How to Do a Cheerleading Basket Toss

Doing a basket toss, an impressive cheerleading stunt, requires at least four people: two bases, a backspot, and a flyer. Each member of the stunt group must do exactly the right thing at the right time or they risk hurting each other, especially the flyer. A cheerleader leaving the ground always has the potential for danger, so extreme caution must be taken when performing any stunt, basket tosses especially.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Being a Base

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1
Grab your left wrist and the other base’s right, forming a square. Have the other person acting as a base do this, too. This will form a platform, in a square shape, for the flyer to stand on and catapult off of.^{[1]XResearch source}
- Grab your own wrist and their wrist just below the wrist bones. Keep your grip loose and flexible. Too much rigidity will keep the toss from going anywhere. Adjust as necessary until you two feel comfortable.
2
Bend your knees slightly, matching the other base. Keep your hips over your toes and your feet a little more than shoulder width apart. Always keep your back straight! If you don’t, you could injure yourself.^{[2]XResearch source}
- Make yourself the height of the other base, if possible, by widening your stance (or having them widen theirs). The best pairs of bases are roughly the same height. What’s more, the taller you are, the easier it will be to hoist the flyer higher into the air – don't compromise height if you don't have to.
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3
Make sure the flyer is positioned correctly. When you’re practicing, take the time to make sure the flyer feels secure. Are her hands nestled into the crick of your neck and do they feel sturdy? How is her right foot placed on your hands? Is it centered? This initial stage is very important to the success of the stunt.
- Do plenty of basket drills before you g1o up in the actual stunt. Essentially, all you do is set up the flyer and stop when her feet touch your hands. If, in that position, her hands and feet are sturdy, centered, and secure, you're doing it right. Try to limit the time it takes to make the process as fluid as possible.
4
Bend and sponge, absorbing the flyer’s weight as she dips down. The flyer sets up the stunt with her right foot on your hands and her hands on your shoulder. Then, the backspot is going to help hoist her whole body onto your wrists and hands. As her left foot touches down too (that's all her weight now), bend down slightly as if you’re starting a slingshot.^{[3]XResearch source}
- There should be no jerky movements in this stunt. You and your base partner simply bend your knees and your arms lower with the rest of your body and her to accommodate her weight. It is one giant, slingshot motion.
- If you are jerky, do a practice drill. Do everything up until this point, and then mimic like you’re going to throw her into the air, stopping much before you actually would. This will help all of you get the timing of it.
5
Throw your arms straight up, hoisting the flyer into the air. Straighten your legs and throw your arms up, giving the flyer as much height as possible using all of your body. Release the other base’s wrists as soon as you feel them moving away – don’t hold on. With a little flick of the wrists, she's into the air.^{[4]XResearch source}
- The more oomph you put behind this movement, the more you use your entire body, the higher she is going to fly. As you’re dipping down with the placement of her left foot, take the power from your feet and drive it upward.
- You can even jump a little bit, adding even more height to your basket.^{[5]XResearch source} Let’s say you’re 70 inches (177.8 cm) tall, with a thrust of 48 inches (121.9 cm). That’s a basket toss that’s 118 inches (299.7 cm) high. With a jump, it becomes 122 inches (309.9 cm) – and it all adds up! Each inch more is that much more impressive.
6
Watch the flyer at all times. She may move in the air and you’ll have to follow her below. If you threw her to the right or left (like a human bowling ball), you're going to have to catch her to the right or left.
- Of course, ideally, you throw her straight up, plant your feet, and she comes directly back down – you should barely have to move an inch. But if that doesn't happen, adjust your positioning to catch her.
7
Catch her with your arms out in front of you, cradling her as she lands. Make sure to stay in front of the other base at all times – you two should move as one. You'll be on one side of the flyer and the other base on the other. The flyer's arms should land around your neck.
- Absorb her body weight as she comes down, bending your arms and knees as she lands into your makeshift cradle. Aim for one arm around her back and one around her knees.
8
Help her dismount. To dismount, you have two options:
- From your dip, simply hoist her in front of you, slightly lowering your arm around her knees and pushing your arm around her back forward. She should then be easily able to stand just in front of you.
- From your dip, bounce her back up to where her feet can land in your hands again, and move onto a different stunt right away – another basket toss or elevator perhaps?

