Hurdler in cheerleading: one leg straight, the other bent. How to build it, tell front and side apart, land symmetrically and fix the typical mistakes.
The hurdler is a jump in which one leg goes straight to the front or to the side and the other stays bent — like a hurdler in the air. It is a "jump skill", a jump with a change of position [1], and the next step after the herkie, because the straight leg now demands more mobility in the back of the thigh.
The honest answer to "Why all this, do jumps even count?": yes, visibly. In several CCVD score sheets (level 0 to 4 in the classes from mini to junior), jumps are their own item worth 5 points, and in levels 5 to 7 they are optional [3]. Under the rules jumps are not tumbling; they are even allowed in the ICU entry level, introductory [2].
The variant is called "front hurdler" or "side hurdler" depending on the direction of the straight leg — that is a term from practice, the rulebook does not define it. How long until your hurdler is clean depends on your flexibility; a few weeks of regular training is a rule of thumb, not study evidence.
The herkie sits, the landing is quiet. Milestone: ten herkies per side that land equally quietly (practice value).
Leg lifts to the front standing, dynamic and without swinging. Static stretching belongs in its own sessions: in a review of 23 studies, static stretching improved flexibility by about 3 % but lowered performance in the short term by 0.9 %; dynamic stretching raised performance by 0.6 %. 15 of the 23 studies were of low quality, and they concerned sports such as gymnastics and dance [6]. Milestone: hold the straight leg at hip height for 5 seconds, upper body upright.
Try the leg position standing and in small hops: one leg straight, the other bent, chest up. Use a mirror or video. Milestone: the position holds for 3 seconds without losing balance.
You take up the position only at the top of the jump, not already at take-off. Milestone: on the video the position is visible at the highest point.
The goal: both feet on the floor at the same time. In a gymnastics study of stretched somersaults, asymmetries between the legs predicted poorer landing quality [8] — a transfer, but it fits the hurdler, where both legs work differently in the air. Milestone: three sets of eight jumps per side, both feet land at the same time (check the video).
This guide explains and motivates but does not replace supervised training.
Measure instead of guessing. Once a month, test the same movement: straight leg standing at hip height, 5 seconds, with a phone photo from the side. You see whether anything changes. The national team in the study mentioned even used standardised tests such as sit-and-reach and countermovement jump [7]. Your photo test is the hobby version of that, from coaching experience, not from a study.
A jump in which one leg goes straight to the front or to the side and the other stays bent, similar to a hurdler on the track. It is a jump skill because you change your body position in the air [1]. The direction of the straight leg gives the variant its name.
The names describe the direction of the straight leg, to the front or to the side. That is a term from practice; the rulebook defines neither, and for the rules both count as a jump skill [1]. Whether your routine asks for a particular variant is for your coach to settle.
Yes, but differently by level. In several CCVD score sheets for levels 0 to 4 (classes mini to junior), jumps are their own item worth 5 points, and in levels 5 to 7 they are optional [3]. Your team decides with the coach whether and how they appear in the routine.
Because both legs work differently in the air and the balance for landing is not yet in place. In a gymnastics study, asymmetries between the legs predicted poorer landing quality [8], a transfer. Practise landing deliberately on both feet at the same time and check it on video.
Pike Jump in Cheerleading: Legs Together to the Front, Back Protected