What Is a Prep in Cheerleading?

Quick answer: a prep is a stunt position in which the flyer is held at shoulder height by the bases, with the bases' arms bent rather than fully extended. It's one of the most fundamental stunt positions in cheer.

What Does It Look Like?

In a prep, the bases hold the flyer's feet at roughly shoulder height, elbows bent, with the flyer standing upright and balanced between them. It sits lower than an extension, where the bases' arms are fully extended overhead.

Who Is Involved?

A prep is built by a stunt group - typically a flyer, two bases and a back spot supporting from behind.

Where It Fits in a Routine

Preps are used both as a stand-alone stunt and as a transition point: many stunts load into a prep before moving into a higher position, a single-leg position, or a toss skill. Because of this, "prep" is also used loosely to describe the load-in phase of many stunts.

How the Term Is Used

You'll hear "prep" used both as a noun (the position itself) and as a verb ("prep the stunt") to describe getting the flyer into that shoulder-height position before continuing.

Related Skills

The prep is closely related to the extension, which is essentially a prep taken to full arm extension, and to the liberty, which is a single-leg position often built from a prep or extension.

Level / Division Context

Preps are foundational and appear from the earliest competitive levels, making them one of the first stunt positions most athletes learn. Exactly which stunts are permitted at which level is set by each governing body's level descriptions - see Level 1 for an example.

What Judges Look For Conceptually

Judges are generally looking for a controlled load-in, a stable and level position with both bases matching height, and a clean, controlled dismount or transition out of the prep - rather than the position simply being reached.