Partner Stunting Technique

[oh_snap]

Hey everyone--

I need some drills to help correct co-ed partner stunting technique for both guys and gals.

As far as what the guys need help with:
- continuous speed during the toss
- avoiding "dead-lifting" the girl/not letting her jump
- straight up-and-down motion/not pulling
- finishing the toss (flick, etc.)

I'm aware that there are two styles of tossing right now, so if you know which you are using/talking about, please make note.

As far as what the gals need help with:
- stopping extra hip "thrust" motion at the top of the toss
- speed on the jump from the bottom
- body alignment as a whole

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

[Kong]

The style of toss I am talking about are when the guy does not squat behind the girl and throw, but rather when he stays more upright and performs more of an upright row.  In other words, it's a toss, not a throw.

As far as what the guys need help with:
- continuous speed during the toss

Make sure the guys are getting their arms moving first and THEN following through with their legs.  If a guy stands up too quickly when performing a toss, he will slow down in the second half of his toss since your arms are not as strong as your legs. 

- avoiding "dead-lifting" the girl/not letting her jump

Make sure the guy follows the girl down in her dip, but do not push her down or pull her off the ground.  As she starts to jump, accelerate your arms and follow through with your legs.

- straight up-and-down motion/not pulling

This will come along with the above two actions.  Make sure when they accelerate their arms that they are doing a motion like an upright row and watch that they are not bending with their back instead of their legs.  If they bend over the girl and pull using their back, they will pull the girl in causing her to get out of a proper body line and causing the guy to throw her over his head in many cases.

- finishing the toss (flick, etc.)

Be sure the base and top are releasing at the same time.  Make sure the guy is fully extending his arms before flicking.  Going back to the first few points, if his arms have slowed down and he is out of power, he will not be able to fully extend his arms and, consequently, will not flick at the top.

As far as what the gals need help with:
- stopping extra hip "thrust" motion at the top of the toss

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by this.  If it's that her hips are getting out of line, there are a number of things that can be causing that.  Watch that the flick is straight up and not forward (that will push her hips forward).  Watch that she does not "pinch a penny" (doing that often does make the hips go forward...have them pull up instead).  Be sure that the girl pulls up with her shoulders and does not settle them back or forward.  Be sure the guy is not "toeing" her in the stunt as that will cause her hips to drift forward as well.

- speed on the jump from the bottom

Be sure she does not over-dip.  If she is going too low in her dip, it will be difficult for her to explode up.  Along similar lines, have the girls work on explosive power drills and exercises (does your team do plyrometric type activities/have access to a weightroom and a trainer to put together an activity-specific exercise program?).

- body alignment as a whole

See above comments about hips.

Hope this was helpful and I'm sure others will have some useful information.

Kong

[Leonidas]

What really helped me and everyone I instructed was simply- BE FAST with your toss. As long as everything else is working- be fast. That really helps with every skill. When I do tosses I try to come off the ground at the top of my toss, (just like baskets)Have the guy focus on keeping his elbows out(during the toss), this will allow him to have a "pulling" motion up vs. him keeping his elbows in, which turns into a "lifting" motion, that isn't nearly as powerful. Kong covered alot of everything else that needs to be focused on. As far as the girl, if she is thrusting her hips at the top. That simply means she isn't flicking straight down. What else helps with the girls jump from the bottom. At the end of practice, have them get with their partners, have them simulate a toss, but instead of tossing, when the girl starts to jump up, have the guy resist their jump. This will help with the speed, which will turn into height! If you have any other questions or need some more ideas, feel free, I got a million!!

-Leonidas

[rockymountaincoach]

One of the things that Ive noticed as both a cheerleader and an instructor over the years is that all stunters arent created equal. meaning every guy has his own natural rhythm when it comes to tossing a stunt. Based on a guys height he may be slower from the bottom but his long arms create more leverage , if he is shorter and more stocky he may be faster and more explosive with a shorter toss but more time to react.
Look at the makeup of your male stunters as well as where they look most akward at the bottom of the toss this may help you determine where they are the weakest and therefore what areas they need to concentrate on. That being said:

The faster a partner stunt is off of the ground the lighter the girl will become therefore the easier it will be to drive the stunt to the top , ie Newtons first law of motion, an object in motion remains in motion.

One thing that people fail to overlook as well is reaction time, guys especially concentrate so much on a huge toss that they forget to "go for" the stunt following the toss. After I toss a stunt, assuming I attack the feet and drive I will fair much better than if I would allow the stunt to come to me, because then I am catching her full weight instead of following through at her lightest point.

Finally there is just the comfort factor. You will find that as a couple gets more comfortable stunting together, their timing will improve and so will their stunting.

[apeman54]

I know nobody has posted in this in a while but i thought i would add anyway.

The last point RME hit on is one that I've found to be huge especially when your first learning. Having one partner to stunt and get comfy with makes a big difference. When i was first learning I had one girl i stunted with on a daily basis and anything new I learned was done with her even though she was learning too. We knew each others quirks and could pick up new things more quickly working together. I did stunt with others regularly as well but not when i was learning something new. Stunting with others is good as well as it keeps you from developing bad habits that you might not notice when stunting with your main partner.

Trust between a flyer and her base can overcome some flaws in there technique. It will never replace the steps needed to learn new skills but it will make it easier. So, if your able to keep the same pairs while learning that is what i would recomend.

[calicheerleader]

make sure the girl flicks at the top and doesn't flick the guys hand outward/ away from her but rather straight down