To start, my essential question is: What is the best way to prevent injury as an All-Star Cheerleader? I have found three answers to this question, they are: stretching before and after you work out, developing strength in key muscle groups, and to consistently use the proper technique you are taught.The answer that I have found best satisfies my question is to consistently use the proper technique you are taught. This is the best answer because before you can stretch or develop strength correctly you must know how to do it in a way that won't damage a muscle or joint. If you just jump into a workout regimen to build strength without knowing what you are doing in addition to not stretching before, you can cause permanent damage to your body and even hurt people around you. Lack of technique results in skills that are performed wrong and what could be the end of your cheer career or that of someone else on the team because of your mistakes
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(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?
When I began to study cheer for my senior project, I didn't know what to start looking at first. When I solidified my essential question t what an individual can do to prevent injury, it began to get a little easier. I realized that I was exposed to possible answers everyday that I had practice so I began the search there. I saw the structure we used almost every practice: warm up, stretch, condition, run the routine, learn how to do new skills if needed, practice that skill, perfect that and other skills, condition, cool down, and stretch. It is such a simple structure that is extremely effective in helping a team understand the exact technique they need to have for every skill they learn. Choosing my first two answers was easy because I learned and experienced them myself. Stretching and Conditioning are two of if not the two most important things an athlete can do to prevent injury. Through talking to Jason Brandt, my coach who has over 11 years of experience in this sports, he has told me countless times that the main focus as a coach is to make sure the athletes practice technique religiously. I knew then that this would be my most important answer.
(3) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?
One of my biggest problems was finding quality research on All-Star Cheerleading. There was nothing that was of good quality in both broad and specific searches. I could never find an up to date book that helped with what I was searching for and a lot of the books were on coaching which I tried to use, but ended up not using it simply for its lack of relevance. It was extremely hard to find articles that dealt with ways to teach technique to athletes and good work outs for All-Star Cheerleaders. The way I solved this problem was by changing my scope of research from solely All-Star Cheer and turning to a more medical or scientific point of view. These types of searches are how I found most of my quality research because it helped me understand the bio-mechanics of injuries and what could prevent them on a medical science level rather than a personal experience level. This lead me to having tons of quality research that I can gladly say will be useful throughout the rest of this senior project.
(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?
The two most significant sources are Jason Brandt who is my coach and has been in the All-Star Cheerleading industry for more than 11 years. He has coached three different teams, choreographed for several programs, is a world champion athlete, and is USASF safety certified for levels 1-5. The second significant source I used to answer my essential questions is the author Brenda Shields for her astounding work with studying the epidemiology of injuries that Cheerleaders experience. Her study entitled The Potential for Brain Injury on Selected Surfaces Used by Cheerleaders, was one of the most helpful pieces of research I found because it is the reason I knew what to do for the science component and how I knew where to keep looking for research. It helped me see that I could look up the science behind injuries to help me understand their prevention.
(5) What is your product and why?
(5) What is your product and why?
My product from this long and tiresome process is leaving this cheer season absent of crippling injuries and with the title of NCA National All-Star champion under my belt. I applied what I have learned throughout this year to help insure that I performed my skills right. I made sure I learned the proper technique by listening to my coaches and attempting to test my answers throughout the season to make sure they are applicable to anyone who tries this sport. I helped my team excel to the level we did because of how determined I was to make sure I was doing my job right. Everyone around me had the same work ethic and knew exactly what I do now that the season is over. We all know that our coaches taught us just how important technique is to our routines, because it is what will matter most in our scores. This was extremely apparent when we went to NCA Dallas, a competition consisting of over 950 teams and 10 thousand plus competitors, and came home with that championship title. I took more away from our coaches showing us this by understanding how technique reduces the risk of injury. If you embed that technique into your brain through repetition you will always perform that skill correctly even when your muscles are fatigued and you think you can't go on. It was understanding my answers and knowing them on a physical level that helped me get through this season with virtually no injuries.
