Skill tracking
Cheer Skill Tracker: Level Requirements, Tumbling Progressions & Skills Checklist.
Log every tumbling pass and stunt against the level it belongs to. See who has a standing back handspring, who is one skill from moving up, and who has not thrown their tuck in six weeks, without asking three coaches and checking a laminated chart.
Short answer: a cheer skill tracker records which skills each athlete has hit, at what level, and when they last landed it consistently. All-star cheer runs on the USASF level system, levels 1 through 7, where the level defines which tumbling and stunt skills are legal in a routine, not how good the team is. Tracking skills per athlete against those level requirements is what tells you who is ready to move up, which stunt groups are safe to build, and which athletes will pass a level check before you enter a division.
Last updated July 2026.
What each cheer level actually allows.
This is the summary coaches use to explain placement to parents. It is a plain-language overview of the USASF level system, not a rulebook. The current USASF cheer rules document is always the source of truth for what is legal in a given season, and it changes.
| Level | Tumbling that defines it | Stunts that define it |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Forward and backward rolls, cartwheels, round-offs, front and back walkovers. No handsprings. | Knee and waist level single-leg stunts, two-leg prep level. |
| Level 2 | Back handspring, front handspring, level 1 tumbling connected into a handspring. | Prep-level single-leg stunts, extended two-footed stunts, half-twisting mounts, barrel rolls. |
| Level 3 | Running tucks, standing back handspring series. | Extended single-leg stunts, full-twisting mounts to prep. |
| Level 4 | Standing tucks, running layouts. | Full-twisting mounts to extended two-footed stunts, double-twisting dismounts from two-footed stunts. |
| Level 5 | Standing fulls, running tumbling to full or double. | Full, 1.5 and double twisting mounts, double-twisting dismount from extended single leg, advanced release moves. |
| Level 6 | Double fulls, typically after a minimum of two back handsprings. | Double-ups to two-leg and one-leg stunts, free-flipping mounts and dismounts (rewinds), twisting dismounts up to 2 1/4. |
| Level 7 | Back handspring straight into a double full, which level 6 does not allow. | Pyramids up to 2 1/2 stories high. |
Summary of the USASF all-star level system as published for the 2026 to 2027 season. Always check the current rules grid at usasf.net/rules before you build a routine or enter a division.
A checklist that remembers, per athlete.
Per athlete
Every skill, dated
Mark a skill when it is consistent, not the one time it landed. The date sticks, so progress is a record instead of a memory.
By level
Measured against the level
Skills sit against the level requirements they belong to, so "ready for level 3" stops being an opinion.
Whole team
See the gaps in one grid
One view of who has what across the roster. Build stunt groups and routines from what your athletes can actually do.
Safety
Catch the cold skills
An athlete who has not thrown a skill in weeks should not be thrown back into it cold. The last-hit date is right there.
The order skills are actually taught.
A tumbling progression chart exists because skipping steps is how athletes get hurt. Each skill assumes the one before it is consistent, not just possible. The progression below is the standard spine most US programs teach against, and it maps cleanly onto the level chart above.
The tracker's job is boring and important: keep a per-athlete record of where each one is on this ladder so a coach never has to reconstruct it from memory in the middle of a practice.
- Forward roll, backward roll, handstand hold.
- Cartwheel, round-off.
- Front walkover, back walkover.
- Standing back handspring, then a back handspring series.
- Round-off back handspring, front handspring.
- Running tuck, then standing tuck.
- Running layout.
- Standing full, running full.
- Double full.
Track it per athlete, and pair it with a practice plan that blocks real tumbling time, because progressions move when they get repetitions.
1
Import the roster
Athletes come from your cheer roster, so profiles, levels and contacts already exist. No second list to maintain.
2
Mark skills at practice
Tap a skill when an athlete hits it consistently. It takes seconds from a phone on the mat, which is the only way it gets done at all.
3
Use it for placement
At tryouts and level checks, pull the record instead of arguing. Skills and dates, per athlete, in writing.
All-star programs
Level placement is the most argued decision of your season. A dated skill record ends most of that conversation before it starts.
Cheer gyms
Tumbling classes feed teams. Tracking who is close to a handspring tells you who to move up and which class to open next.
School teams
Squad turnover every year means starting from zero. A skill history that survives graduating seniors is worth a lot in August.
What are level 1 cheer skills?
Level 1 tumbling is forward and backward rolls, cartwheels, round-offs, and front and back walkovers. Stunting is limited to knee and waist level single-leg stunts and two-leg prep level. No handsprings, no extended single-leg stunts. The current USASF rules document defines exactly what is legal each season.
What is the hardest cheer skill?
By the rulebook, level 7 allows the things nothing below it does: a back handspring straight into a double full, and pyramids up to two and a half stories. Most coaches would say the standing full is the real wall, because it has to be consistent under fatigue, not landed once on a good day.
How do you track cheer skills?
Record each athlete against the skills their level requires, and log the date the skill became consistent rather than first landed. That history is the part paper checklists lose: you can see who is close, who has plateaued, and who has not thrown a skill in six weeks and should not be thrown back in cold.
What level should my cheerleader be?
Placement follows skills the athlete performs safely and consistently, not age or years in the sport. A team competes at the level of the skills in its routine, so athletes are placed where their tumbling and stunting fits safely. Your gym makes the call, and the USASF age grid limits which divisions a team can enter.
Is a cheer skills checklist enough?
A printed checklist works for one practice and fails across a season. It has no dates, no history and one copy, so when a parent asks why their athlete did not move up, you are recalling instead of showing. A tracker keeps the same checklist with a timeline attached to every athlete.
Do cheer levels change between seasons?
The USASF updates its cheer rules and age grid between seasons, and skills do move. That is why the chart above is a summary and the rules document is the authority. Check the current grid before you choreograph a routine or commit a team to a division.
Game day, every day
Stop guessing who is ready
Track tumbling and stunt progressions against every level, per athlete, with the dates attached.
Takes 30 seconds. No credit card needed.