It sounds like you're not rolling your hips when you execute the jump or you are not jumping hard enough. Your legs should be in FRONT of you, not out to the side. I know it sounds weird, but it works! Point your toes to make your legs look elongated. Don't try to touch your toes, try to reach PAST your toes. And as always, stretching helps a ton!
We do this on trampoline for gymnastics as well. Stretch every day, of course. Make sure to stretch to both sides as well as down the front. Stretch before AND after workouts.
Workout:
Box jumps, v-ups, straddle v-ups
Straddle holds are really good for legs and abs, and the position is similar. If you cant do that, you can just do straddle leg lifts with hands in front, and hanging leg lifts as well. If you have access to a trampoline, practice on that as well.
Toe touches are one of the most popular and often executed jumps in cheerleading. From behind the scenes at tryouts to in front of the cameras at national and world wide competitions, chances are you’ll see this jump at least once in any of these scenarios. Toe touches are easy to perform as long as you are flexible and have great core strength. You need to swing you arms into a “T” while bringing your legs parallel to the ground in a “V” position.
A couple of tips to remember while performing toe touches are to use your stomach muscles and pull your legs up towards your chest (leaning forward towards your toes will stunt the height of your jump so don’t do it). Also remember to thoroughly warm up and stretch before executing this jump.
Perhaps the most important muscle for today’s cheerleader is the hamstring. Toe touches will greatly benefit from its maximum flexibility. If you’re unfamiliar with the hamstring, it is the large grouping of muscles that run through the back of your thigh. There are two parts to the hamstring, the inner and the outer, and it is important to stretch both.
Here are some different ways to stretch your hamstring. Try them out!
1. Seated Hamstring Stretch. Sit on the floor with your legs straight out. Then, keeping a straight back, stretch down and bring your ribs forward. Make sure your knees stay straight at all times. If you can’t keep your knees straight, move your legs apart into a straddle position. You can also stretch the outer and inner hamstrings separately with this technique. For instance, when you roll your legs inward, the outer part will stretch more. If you roll your legs outward, the inner part will stretch more.
2. Standing Hamstring Stretch. Put your foot onto something up off the ground like a chair. Then, make sure your hips are pointing straight forward and keep your feet off the ground. Next, stand up as tall as you can. Making sure you don’t arch your back, lean forward as if you were hinging at your hips. Feel that burn!
3. Splits. Performing splits will stretch the hamstring of your front leg. Make sure your hips are square, or facing forward. If you’re having trouble doing this, use a mat to keep your squared-off angle.
4. “Pancake” Position. This is also called the straddle. When you lean towards the center, your inner hamstring and thigh muscle will stretch. With this, you can improve your flexibility on either hamstring depending on which side you lean towards. Keep in mind that your hips should be in line with your leg!
For more tips and advice on toe touches, check out our blog! http://www.cheerleadingblog.com
Do every stretch and leg raise you know, do 3 x 15 minute stretching sessions a day, one in the morning, one mid day and one before bed. If you do that much mobility and flexibility work you will easily reach it.
Just make sure you have some rest days when your really strained, so you don't tear anything :)
