Should You Upgrade Your Cheer Routine Before January? A Coach’s Decision Guide

By December, most competitive cheer teams know much more about their routine than they did at the beginning of the season.

You have seen it in practice. You may have performed it at showcases or early competitions. You have a better sense of which sections are dependable, which ones need work, and where athletes are gaining confidence.

For some teams, adding difficulty makes sense. For others, the better decision is to keep cleaning the routine they already have.

The key is not making an upgrade because another team has one, because a skill finally hit once in practice, or because January feels like a deadline.

The decision should come from consistency, scoring feedback, available training time, risk, and what your current routine still has left to improve.

Scoring systems vary between organizations and events, so always evaluate upgrades using the criteria your team actually competes under. But the following framework can help coaches make a more intentional decision.

Start With the Routine You Already Have

Before asking whether athletes are ready for more difficulty, ask:

Look at more than whether the major skills “hit.”

• Stunt consistency
• Tumbling execution
• Timing and synchronization
• Formations
• Transitions
• Technique
• Performance quality
• Athlete confidence

If several of those areas are still inconsistent, adding difficulty may simply add another problem to solve.

For example, suppose a stunt group can perform a harder variation in isolated practice, but the group still struggles with the current sequence after tumbling or late in a full routine.

Judge Consistency by the Typical Rep, Not the Best Rep

One of the easiest mistakes coaches can make is remembering the team’s best practice rep instead of evaluating its normal one.

You know the rep.

Everything hits. Timing looks sharp. Athletes perform confidently. The entire section looks exactly how you imagined it.

That rep proves the team is capable of performing the section.

It does not prove the team can repeat it.

Track several reps instead.

That gives you more useful information than simply saying, “They can do it.”

Ask Whether the Upgrade Has a Clear Purpose

Not every harder skill creates the same value.

Before spending practice time on an upgrade, ask what problem you are trying to solve.

• Is there a specific opportunity identified through your scoring system?
• Has competition feedback consistently pointed toward this area?
• Is the current section already strong enough that additional difficulty makes sense?
• Or does the new skill simply look impressive?

A clear purpose keeps coaches from chasing difficulty without knowing what they expect it to accomplish.

If you are looking at early competition feedback and are unsure whether difficulty is actually the issue, B leJit’s Score Audit / Score Sheet Review can provide another perspective on a completed performance and the scoring information that came with it.

Learn More About Score Audit / Score Sheet Review →

Make Sure You Have Enough Time to Train the Upgrade

An upgrade is not finished when athletes first hit it.

It needs to move through several stages.

When evaluating your timeline, count actual quality practices before the next important competition.

Follow the Upgrade Through the Entire Routine

A new skill rarely affects only that skill.

Suppose you change a stunt.

Think downstream.

Sometimes a difficult skill works perfectly in isolation but creates problems when connected to everything around it.

Evaluate the Risk, Not Just the Potential Reward

Every routine decision carries tradeoffs.

When you add difficulty, ask what becomes more vulnerable.

• Could technique become less consistent?
• Could timing separate between stunt groups?
• Could athletes become hesitant?
• Could the transition become rushed?
• Could the new version take so much practice time that another section stops receiving attention?

This does not mean coaches should avoid upgrades.

It means difficulty should be evaluated alongside execution and repeatability.

If you can identify that risk before making the change, you can decide whether you have enough time and training capacity to manage it.

Make Sure You Have Maximized the Current Routine First

Sometimes coaches search for new difficulty while useful improvements are still sitting inside the routine they already have.

Before rebuilding a section, examine these five areas.

Do Not Confuse a Cleaning Problem With a Difficulty Problem

Imagine your stunt section feels underwhelming.

The immediate reaction might be:

“We need something harder.”

But when you watch the section closely, you notice something else.

• The stunt groups are not hitting the body positions at the same time.
• One group finishes earlier.
• Athletes drop their performance during the transition.
• The next formation takes several counts to settle.

Cleaning the timing, transition, and finish may be a better first step than rebuilding the skill.

Use a Five-Question Upgrade Test

Before making a December routine upgrade, ask these five questions.

A “no” to one question does not automatically eliminate the upgrade.

It tells you where more evaluation is needed.

Upgrade Decision Checklist

Before changing the routine, check:

The Best Upgrade Is the One Your Team Can Actually Perform

December can feel like the moment when everything needs to become harder before the next phase of competition season.

It does not.

A smart upgrade can absolutely improve a routine when the timing is right.

But the decision should come from evidence.

• Look at your current consistency.
• Study your scoresheet.
• Watch competition video.
• Evaluate execution, timing, formations, transitions, and performance.
• Think about the time available.
• Ask whether added difficulty actually solves the problem in front of you.

Sometimes the right move is to upgrade.

Sometimes it is to clean.