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Being a Flyer

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1
Place your hands on the bases’ shoulders or head. Do whichever feels more comfortable for you. For most girls, nestling your hands in the crick of the bases’ necks feels the most secure. Your thumb should be on their collarbone and your fingers towards their back.
- Make sure you feel sturdy. If you don’t, adjust. Don't worry about hurting or strangling the bases – you definitely won't.
2
With your right foot and then left, step onto the bases’ hands. Their wrists are interwoven to provide you with a platform to step up. Rest your right foot on the right side of the platform in preparation for the stunt. This is your starting position.
- When you're ready, the backspot will count off for you, cuing you for each movement. On cue, she will hoist you up to put your left foot on the platform, too. You will be in a crouching position.
3
Dip down, bending your knees and elbows. Put all your weight in your arms, taking the weight off the bases' hands.^{[6]XResearch source} This will help send your body skyrocketing, allowing you to propel yourself, in addition to the bases providing you that effortless power.
- Don’t jump. You want contact for as long as possible to rev up and gain velocity. If you do jump, odds are your jump will be slightly off the timing of the bases, which will result in a choppy, unpowerful lurch into the air.^{[7]XResearch source}
4
Stay on your toes. You should mainly contact the bases’ hands with the balls of your feet – this helps you act as a spring instead of a dead weight that has to be hoisted into the air. It's also easier to point your toes from this position.
- Think of how you jump. Do you jump flat-footed? Probably not. When you're crouching on their hands, make sure the balls of your feet are where the brunt of the action is taking place, so you can lift off from there.
5
Imagine a cord pulling you up into the air. When you feel the bases propelling you upwards and your feet are about to leave their hands, pull yourself up. While airborne, keep your back straight and legs locked out, so that your body is in a straight line. It should feel as if a cord is pulling your entire body along an even plane.
- You should remain in this position until you reach the peak of the toss. At that point you can hit a motion or do a trick. You want it to look as clean as possible from beginning to end.
- Keep your legs and hands tucked in so you don’t hurt those on the ground as you go up. A flailing arm or leg can do some serious damage.
6
At the top, do your trick. During a straight ride, put your arms straight in the air or in a high V and keep your legs straight. Point your toes and that’s it!
- A few options other than a straight ride are a toe touch, kick-arch, pretty woman, back tuck, full tuck, and many more. The higher you get into the air, the easier a trick will be (the more time you'll have to do it).
7
Try a toe-touch. Aside from the normal basket toss, a toe touch is the most common add-on. Do as you would normally do for a traditional basket, but instead of coming down riding up as a layout you will add a quick toe touch.
- Ride up as high as you can then quickly pull a toe touch, keeping your back straight. When pulling back into a layout then v shape, snap down from your toe touch quickly, it will look much cleaner than slowly coming down to your final positions.
- You also won't have that much time to get into your layout/v sit so snapping down will give plenty of time to land in the bases arms.
8
Pike your legs on the way down and soften your body position. Keep your arms up in order to wrap around the necks of your bases when you land (and to avoid knocking them in the head when you do). To pike, bring your toes up toward you (still pointed!), putting your body in a slight curve to be cradled.
- As long as you don't flail about and stay relaxed, it will be easy to catch you. Don't worry! At the very least, you'll land on them and they'll break your fall!
9
Try completing a back flip. This is a very complicated move to pull in a basket toss so practice the less complicated moves first. The whole back flip will be completed in one motion, so there's no snap down into the cradle.
- Once you feel yourself leaving the bases arms, start to rotate into your back flip, keep in mind most people don't grab their knees or tuck in the back flip.
- Most people come around piked, this makes it a lot easier to land in a V shape when you are caught.
10
Dismount gracefully. Once you’re cradled, the bases will bend down and place you gently on the ground (or they should if all has gone correctly). You can then resume the cheer from the safety of your own two feet.
- Or go back into a stunt. From a cradle, the bases can bend once again, and on the upward bounce you pull your feet in – they can then rest in the bases’ hands, ready for the next basket toss or elevator.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Being a Backspot

