You have been to all of the games, done your share of pep rallies, washed more cars and sold more brownies than you care to remember, and decorated lockers, cars, and gymnasiums, but now it’s time!! Time for the really hard stuff...........competition!! It’s no accident that the word choreography begins with C-H-O-R-E! Is it really something that causes you to pull out all of your hair? Or can it be a rewarding time when you know the secrets for creating that awesome routine? Below are some ways to help you prepare for your routine! Getting Ready Working Hard Taking the Floor Your Music All in All GETTING READY TO GO 1. Assess your program. What can they do now, and what are they capable of in the future? 2. Crowd response and impressing the judges are your main goals. Try to create that "goosebump" routine. Do the thing that everyone will be doing next year. Take a risk on creativity. 3. Challenge your team! Push them to and beyond their performance limit! Never compromise their safety but push their skill limit. 4. Creativity is what the judges are looking for. Anyone can do a lib, stretch and extension, but it is how you get into them creatively that really adds to your points and catches the judge’s attention. 5. Look at things in a different light. Look for ideas for new stunts from going to the circus, acrobatics, ice-skating, "mistakes" in stunting, etc. Keep a cheerleading mindset. How can I change this person and this certain position to get into an old stunt a new way? 6. Choreograph to the score sheet! Hit all of the elements on the score sheet, giving more weight to the things that count more. 7. Have as many groups as possible for the number of team members that you have. If you are a competition squad, have the top number in the division you are entering, and use them all. Know division rules!! 8. Put your best in front and center and in the core area in the center if you have "rows". The ones that are not as good go toward the back and outsides. Apply this to jumps, tumbling, motions, stunt groups, everything. 9. Use the floor. Choreograph so that you are using the entire floor and have lots of position changes. Do not stay in one formation or one place on the floor for a long time. Spectators and judges lose interest. 10. Pack your routine! Have lots of elements going on at one time, but be clean and not sloppy. 11. Make your routine visually appealing. Lots of levels in motions, music moves, stunts, jump lines etc. 12. Don’t be afraid to get help in areas in which you lack expertise. It usually does not cost very much to hire a professional when it is divided up among the team. It will save you a great deal of time and energy. Call us at CCA..1.888.732.8522 for choreography help with any skill areas. 13. Stay up to date on cheer trends. Know what the winning team does to make the judges like them. Notice details and how they portray confidence on their faces. Watch a lot of competitions to see what makes a 1st place team. 14. Prepare and plan. Have a Plan B, C, D ..... Z for things that look great on paper but do not work with people. BLOOD, SWEAT, AND CHEERS 1. Highlight and Hide. Focus on what you have, not what you don’t have. Maximize your strengths, minimize your weaknesses. 2. Synchronize everything. Be very detailed! Work on synchronization more than any other element. It is the one thing that will be the most noticed if you are NOT! 3. Have quick, clean transitions. Never have someone run across the entire floor unless they are tumbling. Try not to cross the center line or have anyone move more than 10-12 feet. Think of different ways to get to the next position that would make it more visual. (tumble, walk the stunt, etc....ways besides attitude walking and running) QUICK and SMOOTH are key transition words! 4. Start yesterday and clean it up, clean it up, clean it up. Do not reinvent the wheel for competition. Reinvent how to work the wheel. Begin early working on every separate element and perform small elements at games and pep rallys to gain confidence. You can’t have clean or confident if you don’t start early enough to feel totally prepared. 5. Use a variety of jumps. This is something new that is starting to come back. Judges are tired of seeing the same old toe touches ten times in a routine. Use pikes, side hurdlers etc. (But, use only advanced jumps in your routine) Again, synchronization is KEY!. If some jump heights are not as high as they should be or form is not as perfect, it will sometimes be hidden by perfect approach and landing...in other words perfect synchronization. 6. Don’t hit a stunt and make it change so quickly that you don’t take advantage of seeing a strong hit at the top BUT don’t hold a stunt too long (about 3 or 4 seconds is good, unless you are walking it) This contributes to excitement and variety with a lot of quick changes. The audience should know and see that you hit a great stunt but not wonder when you are going to move to the next one. 7. Rehearse everything so that you are confident and prepared. (Entrances, exits, spirit, etc.) 8. Do only 2 or 3 " full outs" per practice. The rest of the time should be for clean up, and specific stunt practice. Keep them ready for "full out" by cheerobic training. Some practices, you may only work on the front half of the routine and others the last half. CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN.... "full out" will come. Work on very specific fixes and get all the parts right before you assemble the whole. 9. As a part of your preparation, consider whatever warm up, mat time, floor position time you may be given and prepare how you will use that time wisely so that you do not waste it. 10. Work on unity within the team. They will perform much better! Do things together outside of cheerleading. You will quickly see that lack of unity will also show up in your performance! 