A harder cheer routine is not automatically a better routine.
Coaches make decisions all season about difficulty, execution, choreography, timing, formations, performance, and whether a section should be changed at all.
The more clearly you understand how your team is being evaluated, the easier it becomes to decide where practice time should go.
That does not mean trying to predict exactly what every judge will think.
Scoring systems, terminology, and evaluation methods vary between organizations and events. The goal is to understand the system your team competes under, study the feedback you receive, and use that information to make more intentional coaching decisions.
Judging knowledge becomes most useful when it changes what you do in practice.
Start With the Scoring System Your Team Actually Uses
Before trying to “think like a judge,” make sure you are studying the correct criteria.
Different events and governing organizations may evaluate routines differently. Categories, ranges, terminology, and expectations can vary.
Start with the materials that apply to your team.
- What sections are being evaluated
- What the published criteria say about those sections
- How execution and difficulty are treated
- Where technique, timing, performance, or visual elements are addressed
- What feedback your team has actually received
Then use your scoresheets alongside the criteria.
A coach who understands what a category is asking for can make a more useful correction than a coach who only knows the number the team received.
Instead of saying:
“We need this score to go up.”
Ask:
“What specifically about this section needs to become more consistent?”
That is a much more coachable question.
Difficulty Is Only One Part of Routine Evaluation
One of the easiest traps during competition season is assuming that a disappointing result means the routine needs to become harder.
Sometimes an upgrade makes sense.
Sometimes it does not.
A routine also has to be performed.
Execution, technique, synchronization, timing, performance, spacing, transitions, and overall visual clarity can all affect how a routine presents.
Exactly how those elements are scored depends on the system you compete under, but the general coaching principle is the same:
Adding difficulty does not automatically solve an execution problem.
Imagine that a stunt group has a harder variation available, but its current sequence is still inconsistent during full routines.
The question is not simply:
“Can they do the upgrade?”
Ask instead:
- Can they perform the current section consistently?
- What is the scoresheet actually telling us?
- Will the upgrade solve the problem we are seeing?
- What happens to the rest of the section if we change it?
Understanding the evaluation criteria helps separate an actual difficulty need from the urge to add something simply because it looks more impressive.
Learn to Separate Content Problems From Execution Problems
When reviewing feedback, determine whether the routine itself needs to change or whether athletes need to perform the existing routine better.
That distinction can save a lot of unnecessary rebuilding.
Content Problem
The issue is what athletes are being asked to perform.
Execution Problem
The content may be appropriate, but athletes are not performing it consistently.
Possible Response
Content problems may justify a routine adjustment.
Possible Response
Execution problems may require more focused cleaning.
A Content Problem
A content problem means you are questioning what the athletes are being asked to perform.
- The choreography may not be creating the effect you intended.
- A transition may be overly complicated.
- A section may need to be adjusted based on the criteria your team competes under.
That may justify changing the routine.
An Execution Problem
An execution problem means the content may be appropriate, but the athletes are not performing it consistently yet.
You might see:
- Different timing between athletes
- Inconsistent technique
- Uneven spacing
- Incomplete motions
- Stunts that vary significantly from rep to rep
- Performance quality that drops between skills
In that situation, new choreography may simply introduce another variable.
Cleaning may be the better use of practice time.
Use the Scoresheet to Set Practice Priorities
A scoresheet should influence more than the conversation after competition.
It should help shape practice.
After an event, avoid walking into the next practice with ten unrelated corrections.
Instead, organize the feedback.
Priority 1
Needs Immediate Attention
Repeated or significant issues that deserve focused practice time.
Priority 2
Needs Monitoring
Issues you noticed but need more information about before making a major change.
Priority 3
Stay the Course
Areas where athletes are progressing and the current plan still makes sense.
Next Step
Build practice around the priorities instead of trying to correct everything at once.
For example, if repeated feedback and your own video review both point toward timing in a stunt sequence, spend focused time fixing that timing instead of immediately upgrading the stunt.
If you understand the feedback but need help working through a specific routine or choreography adjustment, B leJit’s Virtual Enhancement Session is a natural resource for live virtual coaching around routine improvements.
