Cheerleading has become very competitive over the last 20 years. The stunts, jumps, and acrobats have become more challenging. This is especially true in competitive cheerleading where judges are watching intensely for any minor mistake made and every team wants to be on top. “Hitting zero” is every cheerleader’s goal!

The phrase hitting zero is used to describe the process of carrying out a cheerleading routine to completion during a competitive cheerleading event without receiving deductions from the judges. The zero refers to the deduction number and implies flawless execution.

Cheerleaders are constantly pushing themselves to jump higher, be perfectly balanced, have strength, and be more flexible. This article will give an insight into what cheerleaders’ practices are like, how they become a cheerleader and advance from beginner to expert, as well as how many accidents are there in cheerleading.

Glossary

The following is a list of cheerleading terms with their meaning, making it easier to understand the article.

Base – cheerleader in direct weight-bearing contact with performance surface and is a support person for flyer

Liberty – a single leg stunt in which the flyer bends and lifts the working leg so the instep is at or near the standing leg’s knee.

Basket Toss – toss with no more than 4 bases, 2 of which use their hands to interlock wrists making a basket weave style grip to be used as a platform for the flyer’s feet in the load in position

Flyer – cheerleader at top of the pyramid who will at times be tossed up in the air

Backspotter – person in stunt responsible for the head, neck, and shoulder area of the flyer

Stunts – building performances displaying a person’s skills.

Toss – flyer is thrown up in the air by the bases. This usually includes 1 flyer and 4 bases

Tumbling – gymnastics/acrobat skill that begins and ends on the ground

Cradle – a release move, bases catch the top person with palms up, by placing oh hand under-thigh and one hand under the back and top person as they fall back down. The top person must land face up. 

How many Levels are there in Cheerleading?

The levels begin at 0 and end at 6. With 0 being a beginner and 6 being the most challenging.

Level 0 – here the stunts are at waist level and there are no tosses or cradles allowed. This level is to build strength and strong basics. A pyramid can be formed with two stunt groups, where the flyers are connected at waist level.

Level 1 – this is the foundation, all stunts are allowed but only at shoulder level, basic tumbling skills are allowed as long as there is contact with the floor at all times. Pyramids here will have extension stunts, where the flyer is lifted to a height of bases’ arms full extended. They must be braced. 

Level 2 – extending the basics, two-legged extensions stunts, cradles from extension and liberty stunt sequences, half twists stunts, transitions are done at this level. Some teams may also do back handsprings, round back handsprings, and even basket tosses. Pyramids here can be one leg stunts that are braced 

Level 3 – twists and turns are what this level is about. Liberties and full twists stunts. You will see a single twist added to a cradle as well as tic tocs which is when the flyer switches her legs on a stunt and inversions, where the flyer is flipped. Flyers can perform a single trick during basket tosses for example a toe touch.

Level 4 – double trouble, here they will take stunts from level 3 and advance them or combine them. Tumbling passes that end in layouts, standing back tuck, and basket tosses can now have 2  tricks. Pyramids here have flyers flying every which way as they do release inversions braced on both sides and release moves braced on one side.

Level 5 – the elites are constantly pushing their limits with extended stunts, double twists, released inversions to extensions, and tic tocs to extensions. Cheerleaders here will flip and twist at the same time and baskets here in love with 3 tricks or more! Pyramids are usually very dynamic with braced release inversions, twists, and changing bases throughout.

Level 6 – this is the ultimate level, all of the stunts from level 5 here are advanced with free flipping mounts and dismounts. This is a pretty exciting level to watch as the cheerleaders push themselves even more.  2 1/2 high structures are done here where the middle tier flyers are lifting top tier flyers! This level does a variety of variations with the flips, twists, rolls, and jumps!

This was just an overview of each level there are several other stunts, exercises, and moves done at each level.

What does BF mean in Cheer?

BF stands for building fall in cheerleading. This is when a stunt transition fails and is not saved by the stunt group. For example when a base falls to the ground during a stunt. If in a competition, points are deducted for this.

Has anyone died from cheerleading?

There have been a few reported cases. From those cases, a few are directly related to the actual cheering activity. Most tragedies in cheerleading involve light and severe injuries but no deaths. There have been several cheerleaders that have either ended up paralyzed or with a broken part of their body. Some recent cases are:

Phornphiphat Eaddam, 20 from Thailand was a cheerleader who died in 2020 after running laps in hot weather during a practice. 

Lauren Chang from Newton Massachusetts, 20 years of age,  died in April of 2008 after being accidentally kicked in the chest during a “basket catch” routine. 

Ashley 14, from Massachusetts, died in August of 2005 of an injury to her spleen during cheerleading practice. She was in the middle of a stunt with two twists and failed to complete the second twist, falling to the ground chest down. 

Jessica Smith 19, from California, fell 15 feet and landed on her head at a meet in 2006. She was a flyer and the person that was to catch her lost his balance and was not able to catch Jessica. She had a spinal fracture which almost paralyzed her.

How does cheer scoring work?

It is believed that the scoring system promotes execution over numbers by rewarding skills with the proper techniques. The teams are divided by levels and scored within their levels. For instance, stunts may be given two scores: degree of difficulty  /5 and technique-synchronization  /10, if they do good they may get a 3/5 and 9/10 for example. This is where the term hitting zero comes in. Hitting zero means you had no deduction during a routine from a judge so your score can show a 5/5 and 10/10. All your moves were perfect.

Deductions are done by judges for several reasons. A building fall will cause a cheerleader -.75 points, Athlete fall (hands, head, knees touching ground) -.25, major building fall (multiple limbs on the ground) -1.25, maximum building fall (pyramid collapse) -1.75, boundary violation -.25 per violation, time limit violation ( team goes over the allowed time for a routine) -1.0.

Conclusion

Cheerleading with properly trained coaches can be a very fun and exciting activity. It can even become a profession for some! Making sure that you are placed at the right level and with the correct type of team is very important. There is a big difference if you want to cheer for fun for a year or two versus cheerleading being your life and you are now at a competitive level. All in all, it is always fun to watch cheerleaders at football games, they are who motivate us in cheering for our teams.