Pyramid in cheerleading: connected stunts with bracing. Allowed height, connections and spotters, prerequisites and the accident data you should know.
A pyramid consists of two or more connected stunts in which the flyers stabilise each other — in technical terms "bracing". That is how the rulebook defines a pyramid [1]. A top person who gives another top person support is called a bracer; the connection is the "brace" [1].
The honest answer to "Is that just teamwork or also dangerous?": both. Good pyramids show what a team can do. But in an analysis of catastrophic injuries from 1982 to 2002, the pyramid (9 of 29 cases) was, next to the basket toss (8), the most frequent element in which it happened [5]. And in a study of falls, 89 % of fall-related injuries happened while attempting a stunt or pyramid [6].
For perspective: the overall injury rate in high school cheerleading was 0.71 per 1,000 practice and competition exposures, lower than in most other sports, but more than half of the injuries (53.2 %) happened in stunts [9]. That is why pyramids are tightly staged under the rules. This guide explains the rules, the prerequisites and the safety data; building and securing the pyramid itself belongs to your coach.
Before you connect, every single stunt stands by itself: steady, with a spotter, without re-gripping. Milestone: five clean repetitions per stunt (practice value).
Who supports whom? The brace must be made before the stunt begins and stay in place through the whole movement; hair or uniform do not count as a connection [1][2]. Where a hand-arm connection is required, the shoulder does not count [1]. Milestone: every person explains in one sentence whom they hold or by whom they are held.
At ICU level Beginner, pyramids follow the stunt rules and stunts above waist level are prohibited; at level Introductory pyramids are not allowed at all [2]. From Novice, pyramids up to 2 high are allowed [2][3]. Milestone: a prep pyramid stands steady, every top person has a spotter.
At level Novice, two-leg extended stunts must be braced by a top person at prep level or below exclusively by a hand-arm connection; the prep-level bracer must have both feet in the hands of her bases (exceptions: shoulder sit, flat back, straddle lift, shoulder stand), and an extended stunt may not brace or be braced by another extended stunt [2][3]. Single-leg extended stunts are prohibited in Novice pyramids and allowed with a brace in Intermediate [2]. Milestone: the coach releases the next level.
If a top person is released by the bases during the pyramid, she must land in a cradle or dismount in a controlled way; at level Beginner only as a straight dismount without a cradle [2]. Milestone: five take-downs without haste and without coach correction.
This guide explains and motivates but does not replace supervised training. Pyramids belong in training only with a coach, trained spotters and a mat.
Pyramids are built in the head. Draw the pyramid on paper and mark for each person: role, connection, spotter. If every person can explain their line, you save many failed attempts in the hall. That is coaching experience, not a study, but it brings the rules of the rulebook into your choreography.
Two or more connected stunts in which the flyers stabilise each other. The top person who gives another support is called a bracer; the connection between the top persons is called a brace [1]. The basis of every pyramid is a safe single stunt, and every connection comes before the start, not during it.
At ICU level Introductory pyramids are not allowed; from Novice up to 2 high [2][3]. At ICU level Premier and CCVD level 6 up to 2½ high are allowed, with at least two spotters at 2½ high [2][3]. The rulebook measures the height in body lengths [1]: an extension counts as 2½ body lengths there, a shoulder stand as 2.
A top person in direct contact with another top person who gives her stability [1]. Hair and uniform do not count as a connection [1]. Where a hand-arm connection is required, the shoulder does not count [1]. The brace must be in place before the stunt starts [2]. A bracer at prep level must as a rule have both feet in the hands of her bases (exceptions in the rulebook).
The overall injury rate in high school cheerleading is low, but pyramids and basket tosses were at the centre of 17 of the 29 catastrophic cases examined [5][9]. That is why strict spotter, surface and level rules apply, and why pyramids belong in training only with a coach, never "quickly" after the session.
Round-off, Back Handspring, Tuck: Rules, Prerequisites, Build-Up