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1
Grab the flyer’s waist, just above her hipbones. Make sure you have a firm grip on her and can’t slide on her shirt, shorts, or skirt. If you need to, make skin-to-skin contact to be sure.
- Always be a bit tighter than you think you need to be. You are not running the risk of hurting the flyer or impeding the stunt if you're holding on tightly. In fact, that way you can give her more power.
2
Give the team an eight-count or a ‘’1,2, down, up!’’ The backspot has one of the most important jobs in this stunt – counting off, making sure the team is ready and all on the same page. You time the stunt, keeping everyone in sync.
- For an eight count, “1, 2” should be the team getting into position. On “3,4” the bases bend their knees and the flyer lifts her right foot into their hands. On “5,6” the flyer loads in her left foot and the rest of her body and the team dips down. On “7,8” she is thrusted upward into the air.
- With everyone in position, instead, you can count, “1” for the flyer putting in her right foot. “2” for her left foot, “down” for the dip, and “up!” for throwing her into the air.
3
Bend with her as she bends and hoist her into the bases’ hands, centrally positioning her. You have the ability to put the flyer exactly where she needs to be placed – on the center of the platform the bases are making with their wrists. Make sure she's in the right spot for lift off.
- You are also the reason she can get into their hands in the first place. Without a boost from you, she won't even be able to get off the ground. Use your legs to hoist her into position and to put you into position for throwing her upwards.
4
Throw her upward with your whole body. Straighten your legs, using them for power, to give her that initial thrust. With your hands still on her hips, drive her up into the air, breaking contact when you feel her moving away from you.
- Make sure to throw her straight up so she doesn't curve to the left, right, backwards, or forwards. Your hands guide her direction more than anyone else's.
5
Watch the flyer at all times in the air. Sometimes the flyer doesn’t go straight up into the air and instead moves off in a different direction entirely. This is either because her weight was unevenly distributed or because she was veered into another direction by you or base propelling unequally. Because of this, it’s incredibly important to watch her so you can adjust your placement to catch her.
- Follow the bases, staying slightly behind them. You'll be catching her arms, back, and neck.
6
Catch her with your forearms nestled in her armpits. The bases will be in front of you, catching her around her torso and legs, off to her side. You are behind her, catching her by her armpits – her arms will be wrapped around the bases’ necks.
- Make fists with your hands, so you don't end up slapping or poking the flyer or the bases. Your arms should jut out in front of you as you see her coming down, but your elbows should be relaxed. No one's body, including yours, should be rigid.
7
Help her dismount. You have two options:
- The bases will lower their arms around her legs, and she will go onto the ground. All you have to do is give her a little nudge forward with your forearms and then move out of the way.
- If she goes up into another stunt immediately, use your arms to hoist her up to where she can place her feet back into the bases hands. Immediately move your hands back onto her waist and send her up into another toss or an elevator.

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Tips

Always practice the stunt you are performing before you go ahead and do it. If you haven't warmed up some stunt, never let it fly. Never perform a stunt you have never done without mats and spotters.^{[8]XResearch source}
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Paying attention to what is going on is also important. Always know what's going on in your stunt group and around you.
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The head, neck, and spine are the most important body parts to catch of a flyer. If feet hit the ground, it is not that much of a big deal. But when the flyer is cradling, always make sure to catch the head, neck, and spine.
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Warnings

If someone does fall but is not injured, do not scream and carry on. It will bring more attention to the fallen stunt group.
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If any injuries do occur where anyone hits their head, neck, or spine do not move them. Call for a coach or professional help immediately.
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You must be very careful when completing this stunt. Injuries are likely to happen if everyone involved is not paying complete attention. All eyes must be on the flyer at all times.
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