Running the routine over and over is not practice, it is testing. Run-throughs tell you what is broken; drills are what fix it. These are the cheer practice drills that move a team forward, grouped by category, with the coaching cue that makes each one work and a two-hour practice block you can run tonight.
What drills should cheerleaders do at practice?
A complete cheer practice pulls from six categories: conditioning and flexibility, motion sharpness, jumps, tumbling, stunts, and routine work. Skip a category for three weeks and it becomes the thing that costs you deductions at your first competition. Use this as the weekly balance, then adjust for where your team is weak.
| Category | Share of practice | What it actually fixes |
|---|---|---|
| Conditioning and flexibility | 15% | Injury rate, endurance through the back half of a routine |
| Motions and sharpness | 10% | Synchronization deductions, the thing judges see first |
| Jumps | 15% | Height, toe touch flexibility, landings on count |
| Tumbling | 20% | Level progression and the skills your routine needs to legally count |
| Stunts | 25% | Hit rate, which is where competitive scores are won or lost |
| Routine work | 15% | Transitions, spacing, stamina, and finding what to drill next |
Conditioning and flexibility drills
- Hollow body holds. Three sets of 30 seconds. The single most transferable drill in cheer: hollow position is what a tight flyer, a clean back handspring and a controlled cradle all depend on.
- Wall handstand holds. Build to 60 seconds. Shoulder stability for tumbling and for bases pressing overhead.
- Toe touch abs. Sets of 15 in a straddle position, focusing on lifting the legs rather than reaching the arms.
- Bridge and back walkover drills. Shoulder flexibility work done daily beats a stretching session done once a week.
- Middle and straddle splits with active holds. Hold 30 seconds, then lift the front leg off the ground for 5. Active flexibility is what shows up in a toe touch; passive flexibility does not.
- Routine-pace cardio. Two and a half minutes of continuous work matching your routine length, so athletes are conditioned for the actual demand rather than for running.
Motion and sharpness drills
Judges see synchronization before they see difficulty. These drills are boring and they are the fastest points on the mat.
- Mirror drill. Team faces a coach and hits motions on call, no counts. Trains reaction and locks in placement.
- Wall drill. Athletes stand with their back against a wall and hit high V, T, and daggers. The wall corrects arms that drift forward without a coach saying anything.
- Slow-fast-slow. Run the motion sequence at half speed, then double speed, then normal. Exposes who is guessing at placement.
- Eyes-closed count drill. The team performs a section with eyes closed. Whoever is off is following someone instead of counting.
- Freeze drill. Coach calls freeze mid-sequence; everyone holds. Walk the lines and correct one athlete at a time while the position is live.
Jump drills
Jump height comes from the approach and the lift, not from the legs at the top. Drill the approach.
- Swing-down, swing-up. Ten reps of just the arm swing and dip, no jump. Timing first.
- Jump from a knee lift. Athletes drive knees to chest and land, ten reps, before ever adding the straddle.
- Wall jumps. Sitting against a wall in toe touch position for 20 seconds to build the flexibility the jump requires.
- Consecutive jumps. Three toe touches in a row on count with no rest. Competition sequences are consecutive; practice should be too.
- Height check. Jump toward a marked point on the wall or a coach's raised hand. Athletes jump higher when there is a target.
Tumbling drills
Break every tumbling skill into its components and drill the component, not the skill. An athlete who cannot hold a hollow position will not fix their back handspring by throwing forty more of them.
| Skill | Drill it with |
|---|---|
| Back handspring | Sit-and-fall drill to a mat stack, standing snap-downs, handstand snap-downs |
| Round-off back handspring | Round-off rebound to a stack, then round-off snap-down for rebound height |
| Standing tuck | Jump-set drill onto a raised mat, hollow-to-tuck shape work, rebound timing |
| Layout | Straight-body sets on a trampoline or tumble track, hollow holds, arm placement drill |
| Full | Twist-timing drill on the ground, half-twist sets, blocked progressions with a spot |
| Front tumbling | Punch-front drills onto a mat stack, handstand block work |
Keep tumbling groups small, three or four athletes to a coach, and know each athlete's current progression before practice starts rather than working it out on the mat. Tracking that per athlete is what our cheer skill tracking feature exists for, and it turns "who is close to a standing tuck" into a list instead of a conversation. Our cheerleading stunts list by level covers what each level requires.
