The latest issue of the snazzy and information-packed on-line cheerleading magazine – Entirely Cheer – is now available for your reading pleasure. I might add that it is free!  That’s right – it won’t cost you a penny to read this cheer magazine.  (To enhance your reading pleasure, be sure to use the “whole screen” feature – it is the third icon from the left at the top of the page.) The current issue contains several “Tip Sheets” such as, How to prepare for the new All-Star season; How to prepare for the new High School Cheer season; and much more.  The articles include topics on communication, hydration, sportsmanship plus a video on how to do a back walkover mount stunt!  (more…)

In my previous posts, I shared the wisdom of legendary basketball coach – John Wooden. Cheerleading coaches (and everyone, really) can learn a lot from this sage fellow.  Coach Wooden had his own ideas about criticism – who should do the criticizing, under what circumstances and how. (more…)

If we are smart, we try to learn from people smarter than us!  Cheerleading coaches have tough (and rewarding) jobs.  One of the best athletic coaches ever – John Wooden – was a master motivator.  Here is some more of his wisdom.  (more…)

Yesterday I wrote about cheerleading coaches who yell at their cheerleaders.  I suspect many do this because they truly believe it is a way to motivate athletes.  But does it work?  (more…)

This question was asked of me by a young, newly minted coach who was wondering how best to coach her team.  She had experienced coaches who yelled (and sometimes screamed) at cheerleaders and she hadn’t liked it.  According to her,  the yelling resulted in the athletes obeying out of fear and the quality of “life” on the team was not good. 

So why do some coaches yell and scream?  Well, let’s look at this. (more…)

Brian Payne, who is an expert tumbling coach and the director of Super Duper Sportkids and owner of Acrojax Trampoline and Tumbling in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, wrote an article about mental blocks which appears in the most recent Cheer Biz News. 

Brian offers a number of tips on how to work with a blocked athlete.  (more…)

In my last post, I said that sometimes a cheer coach can unwittingly cause mental blocks.  This can be due to the pressure to win and/or the lack of experience on the part of the coach.

So how can you know if a coach is the right one?  Here are some things to look for. (more…)

Do you want to do a good deed today?  Well you can by going to this site - woodhouse.com, clicking on the “Making a difference together” link and then click on “Vote the for the May winner” and vote for Candidate # 1 – Heidi Frye.   (Steve Wedge, President and CEO of COA Cheer and Dance informed me about this situation.)

Here is her story:  (more…)

The short answer is – yes!  The longer answer has to do with the pressure coaches feel to “win” plus the fact that some cheer coaches may be overstepping their reach. (more…)

Tomorrow morning I will be catching a plane to go to Columbus Ohio.  From there I will drive to Mansfield for the Ohio Association of Cheerleading Coaches annual conference.  I am pleased to be the keynote speaker for the event (filling in for but not replacing the irreplaceable Valerie Ninemire!). (more…)