Explore the Virtual Enhancement Session →
Watch Your Routine More Like an Evaluator
Coaches often watch routines differently from someone seeing them for the first time.
You know what is supposed to happen.
You know which athlete was late to practice.
You know that a stunt usually looks better.
An evaluator does not have that background.
Every so often, watch the routine with less attention to what you intended and more attention to what is actually visible.
Try watching the video several different ways.
Watch Without Stopping
Notice what stands out immediately and where your attention naturally goes.
Watch One Section
Focus only on stunts, transitions, tumbling, dance, or performance.
Watch Different Athletes
Stop following only your strongest athletes or the groups you normally watch.
Compare With Feedback
Match scoresheet comments to the corresponding moments on video.
Watch Once Without Stopping
- What stands out immediately?
- Where does my attention go?
- Where does the routine feel clear?
- Where does it become visually busy or difficult to follow?
Watch One Section at a Time
Focus only on one area such as stunts, transitions, tumbling, dance, or performance.
Look for consistency rather than isolated mistakes.
Watch Without Following Your Strongest Athletes
Coaches naturally watch the athletes they trust or the groups they are worried about.
Instead, deliberately watch different athletes.
You may discover a spacing, timing, or performance issue you have been missing.
Compare the Video With the Scoresheet
When you receive a comment, find the relevant moment on video.
- Do you see the same issue?
- Does the visible problem begin earlier than you thought?
- Is the problem actually choreography, or is it execution?
The goal is to connect feedback with something you can coach.
Use Judging Knowledge to Decide Whether to Upgrade or Clean
When competition season is underway, one of the most important decisions is whether to add difficulty or improve what you already have.
Use a simple four-question test.
1. Feedback
Is there evidence that the current section needs more content, or are the issues mostly related to execution?
2. Consistency
How reliably can athletes perform the current version in sections and full routines?
3. Impact
What entries, transitions, formations, timing, or responsibilities will change if you upgrade?
4. Time
Do you have enough actual practices to make the new version competition-ready?
Do not evaluate a section based on its best rep. Look at its typical rep.
Sometimes judging knowledge tells you to upgrade.
Sometimes it tells you to clean.
And sometimes it gives you the confidence to leave a section alone.
Look for Improvements That Do Not Require More Difficulty
Coaches can become so focused on upgrades that they overlook smaller opportunities.
Ask yourself:
- Could the formation be clearer?
- Could athletes arrive earlier and look more settled?
- Could timing become more unified?
- Could a pathway be simplified?
- Could athletes finish choreography more completely?
- Could the team maintain stronger performance between major skills?
- Could a small adjustment make an existing section easier to execute consistently?
Not every useful routine improvement needs to be a new skill.
Small changes can also be easier to teach, easier to repeat, and less disruptive to the rest of the routine.
A Simple Framework: Criteria, Evidence, Decision, Practice
Use this framework throughout competition season.
Criteria
Understand what the applicable scoring system is asking you to demonstrate.
Evidence
Use scoresheets, competition video, and practice consistency to identify what is actually happening.
Decision
Choose whether the section needs to be cleaned, changed, upgraded, or left alone.
Practice
Turn that decision into a specific training priority.
Then repeat the process after the next performance.
This keeps routine decisions connected to evidence rather than emotion.
Judging-Knowledge Checklist for Coaches
Before making a significant routine change, ask:
When You Want Help Understanding the Scoresheet
Sometimes the challenge is not getting feedback.
It is understanding what the feedback means for your routine.
If you have a recent competition performance and scoresheet and want another experienced perspective on what happened and what to focus on next, B leJit’s Score Audit / Score Sheet Review is the most relevant resource for this stage of the season.
Better Judging Knowledge Leads to Better Coaching Questions
Understanding judging criteria is not about trying to coach from the judges’ table.
It is about making more informed decisions in your own gym.
Instead of
“How can we make this harder?”
Ask
“What does this section actually need?”
Instead of
“Why didn’t we get the score we wanted?”
Ask
“What does the feedback consistently show us?”
Instead of changing several things at once, identify the problem, connect it to the appropriate criteria, and choose the smallest effective response.
The strongest use of judging knowledge is not predicting a number.
It is knowing what questions to ask, what evidence to study, and where to put your team’s practice time next.
