5 Ways to Make Your Cheer Routine Crispy Clean

You’ve got the stunts. You’ve got the energy. You’ve got the full-outs under your belt. But if your routine isn’t crispy clean, it won’t matter.

No matter how advanced or exciting your routine is, judges are watching for precision. Clean motions, tight transitions, strong technique, and sharp execution are what set high-scoring teams apart. That’s why you need designated practices focused entirely on cleaning.

Here are 6 ways to clean your routine in one dedicated practice that will sharpen every count and transform your team’s performance.

1. Record, Watch, Repeat

Start your practice with a full-out run and record it. Then pause practice and watch it together as a team.
Point out specific areas that need cleaning:

• Are the motions uniform? Is the entire team hitting each motion with the same speed, direction and angle?
• Are the stunt group hitting each skill with the exact same precision?
• Is the entire team moving seamlessly from one transition to the other?

Watching themselves allows athletes to self-correct and see what coaches have been saying for weeks.

2. Clean in Small Groups

Break the team into groups (by stunt group, lines, or sections of the routine) and rotate stations.

While one group cleans motions with you, the others can:

• Review jumps 
• Hit stunt positions and freeze at each stunt element
• Practice dance sequences with counts

Smaller groups = more focused attention. No one can hide in the back.

3. Use Mirrors

If you are able to do your dance and jumps in front of mirrors, it gives your athletes a different perspective than what they might have watching the routine on a video. 

When watching in the mirror, ask them to look for:

• Arms hitting the same angle, speed and direction.
• Is it synchronized?
• Is the energy consistent?
• Is the team practicing good jump technique?  This includes the same approach, arm placement and feet together on landing.
  

4. Mark with Intention

Mark through the routine and then do the routine as a stunt through and then a tumble through. When marking, communicate with your team that they need to mark with precision. Every motion is deliberate with purpose.

For example, if they’re walking to a formation are they walking with purpose and arms clean (unless there are motions), facing the right direction, and stopping in the exact spot. Even in marking, timing and spacing matter.

When they are marking the routine, make sure they are doing it with ultimate energy!  They need to show enthusiasm on their faces and in their body energy.

5. Frame by Frame

Tell your team that if you took pictures throughout the routine and randomly chose one to go viral on social media, would they be doing that specific part exactly how they should so they would not be embarrassed about what is posted?

Then actually screenshot sections of your routine from the video and see if their arms and legs and even their formations are exactly where they are supposed to be. This is a very effective way to show them exactly what to do. 

Final Thoughts

Designating specific practices for cleaning a routine doesn’t mean it’s “done” but it makes a massive difference in timing, and confidence. Make this kind of focused practice a regular part of your season and you’ll start to see it reflected in scoresheets and crowd reactions.