Cheer Music!

Ahhh I just love cheer music! Definitely the music that the gym I went to mad! It’s very important that the music is upbeat and it can pump you up to keep going. Some of you guys who work out usually bring iPods and depending on the person its fast rap, screaming music, upbeat girly music and just like how everyone at the gym works out to upbeat music, so do the cheerleaders while they perform. Rarely do you go to cheer competition and see a good team paired with slow music. I actually think you never hear a team with slow music if they stink or if they are good. Some teams like to speed up songs, most teams do, and you can check out the samples of music that I have posted. The music will make you want to jump because it’s so energetic and that’s exactly how every team should be. If you go to an opera show, the crowd is quiet, but if you go to Ultra, everyone is screaming! It’s a huge difference what music can do. Music can mix with your emotions and that’s why fast music is important to any workout! If you never watched, one of the videos I’ve posted the music for cheerleading is a mix of different songs twisted with other songs and they add different sound effects its great!
TOP GUN 2010
EAST CELEBRITY ELITE 2010

Smiling

Like I said in my last post, smiling is the best facial expression to do while performing. Facials aren't an option they just look cheesy and awful. Smiling is something you CANNOT forget! To make sure the crowd and the judges are into your team you have to make it look fun. It kind of sounds a bit easy to just keep smiling but it's not. With all the running around, lifting and dancing the routine involves you lose your breath. Most cheerleaders forget to smile because they are exaughsted and it’s something they don’t think about. As cliché as it sounds, smiling will just make getting through the routine easier. If you can try keeping your mind off the difficult things and just go through the routine like you always practice, you are in good shape!

POM POMS!

Oh, pom poms...what a funny name for such a silly thing it fits perfect! Pom poms are the most used prop in cheerleading. Cheerleaders who cheer for a sport are always using them but competitive cheerleading teams never use them. To be honest I have no clue why we use them! They look cute which is a nice and they can grab attention in some cases. It can depend on what your pom pom looks like. Pom poms come in many different forms. They can be a solid color, a double color or even multicolored. The colors usually and definitely should match your uniforms. Some are metallic, big, small, wide, and thin, they are all different. You can get pom poms in magazines like the cheerleading catalog. Like I said I have no idea why we use them, they aren’t needed to cheer they are just a decoration that makes cheering a little more exciting.
Spiriting, the screaming we do after a cheer, can be extremely awkward without pompoms. Once you start cheering with pom poms, you don’t want to put them down. When you spirit we usually shake or poms so they can make a light noise or shine, so without poms we have to use spirit fingers (like bring it on -___-). I think pom poms aren’t needed but they definitely make us look cute and are a great prop to avoid spirit fingers!

Facials

Facials are probably the most annoying thing a cheerleader can do to be honest. You know when a team is bad when you see the cheerleaders so weird facials or corny moves. A facial isn’t the facial at the spa, it’s an over exaggerated emotion on a cheerleaders countenance. Good coaches tell their teams not to do facials and to just make it clean with a smile. If there were a team doing facials, it would have to be a young team. Performing with facials is a way to train the young girls to smile on stage and they actually look cute doing it. The whole idea of "Cheerleaders can’t perform with frowns they have to do facials!" is all a joke. DO NOT DO FACIALS unless you are five of course. Judges don’t want to see 17-year-old girls winking and cheering with their mouth open it’s just weird to them. A smile that it’s forced is the best face to put on and you will look good and not stupid. :)
She looks good with just a smile!
This girl on the other hand, just looks so awkward!

Uniforms

I have to say, my favorite thing about cheerleading would be the uniforms we wear to compete. Some teams have ugly ones, but I have seen some really nice creative ones! Over the years, if I take a look at all my uniforms you can definitely see a huge change. The uniforms now are a lot more of the creative side with the cutouts and straps, and now the uniforms have extra cute add ons like studs or rhinestones. Back when I was younger in 2003 the uniforms for each team were similar in one way or another, now teams have the option of being unique and getting more fancy with their uniforms. I have seen some cheer teams actually have a theme with their uniforms; the uniforms were identical to nurse outfits!
Uniforms that have something to grab your eye are the uniforms that look the best while performing in my eyes. If there are strips down the arm or down the skirt it looks nice when the team does motions. Uniforms can make your team look good or bad and you always try to stay fit for your uniform!



                              
 DONT WANT TO LOOK LIKE THIS!