Cheer Cheer Glossary: Competitive Cheerleading Terms Explained
By Cheer Weekly · Updated
35 competitive cheer terms in plain English, from back spot to hit zero. New to the sport? Start with cheer levels explained.
- All Star cheer
- Competitive cheerleading run by private gyms rather than schools. Teams compete by level, age and size.
- Back spot
- The athlete behind a stunt who supports the flyer and protects the flyer's head and shoulders.
- Base
- An athlete who holds up and lifts the flyer in a stunt.
- Basket toss
- A toss where bases throw the flyer into the air from their interlocked hands and catch them.
- Bid
- An invitation, earned at a qualifying competition, to compete at an end-of-season championship such as The Summit or Worlds.
- Bobble
- A visible wobble or loss of control in a stunt that doesn't fully fall. It can cost a deduction.
- Building fall
- A stunt, pyramid or toss that comes down before it should. A deduction.
- CheerAbilities
- Divisions for athletes with disabilities.
- Coed
- A team that includes male athletes. Limited Coed caps how many.
- Cradle
- The catch at the end of a stunt where bases catch the flyer at waist height.
- Dance (in a routine)
- The choreographed dance section of a cheer routine, usually near the end.
- Deduction
- Points subtracted from the raw score for falls, bobbles or rule violations.
- Elite
- Informal name for Level 6 and Level 7 All Star teams.
- Extension
- A stunt where the flyer stands on the bases' fully extended arms overhead.
- Flyer
- The athlete who is lifted or thrown in stunts, pyramids and tosses.
- Game Day
- A college division that judges crowd-leading cheers, chants and fight-song material as performed at games.
- Group stunt
- A stunt event performed by a small group (usually four or five athletes).
- Hit zero
- Finishing a routine with zero deductions.
- Jumps
- The jump section of a routine (toe touches, pikes, hurdlers), judged on height and technique.
- Level
- In All Star, the skill tier from Level 1 to Level 7 that limits what a team may perform.
- Mat
- The spring floor or competition floor a routine is performed on. "On the mat" means competing.
- NCA
- National Cheerleaders Association, which runs NCA College Nationals in Daytona Beach.
- Partner stunt
- A stunt event performed by one base and one flyer, common in college cheer.
- Pom
- A dance style with pom-poms that emphasizes sharp, synchronized motions.
- Pyramid
- Connected stunts linked together, often with flyers transitioning between groups.
- Raw score
- The judges' score before deductions.
- Running tumbling
- Tumbling passes with a run-in, such as round-off back handspring layouts and fulls.
- Standing tumbling
- Tumbling from a standing start, such as standing back tucks and fulls.
- Stunt
- A skill where bases lift or hold a flyer.
- The Cheerleading Worlds
- The world championship for elite All Star teams, held at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando.
- The Summit
- Varsity All Star's end-of-season championship for bid-earning All Star teams, also in Orlando.
- Toss
- Any skill where the flyer is thrown and leaves the bases' hands.
- Transition
- Moving from one formation or skill to the next. Smooth transitions score in execution.
- Tumbling
- Gymnastics skills (handsprings, layouts, twists) performed without stunting.
- UCA
- Universal Cheerleaders Association, which runs UCA College Nationals in Orlando.
Cheer glossary: FAQ
What does hit zero mean?
Finishing a routine with zero deductions.
What is a flyer in cheer?
The athlete who is lifted or thrown in stunts, pyramids and tosses.
What is a bid in cheer?
An invitation, earned at a qualifying competition, to compete at an end-of-season championship such as The Summit or Worlds.