Sean on Standing Fulls

Sean Guzman is a Team Coach and Tumbling Coach at Top Gun in Florida.

Standing fulls have always been a trickier skill for the average cheerleader to master. Even some of the most elite athletes in our sport have some sort of technical issue prohibiting them from having that picture perfect standing full. Lack of arm swing, weak hamstring and glutes, insufficient knowledge of body shape, and missed timed movement patterns, are just a few of the factors we see. Since many of these factors are issues seen in standing tuck, always remember to progress an athlete when ready and shows mastery of these elements in the more basic skills.

An athlete should always be conditioned enough to perform these skills. Conditioning assures the athlete and the coach, that the athlete is capable of performing the required movements. Standing fulls require fast arms, strong core, and explosive hamstrings. Wrist weights help tremendously for shoulder strength and speed. Arms are the leader in almost all our skills, so working the shoulders is crucial. There are a number of exercises that can be done with those wrist weights. Front raises, lateral raises, small arm circles, find what works for your athlete. For hamstring work, I like to use box jumps and I modify them with a quarter jump on, along with repetitive broad jumps and some other movements. Core work is of utmost importance. Hanging knee raises along with side v-ups and Russian twists, are my go-to workouts to target the obliques for all twisting skills.

Drills along with how the skill is taught can vary. There are 100’s of different ways to teach a standing full. I have always been a big advocate of the standing Arabian/front half approach. The standing Arabian being the first half of the standing full, and at the peak of the skill, it becomes a front half. Breaking down the standing full in this manner, allows for proper timing and air awareness. When you break down a single twist, it’s 4 quarters, when you break down a single flip, it is also 4 quarter, remembering that, allows you to breakdown the timing a lot more efficiently. The standing Arabian is a difficult skill to master, so do not rush this portion. Proper conditioning will always move the process along.