11. Take each practice to perform a different element of the routine. For example, one practice may be used to work on traffic patterns; another practice will be used to work only on projection/presentation/energy. BOOM! TIME TO HIT THE FLOOR! (hopefully that won’t literally happen) 1. Present yourself uniform from head to toe. It looks professional, makes you feel like a team, increases confidence and strengthens the focus! This means uniforms, socks, shoes, hair styles and ribbons, make- up styles, literally everything. And it certainly does not hurt to come in with matching windsuits, etc. 2. Teach them how to focus mentally. They need to think of every element of their routine as it comes, not all at once when they get on the floor. They should have a good idea of what it looks like from having seen videos of practices. Have them constantly focus. Have them lay on the floor with eyes closed...start the routine music and "walk" through, performing mentally. 3. Be flexible. If there is a problem or injury, don’t panic. You should have practiced for this situation and used bases and flyers in many positions. Prepare for the unexpected. Anything can happen and usually does! 4. Prepare your team (and parents!) for the judges. We control our performance, not the judges! Prepare for judges that do not smile at the participants, who seem to look down more than up, etc. Have them eyeball and direct their energy to the crowd vs worry about the judges. 5. Prepare for the floor. Know what to do if a ribbon falls out, a stunt does not hit, the music stops, someone forgets their position, etc. etc. etc . A "NOTE" ABOUT MUSIC 1. Your music should be a choreographed production not just a routine put to music. 2. No more than 4-6 eight counts per section. 3. Make sure the sound effects are not too loud. They should enhance your routine, not take it over. 4. Make sure you have clean transitions. 5. Watch voiceovers. Do not have too many. Should sound professional, not "goofy". 6. DJ’s know how to mix music, but they do not know cheerleading, so be careful when using them to get your music. 7. A professional is the way to go to save hours of time, and frustration. They can help you plan your sections. (Call CCA professionals for music mixes...1.888.732.8522) 8. Ask the professional cheer music mixer if you get any free edits with your price and if they can change the speed of your music without changing the pitch. 9. Make sure your music reflects the standards of your school, as well as the competition rules. See the CCA Music, Moves and Dress Policy in your camp materials. 10. Consider your audience and the judges. What are their likes, ages, etc.? They should really enjoy your music selections. Keep up to date. 11. Make your routine match the music! Dub in sound effects after the routine is done. It should not appear as though you just selected the music after you got to the competition. Music is intended to strengthen and emphasize what you are doing, not just as background noise. 12. It is usually easier to plan your routine first and then pick the music that you want to use. Then you make adjustments accordingly. 13. Always have 2 cassette tape copies and 2 copies of CD’s. Better to be safe than sorry. 14. Have the person running your music practice with the team beforehand. 15. Prepare the team for unforeseen music glitches. 16. "Home" CD’s and even some professional ones will not play on all CD players. Be sure the competition allows testing ahead of time for volume and performance. Older CD players, especially Sony are known for problems in this area. 17. Cheermix and other toolkits are inexpensive but sometimes overused. As you listen to things all year, make notes of sound effects and sections that seem appropriate to you. 18. Strive for strong, full range, rich sounds. It should be clean and clear with lots of volume and easy to count. SOME HELPFUL WEBSITES FOR SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC: www.wavesite.com www.hollywood.com www.hitsquad.com www.cdnow.com www.winmx.com www.Syntrillium.com www.sonicfoundry.com www.grogster.com www.audiogalaxy.com WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE 1. Be optimistically realistic to your team and parents about your performance and position in the rankings. Encourage them, praise them but help them to be realistic. More disappointing than a poor performance is the embarrassment of unsportsmanlike parents who think your team is better than it is and/or make a scene. DO NOT ALLOW PARENTS TO SEE THE SCORE SHEETS. They do not understand what they are looking at and how cheerleading is judged. 2. Perform so that you know that you have done your personal best... as a competitor and as a coach! 3. Prepare the team for the trophies and for the worst! Remember, judges have different OPINIONS. There is a big difference between disappointment and devastation. Judges judge you for 2.5 minutes. That is NOT the measure of your success or failure. Giving your all and doing your best for the whole season is the true measure of success. 4. Be humble in victory and classy in loss. 5. Let them have fun! Keep them focused, make them work, demand excellence...then let them know that cheerleading is not the most important thing in life...and to "just have fun with it". They will perform with more realistic smiles on their faces and will portray a lot of confidence. 6. Be yourself!! Don’t copy everyone else. Remember, winning a trophy cannot be your only goal. It is not the competition; it is the JOURNEY that brings you to the competition. A lot of 1st place teams have never received any trophies. 7. Pray, Pray, and Pray. Not just to get the trophies, but also to be " winners" by everyone doing his or her best whether the judges think so or not. If you as the coach have the right attitude, you will set the standard for your team.