Cheer Stunts Explained

Quick answer: a stunt is any skill in which a flyer is supported above the floor by one or more teammates - from a simple prep at shoulder height to a fully extended liberty, a basket toss or a connected pyramid. Stunt names describe the height, the flyer's body position, and how the flyer gets into and out of the stunt.

How Stunt Names Work

Most stunt names combine three ideas:

1. Height - waist level, prep (shoulder height) or extension (the flyer's whole body above the bases' heads).
2. Body position - two feet, or one foot with a shape such as a liberty, heel stretch, scorpion, arabesque or bow-and-arrow.
3. Entry and exit - how the flyer gets up (load-in, sponge, full-up, switch-up, rewind) and down (cradle, pop-down).

So "extended liberty" means a liberty body position at extension height, and "full-up to a heel stretch" means twisting a full rotation on the way up into a heel stretch.

Stunt Families

• Stunts - one stunt group holding one flyer.
• Tosses - the flyer is thrown into the air and caught, from a straight ride to a toe-touch basket or kick full.
• Pyramids - several stunts connected together, often using braces.
• Release moves and inversions - higher-level skills where the flyer is briefly free of the bases or upside down.

How the Level Rules Shape Stunts

Under the USASF All Star rules, each level unlocks more: prep-level stunts at Level 1, extensions and prep-level single-leg stunts at Level 2, extended single-leg stunts and the first release moves at Level 3, extended inversions at Level 4, and free-flipping skills like rewinds at Level 6. Each stunt page lists when that skill is first allowed.

A Note on Safety

This section explains what each stunt is, who's involved and how it's judged - it doesn't teach how to perform them. Stunts should only be learned with qualified coaches, proper progressions and required spotters. See our safety policy.

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