How Is Competitive Cheer Scored?

Quick answer: competitive cheer routines are generally scored on a combination of difficulty (how hard the skills are) and execution (how cleanly they're performed), with points deducted for specific errors such as drops, falls or missed elements.

What the Terms Mean

Two ideas sit at the centre of almost every cheer scoring system:

• Difficulty - the technical demand of the skills a team chooses to perform.
• Execution - how cleanly, correctly and confidently those skills are actually performed.

A team can choose harder skills for a higher difficulty score, but if those skills aren't performed cleanly, execution scores (and deductions) bring the overall score back down. This trade-off is central to how teams plan a routine.

How It Affects a Routine

Because both difficulty and execution matter, teams generally aim for the hardest routine they can perform cleanly and consistently - not simply the hardest routine possible. A slightly easier routine performed with no errors often scores better than a harder routine with mistakes.

What Judges Evaluate

Beyond difficulty and execution, judges typically also look at synchronisation (how well the team moves together), technique across stunts, tumbling, jumps and motions, and overall routine composition and formation work.

Possible Deductions

Deductions are points subtracted for specific issues - for example a fallen stunt, a tumbling error, going out of bounds, or a time deduction for exceeding the limit. See What Is a Deduction? for more detail, and What Does Hit Zero Mean? for what it means to have none.

Scoring Systems Differ

Exact scoring categories, point values and deduction sizes vary significantly between governing bodies and competition providers, and change between seasons. This page explains the general concepts that most systems share - always check the score sheet used at your specific event for exact figures.