Help!! How do we stop cheerleaders from singing???

[kbcheer]

I am looking for any help with announciation, that I can find.  I have current began helping out with a high school program.  They have made a lot of improvements in the last two years however, they sing thier cheer!!  Can anyone give me ideas on how to change this bad habit??  I am looking for any drills I can use--any help is appreciated!!!

[IHScheercoach]

What I used to do when i coached my youth program was have them lie on their stomachs and say a cheer. If they were cutting their words and using their diaphragm, they would feel pressure from their stomachs and they would kind of be moving up and down from it. If they were singing the words there wouldn't be as much pressure. It helped for my little ones, they learned to cut their words and stopped singing the cheers. I just dont know how useful it will be for high school girls.

Hopefully this helps!

[Pauliana]

What I used to do when i coached my youth program was have them lie on their stomachs and say a cheer. If they were cutting their words and using their diaphragm, they would feel pressure from their stomachs and they would kind of be moving up and down from it. If they were singing the words there wouldn't be as much pressure. It helped for my little ones, they learned to cut their words and stopped singing the cheers. I just dont know how useful it will be for high school girls.

Hopefully this helps!

Sounds good. I suggest you have them take a breath between each word, as well.

[coachamie]

I can vividly remember my coach when I was in 9th grade making us all stand in a circle and say the cheer over and over and over until we didn't sing it. I don't know how long we did it, It felt like a good 30 minutes of staring at each other saying the cheer. She would yell it with us how it was supposed to sound and we had to mimmic it. There are probably better ways to do it, but it worked for us.

[SoCalCheerCoach2]

I usually make my girls run while saying it.  Not only does it build up their endurance but they learn real fast how beneficial it is for them to chop their words and not sing.   

[Pauliana]

I usually make my girls run while saying it.  Not only does it build up their endurance but they learn real fast how beneficial it is for them to chop their words and not sing.   

That reminds me: while they are running, make them hold hands and say the cheer. This not only builds endurance, and corrects the singing, it also makes them realize that a SQUAD has to stay together throughout it all.

The first time I did this with a squad it took them three times to be able to run a whole lap completely together, but it really helped to bring across the message that you can't have a few leaders and then a few stragglers on a great squad, everyone has to perform the same.

[coachK]

I like this idea for any team!  My dancers don't have to worry about chanting words, but they do have to work together....and I definitely have some leaders and some stragglers.  I'm always telling them that not one of them is any more important than any other of them, but this would make them see it on their own!

I will definitely incorporate this into practice!

[Pauliana]

Coach K, you could give them a "Team Chant".

We used "Together we stand. United we soar. HMS, the best forever more."

They repeated it over and over as they ran around the track holding hands in rows of three or four.

If they broke apart, or if one row tried to pass another row, or a row fell more than two steps behind, or if the words to the chant weren't together, I made them all stop, take a few deep breaths, and then start again.

They had to make it all the way back to the place where they last stopped before they could truly stop. Really helps the team work together. One note of caution: watch the strong girls, don't let them start to bully the weaker ones. Make them realize that they need to be encouraging, not discouraging!

[coachK]

I like it a lot!!

[kbcheer]

Thank you for the great suggestions.  We are going to incorporate all of these suggestions to keep things from getting boring   I definitely like the running holding hands, it can also be used as a great team builder

[chscougarcheer]

we run laps while we say the cheer , loud and "choppy" over and over and over. your girls will hate you at the moment but theyll thank you when they get compliments on how loud and strong they sound. also, you could tell them ONE SYLLABLE WORDS ONLY. for example my school sung would be " COUUURTLAAND" , instead we say ''COURT/LAND" , loud and chopped into two parts. tell them their cheerleaders not singers! lol(:

[**cheer**]

make them yell a favorite song at there loudist im not sure why it works but its what my coach did i think its reversephicology

[CoachErin]

I break every word up into syllables. I say Vick-Toe-Ree so when they say it, it comes out right. I have done the running, the lying on the stomach, putting hands on their stomach to feel their diaphragm, etc. All are helpful, reptition, I found, seems to be the best solution. It becomes automatic the more they do it.