Author: Andre

Debbie Love has been preaching the Dynamic Warmup for as long as I can remember. It’s the idea of moving through positions to stretch and warmup muscles instead of static stretching, which is hitting a position and holding it. Men’s Fitness said a Dynamic Warmup is: a series of movements designed to increase body temperature,…

Dear USASF Northeast Program Owners & Coaches: I am writing to inform you of some staff changes that will affect the Northeast Region. We are pleased to announce that Tim Morgan will transition from Northeast Regional Director to an operational role focusing on logistics and field staff development. Prior to stepping into the role of…

Wendy Bruce-Martin returns to the 36th edition of Drill=Skills to discuss Mental Prep with David and Shea.

I recently had a couple conversations about the reasons given for things not going as well as expected at a gym, such as lower than expected placements and athletes leaving a program. One coach talked about their program’s team placements being low, but as a program they didn’t have a great understanding of the scoring…

In tumbling it’s pretty standard to break each skill down into parts. The instructors at the USASF regional meetings did a great job of this, pointing out the entry, middle, and exit of each skill. We need to start doing the same things for stunts and developing drills that help with the pieces. The only…

Dear USASF Dance Programs and Coaches: Because of the nuances and similarities between the genres, the USASF is, once again, assisting its members in determining the appropriate category to enter that most closely matches the descriptions provided in the USASF Divisions & Categories document located in your USASF Member Profile. If you have any question…

The full crew is back together for show 35, discussing basic elements of skills.

October has come and gone, bringing showcase season and Halloween with it. Here’s the rest of the news: Several cheerleaders have joined the kneeling during the national anthem or similar protests, including cheerleaders in Texas, Michigan, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Georgia. The Kennesaw State cheerleaders seemed to receive the most press for their involvement in…

Most coaches know their athletes should stretch before and after practice. It doesn’t always happen, but we at least know it should. What many don’t realize is the stretching should be different before and after a practice or workout. Stretching before practice is done with the intent of getting your body and muscles ready to…

On the 34th episode of Drills=Skills Shea and Sean discuss preparing for competition.

When stunting your dips should be 2 counts down and 1 count up. Going slower down will help maintain control over the stunt during the dip. Going faster up will provide the power for the upcoming skill. The ratio of coming up in half the time it took to get down emphasizes that coming up…

The USASF has sent a steady stream of emails over the past couple of weeks. These emails have covered topics including the Webinar Wednesday series, Special Needs, the Growth Task Force, being Competition Ready, Provisional International Cheer Divisions, and the Dance Worlds Score Sheet. We’ll share as much information from these emails as we feel…

Ben Hazlerig of SceneZing joins the guys on this week’s Drills=Skills.