Tips For Cheerleading The SMART Way

Published: Oct 6, 2007

As football season drives toward midfield, fans can admire each squad's athleticism, strength and agility.

And that's not even taking the guys on the gridiron into account.

Cheerleading is much more demanding now than just waving pom-poms, doing splits, clapping and chanting "V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!"

Because the routines and stunts have become more complex, a statewide sports medicine initiative, based at the University of South Florida in Tampa, wants to help coaches and parents prevent cheerleading injuries, according to a news release.

Certified athletic trainers from the Sports Medicine & Athletic Related Trauma Institute, or SMART for short, will be ready to provide medical services, if needed, on Sunday at the Police Athletic League's cheerleading competition at Zephyrhills High School, 6335 12th St.

More than 270 girls, ages 5 to 16, from PAL leagues in three counties are expected to compete from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the campus gymnasium.

The institute offers these SMART tips for staying safe while doing those choreographed jumps, handsprings, cartwheels and flips.

•Safety training and certification, such as that offered by the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors, should be required of all cheerleading coaches and advisors.

•Practice should take place on a forgiving landing surface such as grass or floor mats, not concrete.

•Coaches and parents should make sure that activities/stunts are appropriate for the youngsters' skill levels and that they have completed proper strength and balance conditioning before taking on new routines.

•All squads should receive thorough training in spotting techniques, and coaches should review and supervise all stunts.

"Modern cheerleading is nothing like decades ago," said Robert Pedowitz, professor and chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine at USF Health. "It's evolved into a more physically demanding, gymnastic and moderately high-risk activity because of some of the higher-altitude maneuvers like cheerleaders being thrown into the air and building pyramids."

The most common injuries are similar to those suffered by gymnasts and dancers, including bruises, ankle and knee injuries, and wrist and hand pain, Pedowitz said in the news release. Head and neck injuries are rare but can be catastrophic when they happen.

"Because there is a greater chance for sports injuries among competitive cheerleaders, we need to find ways to reduce that risk through appropriate rules, increased training in proper techniques and sufficient supervision," Pedowitz said.

USF Health's SMART institute, which has taught its Prepare safety course to hundreds of Tampa Bay area coaches and parents supervising school and youth football teams, is developing training for other youth sports including cheerleading.

USF Health includes the university's colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences, physical therapy and rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group.

For more on USF Health, visit www.health.usf.edu. For more on SMART, go to www.health.usf.edu/nocms/medicine/orthopaedic/smart.