Recovering After a Stunt Fall at Competition

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For months on end, you’ve been perfecting your elite stunts. You are convinced that your tumbling pass would hit in your sleep. The pyramid has never been stronger. So what happens when your team finally gets on the competition floor — and everything falls apart? The most important thing is to keep your cool, remain confident, and push forward. The show must go on. Today, we are going to talk about our top ways to recover when a stunt doesn’t hit on competition day.

Move On

It doesn’t matter if a base didn’t catch the foot or if the flyer didn’t lock out. For whatever reason, the stunt fell, and that’s all you need to know right now. Have you ever watched a team perform where nothing seems to go right? Maybe you’ve even been on this team. Usually, this is the result of distraction. When one person doesn’t hit, the whole team begins to focus on that mistake instead of what they need to do to make the rest of the routine perfect. It will not help you to dwell on the stunt that fell. Instead, take a breath, move to your next spot on the mat, and move on.

Encourage

Your teammates might be feeling down after that stunt falls. Don’t let their discouragement prevent them from success in the rest of your routine. When you have a second to catch your breath (and we know that’s not often!), take a second to shout something encouraging to your teammates. “We’ve got this!” and “yes, you can do it!” are simple, but they may very well be the push the team needs to finish strong and not give up.

Smile

Judges care about how you react to the stunt and how you move on. If your face is twisted into a sour expression for the remainder of the routine, your score will absolutely reflect that. Keep a smile on, work your facials, slay your dance — whatever you need to do to feel better about your performance. It’s okay to be upset about the routine, but only after the music stops and your team leaves the mat. Stay focused, and remember to show off your confidence.

Stay Optimistic

Believe it or not, if the stunt error was small, the judges might have missed it…or, at least, considered the fall to be more minor than you do. For example, if your stunt was supposed to be caught high, and you only caught it at prep level, that won’t be a deduction. Instead, that will likely just be a small score adjustment on your difficulty section. No mistake is the end of the world, and even major mistakes can be fixed.

Do Your Best

At the end of the day, we are all human. Athletes, coaches, parents, and judges can make mistakes from time to time. If your stunt falls, it’s okay. You can regroup with your team and think of ways to prevent that fall from happening again. No matter what happens, have fun on the mat and do your best.

We can’t wait to see your team hit at our next WSA Cheer event! Contact us today to register.