A. I, Priscilla West, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
B. Mentor/Coach: Rene Gonzalez 1 (323) 810 - 4804
C. Digital Spreadsheet of Hours
D. My original Independent Component was to get a back handspring, but I only completed the preliminary tumbling skills to a back handspring. My coach, who is also my mentor, wouldn't let me work on tumbling skills that exceeded my level until I had perfected the tumbling skills on my level, which I have done. A big part of my Independent Component 1, that I stated in my plan, was perfecting these skills, and perfecting them is actually a lot more relevant to my current EQ than it was to my working EQ. The end goal of my Independent Component 1 was to perfect the preliminary tumbling and conditioning skills to a back handspring. So perfecting my back walkover and conditioning to gain enough strength to perform a back handspring were the end goals of my Independent Component 1, which I completed.
Interpretive:
Tumbling is the hardest part of cheerleading to progress at. Any cheerleader will attest to that. It comes easier to some people, but it's the aspect of the sport you have to spend the most time on in order to gain skill. Then after you've gained a skill, you have to focus on perfecting it before you can move onto a harder skill. Tumbling is very time consuming, and the only way to get better is to practice it. Working on my back walkover for at least 30 hours was something definitely achievable because of this. A typical practice starts with conditioning and then we warm up our routine section by section, including tumbling. For the rest of practice we run through the routine multiple times focusing certain times only on stunting and others only on tumbling, or doing a full out which means we perform the routine doing all stunting and tumbling, like we would at a competition. So, every practice I attend with my team, counts as Independent Component hours.
The goal of my entire senior project is to get onto a Level 2 Allstar Cheerleading team, and in order to do that I need Level 2 tumbling skills, which means a back handspring. However, before I can just start throwing back handsprings, my coach has to use his judgement to decide whether I'm physically ready to learn a back handspring or not. The two main things taken into account are the perfection of my skills leading up to a back walkover and my strength. Tumbling is all about using your core muscles to control the way your body is moving while tumbling, so conditioning and strengthening your body to a point where you're physically capable of performing a back handspring is essential in the process to learn one. You can't skip it. Likewise, before you learn a new tumbling skill, especially one harder than any other you already know, you must have the preceding tumbling skills that act as a foundation to your learning down perfectly. According to the USASF Rules and Regulations, a back handspring is the tumbling skill that comes after a back walkover, due to level tumbling expectations and limitations. So, in order to achieve a back handspring and be able to progress to a Level 2 team, I must first perfect my back walkover.
Here is a video of me a few months ago (November I believe), doing my back walkover. Please excuse the poor quality of the video, it was filmed on a phone.
Here is a video of my new, perfected back walkover. Note how my toes are pointed and my legs are much straighter. I also kick over much faster than I previously did, and can do a back walkover in a tumbling pass, which is a lot harder than doing one from just standing,
Applied:
My topic is finding out which factor is most important to progress to a level two Allstar cheerleading team. By doing this Independent Component I've been able to test whether or not tumbling is an answer to my essential question, and it is. With this component I understand the importance tumbling holds to a cheerleader aspiring to be on a higher level and how difficult it is to progress in that area. Tumbling is something a lot of cheerleaders need to work on not only at practice, but outside of practice too, especially if they want to gain tumbling skills that exceed that of their level. I had a hard time getting over my mental block and trusting myself to just throw my back walkover, and I've noticed a lot of other girls on my team who are close to having back walkovers also have this mental block, and it's what stops you from tumbling. You have to practice the skill over and over and fall hundreds of times to get rid of it, and I only know that because that's exactly what I did. So, this Independent Component has provided me with an answer to my essential question, "What is the most important factor to progress to a Level 2 Allstar Cheerleading team?" An important factor in progressing to a Level 2 Allstar cheer team is perfecting the tumbling skills of the level you're already on, and going into the gym outside of practice to work on tumbling skills for the next level above you. You have to dedicate extra time and effort if you want to gain skills outside of your level to move on.
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