Let’s start with some truths. Number one, the crowd doesn’t want to get involved. They are not here for you. They are here to watch a game. Number 2, the mind is amazing ignoring things it decides doesn’t matter. Number three, this assumes that you have sharp motions. If you don’t have sharp motions check out my blog on how to get sharp motions at https://distalpoint.myclickfunnels.com/blog. Putting one and two together, we see that most fans are ignoring you. They are there to watch a game, not watch cheerleaders. So, their mind will ignore you. It is up to us to hack their bio algorithms and “encourage” their brains to care. Also, I have coached before, so those questions in all caps is my assumption of what that one girl on the team will ask. We all have that one girl. I love that one girl, but most of the time, I have a hard time liking that one girl. Here we go!

                                           

                                             1) Cut the back of your syllables OFF

When you are on the sideline of a football game. The crowd can be anywhere from 10 to 20 to 75 feet away. That is FAR. I just looked it up, on a typical Friday night football game, sound travels at a whopping 1,125 ft per second. Now compared to you or me, that’s insanely fast. Compared to 2012 Usain Bolt or 2012 Michael Phelps, that still, INSANELY FAST. Now compare it to light. Light travels at 983,571,087.9 ft per second. Now all of a sudden sound doesn’t seem that fast does it?


WHAT DOES THIS MEAN COACH?

It means the crowd can see what you’re doing before they can hear what you’re saying. Not only that, but because there is such a huge gap between the speed of light and the speed of sound; the crowd is looking at the cheers in the present and hearing them in the past. Let’s take it a step further, in the warmer months it’s only a little bit behind, but in the winter it’s even more behind because sound travels slower in cold weather 🤯! (What, I didn’t know that either, we just learned this at the same time. When we read/created this document)

                                                             2) Take up space

Science: From the moment you are born to the moment you die your brain has only one assignment, to survive. That is why the brain has evolved to turn its attention to any sudden movements the eye catches along its periphery. To the brain it could be a predator. That is a great thing for us, because it means more views and engagement… literally! When doing chants, cheerleaders should be moving around. Forwards, backwards, diagonal, squatting down, standing on their tippy toes (relevè). This creates a lot of commotion along the eye's periphery. Forcing the crowd to look at what is going on down there on the track.


                                                                3) Add Interjections

What are interjections? Interjections are the words you say in between the cheer or chant. For example, Let’s go mustangs xx xxx let’s go mustangs xx xxx. Do you see those x’s? Those are claps. Do you know what is not being said during those claps? You guessed it! WORDS. That is the perfect time to insert interjections.

WHY DO WE WANT TO HAVE INTERJECTIONS

Because… Crocs. Imagine every chant was a different colored croc. Great, now imagine Let’s go mustangs xx xxx let’s go mustangs xx xxx is a burgundy colored croc. Now imagine we are showing the crowd our burgundy croc. ( Let’s go mustangs xx xxx let’s go mustangs xx xxx). Now imagine we are showing that croc over, and over, and over again. That’s what it’s like doing that chant multiple times in a game with no interjections. If we saw a burgundy croc once, we may go “ Wow, that’s a burgundy croc” (And that’s a huge maybe) The second time you saw a burgundy croc, you would say “Oh there’s that burgundy croc again. By the third time, you would no longer like to have anything to do with a burgundy croc. That is how the brain works. If you say a chant the same way over and over again. It becomes repetitive and the brain ignores it.

By adding interjections you no longer have a different color croc for every chant. Instead every single version of your chant is it’s own individual croc. Everytime, someone hears a chant they are going to be intrigued because no chant will be like any other. The best part? The foundation of the chant will be the same so people can still follow along. Want to be elite? Get the crowd involved. See what silly interjections can they come up with while doing the chants. In doing so you have created the opportunity for each instance you call a chant to be its own independent version. Each version is just as unique and exciting as the last.

The goal of this blog is to what? Bio hack the brain's algorithms in order to increase crowd involvement. In task number one we synchronized what we were seeing with what we were hearing. That makes it possible for the brain to even notice the cheerleaders. Before, the brain couldn’t even acknowledge us because what it was seeing and what it was hearing didn’t line up. Tack number 2, move around, now the crowd can acknowledge us, lets get their attention. Remember the average play in football lasts 7 seconds. The average chant lasts 30 seconds. There is about 25-40 seconds in between plays (except for the last 2 min of the half and of the game). That means whether you start a chant at the beginning of the play, in the middle of the play, or the end of the play the crowd has the opportunity to spend more time watching the cheerleaders than the game. Now, here comes interjections, our eyes are already looking. With the addition of interjections, we trick the mind into paying attention. Peaking the mind's curiosity as it tries to uncover what they just heard. Remember we have to hack into our crowd’s mind. Left on their own, they will choose to ignore us every time.



                                                                          4) Facials

I don’t know if you have noticed the pattern, ears, eyes, ears, eyes. We had to be pleasing to the ears far away, then we had to give them a reason to listen closely. We had to captivate their attention from the game by moving around, then we had to give them something to focus on with interjections.

Make different expressions while you cheer. Wink, look surprised, squint, change it up. Put yourself in the crowd’s shoes, I hear these sharp words, from this group of cheerleaders that are bouncing all over the track. I take a look at them when I think I hear one of them say “watermelon.” As I’m trying to find the culprit, I notice everyone has a distinct look on their face. “That one is smiling, that one just winked at me…I think. The other one seems surprised that I’m even looking in that direction.” As a fan now I’m invested. Yes, I’m invested in No. 11 in football, he is a tough Quarterback that has sacrificed a lot for his team. But, I’m also invested in the girl in the back row center right. She has a lot of energy and a great personality (which in this case is her facials and the space she is commanding back there).

And, just like an invested fan will yell “let’s go QB” they will also yell for Rebecca the girl back row center left. But, instead of let’s go Qb. They way better to yell. They have a beautiful bubble gum pink croc to yell. And they will be excited to yell it! Let’s go coaches, let’s go ladies, let’s take these tasks and let’s take over gameday. You deserve the crowd and the crowd deserves you!

​If you like this blog and want to get more information on all things cheer, follow my blogs on https://distalpoint.myclickfunnels.com/blog. Want more information on skills and drills for your cheer squad? Go to my Facebook page @CoachZo
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