouldn’t put a nail in with a screwdriver. You wouldn’t change a light bulb with a hammer. You wouldn’t put your wiener dog in a horse race.

 These are silly examples, but we can take this same concept and apply it to cheerleading:

If you can only jump 3 inches, it’s not time to start working standing tucks. If you can’t lift a 20lb weight, you shouldn’t try lifting a 100lb person.

 Possessing the physical tools necessary to perform the skill is the next step in progression. Understanding what these physical tools are, and how to gain them is key to success.

 A few hours in the cheer gym is not enough to develop these tools. Regular, focused training on specific physical tools may be required to continue steady progression. Stretching, Lifting, Running, Breathing.

 Along with fostering progression, strength and conditioning will also help in other ways:

-          Reduce risk of injuries

-          Teach you body mechanics

-          Improve long term health

If the athlete possess all the needed physical abilities, you may be ready to progress.

So, we have the technique and consistency with our current skills, and we are physically able and ready to start working on progression; But what now? How do we move forward? How do we start? Like anything, we don’t want to bite off more than we can chew.  

When you try to tackle it all at once, you can get overwhelmed and even move backwards. Breaking a skill into pieces and mastering each one, allows for easier learning, greater understanding, and faster progression.

It is important to work with an experienced coach to set a progression plan and break down new skills into less sizable pieces.

 Perfection

Consistency

Strength & Conditioning

If you see these 3 signs, it’s time to talk to a coach and start planning your athletes progress!