What are good stunt drills for cheerleading?
The best stunt drills isolate one role at a time. A stunt group that keeps dropping is usually failing at one specific job, and drilling the whole stunt again just repeats the failure with more people involved.
- Dip timing, no flyer. Bases and backspot count and dip together ten times. Most instability starts here.
- Flyer body positions on the ground. Liberty, scorpion and heel stretch held on one leg on the floor for 20 seconds each. If they cannot hold it on the ground, they cannot hold it in the air.
- Waist-level holds. Build the stunt only to waist level and hold for 15 seconds. Trains the squeeze and the lock without the fall risk.
- Five-in-a-row. The group hits the same stunt five consecutive times. Competition needs consistency, not one good hit.
- Cradle control drill. Practice the dismount from a low load repeatedly. Bad cradles cause more injuries than bad extensions.
- Load-in counts out loud. The whole group counts audibly. When the count is silent, everyone times it differently.
- Base swap drill. Rotate who bases which side occasionally so a missing athlete does not end your stunt group's season.
Assign roles deliberately rather than by height alone. Our guide to building a cheer stunt group covers how to pick bases, flyers and backspots and how to troubleshoot a stunt that keeps falling the same way.
A two-hour practice block you can run tonight
| Time | Block | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 to 0:05 | Attendance and announcements | Take it fast, on a device, while athletes start stretching |
| 0:05 to 0:20 | Warm-up and conditioning | Fixed sequence athletes can lead themselves by week three |
| 0:20 to 0:35 | Motions and jumps | Mirror drill, wall drill, consecutive jumps |
| 0:35 to 1:00 | Tumbling stations | Small groups by progression, coach at the hardest station |
| 1:00 to 1:35 | Stunt groups | Isolation drills first, then five-in-a-row on the routine stunt |
| 1:35 to 1:50 | Routine sections | Work the two transitions that failed last run-through |
| 1:50 to 2:00 | Full run-through and notes | End clean, name three things for next practice |
Write the plan before you arrive. A practice planned in the parking lot becomes a practice where forty athletes stand on the edge of the mat. Building these blocks in advance is exactly what cheer practice planning software is for, and our cheer practice plan template gives you a starting structure to adapt.
How do you make cheer practice more efficient?
Write the plan first, block it in timed segments, and run stations so nobody stands still. Take attendance in under a minute. Use a warm-up sequence athletes can lead themselves. Keep tumbling groups small with a known progression per athlete. Post the plan where the assistant coaches can see it, so three coaches are not deciding what happens next in the middle of practice. Then end on a full run-through, which gives the team a clean finish and gives you the list for next time.
Frequently asked questions
What drills should cheerleaders do at practice?
Pull from six categories every week: conditioning and flexibility, motion sharpness, jumps, tumbling, stunts and routine work. Drills fix what run-throughs reveal, so use the run-through to find the problem and a drill to solve it rather than repeating the routine.
How long should a cheer practice be?
Competitive all-star teams typically run two to three hours, two or three times a week; school sideline squads often run 60 to 90 minutes. A well-blocked two-hour practice beats a loose three-hour one, because athletes spend more of it moving.
What are good stunt drills for cheerleading?
Isolate one role at a time: bases drilling dip timing without a flyer, flyers holding body positions on the ground, backspots practicing catch position, and the group counting loads out loud. Add waist-level holds, controlled cradle reps, and five consecutive hits of the same stunt to build consistency.
How do you make cheer practice more efficient?
Plan before you arrive, block the time, run stations, keep tumbling groups small, and post the plan so assistants know what is next. Fast attendance and a self-led warm-up recover ten minutes at the start of every single practice.
How often should a cheer team practice?
Competitive all-star teams commonly practice two to three times a week in season, with additional tumbling classes or privates outside team time. School squads often practice more frequently but for shorter sessions during football and basketball season. Consistency across the week matters more than total hours in any single session.