You see it on the sidelines. Two people. One is standing in the other person's hands. It looks effortless, right? It’s not. In fact, two people cheer stunts, often called partner stunts in the industry, are some of the most mechanically complex movements in all of athletics. It’s a game of physics. It’s about a literal "base" providing a platform and a "flyer" maintaining a rigid center of gravity. If one person is off by a fraction of an inch, the whole thing collapses. Honestly, it’s a miracle more people don't end up with a face full of turf.
Most people think of cheerleading as a team sport with 20 people on the mat. But when you strip it down to just two, the margin for error vanishes. There’s no third person to catch a falling limb. There’s no backspot to pull the flyer's ankles up. It’s just you and your partner. This is the rawest form of the sport.
The physics of the two-person connection
Let's get technical for a second. In a standard extension, the base is holding the flyer's feet above their head. The flyer isn't just "standing." They are performing a "hollow body" hold, engaging every muscle from their calves to their traps. If a flyer goes soft—what coaches call "noodle legs"—the base has to work ten times harder to keep them up.
A study by the American Journal of Sports Medicine highlights that the most common injuries in cheerleading occur during these high-level stunts, often due to a loss of core stability. When you’re doing two people cheer stunts, the base acts as the foundation of a building. If that foundation shifts, the skyscraper tips. But in this case, the skyscraper is a human being.
Why the "grip" is everything
Most beginners think you just grab the feet. Wrong. The grip is a specific science. For a "toss to hands," the base has to catch the flyer’s heels with their palms while their fingers wrap around the mid-foot. It’s about pressure. You’re basically trying to fuse your palms to their sneakers.
Flyers have it rough too. They have to "squeeze everything." You’ve probably heard coaches scream that. It means locking the knees, squeezing the glutes, and keeping the shoulders down. If the flyer looks down at the ground? They’re going to the ground. Gravity is a jerk like that.
Common variations of two people cheer stunts
You’ve got your basics and your "how did they just do that" levels.
The cupie (or awesome) is the gold standard of partner stunting. The flyer’s feet are together, locked in one of the base's hands. One hand. Think about that. You’re balancing 110 pounds of human on a surface area the size of a coaster. It requires incredible wrist strength from the base. Most guys who do this spend hours in the gym specifically working on forearm hypertrophy and grip endurance.
Then there’s the liberty. One leg is up, the other is held by the base. It’s the iconic cheer pose. But in a two-person setup, the base has to counteract the flyer’s natural tendency to lean toward the lifted leg. It’s a constant, microscopic battle of adjustments. It looks still to the crowd, but underneath, the base’s muscles are firing like crazy to maintain balance.
The mental game and trust
You can't do this with someone you don't trust. Period. If a flyer is scared, they’ll "anticipate" the fall. They’ll pull their weight back or try to jump out of the stunt too early. That’s how people get hurt. The base has one job: keep the flyer off the floor. Even if it means taking an elbow to the nose or a knee to the chest.
I’ve seen bases catch flyers by the waist just inches from the mat. It’s a frantic, high-stakes environment. USA Cheer (the governing body for the sport) has strict safety progressions for a reason. You don’t just walk onto a mat and try a full-up to immediate stretch. You spend months doing "ground-up" drills. You learn how to fall before you learn how to fly.
Misconceptions about "strength"
People think the base just needs to be a bodybuilder. Actually, some of the best partner bases are lean. It’s about leg power and "driving" through the floor. The arms are just the extension of the legs. If you try to "muscle" a stunt up using only your biceps, you’re going to tire out in thirty seconds.
It’s about timing. The "dip" has to be synchronized. If the base dips and the flyer doesn't jump at the exact same millisecond, the stunt is "dead weight." It feels heavy. When the timing is perfect? The flyer feels like they’re weightless. It’s a weird, floating sensation.
The evolution of the sport
Partner stunting has changed. In the 80s and 90s, it was very static. You got the flyer up, they waved, they came down. Now? It’s acrobatic. We’re seeing "rewinds"—where the flyer does a backflip from the ground into the base’s hands.
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That is terrifying.
It requires the base to track the flyer’s hips in mid-air and catch them with enough force to stop the momentum but enough "give" to not break the flyer’s ankles. The NCA (National Cheerleaders Association) collegiate nationals in Daytona is where you see the peak of this. These athletes are training 20+ hours a week for a two-minute routine.
Safety and the "spotter" debate
In competition, you usually have a third person standing by as a "spotter." They don't touch the stunt unless it’s falling. But in true two people cheer stunts practice, sometimes it’s just the duo. Is it dangerous? Yeah, if you’re stupid about it.
The rule is simple: stay within your "level." If you can't hit a stunt ten times in a row on the grass or a soft mat, you have no business taking it to a hard floor or trying it without a spotter. Real experts know when to say "not today." If the flyer’s ankles are sore or the base’s shoulder is tweaking, you don't push it.
Critical techniques for success
If you're actually trying to improve your partner stunting, stop focusing on the "top" of the stunt. Focus on the "entry."
- The Dip: It needs to be shallow and fast. A deep, slow dip loses all the kinetic energy.
- The Eye Contact: The base should be looking at the flyer’s core or chest, not their feet. If you watch the feet, you’ll be chasing them. If you watch the center of gravity, you can predict where the feet are going.
- The Finish: Don't just "drop" the flyer. Control the "cradle." High-level stunts are judged on the transition out just as much as the move itself.
Why this matters for the sport's future
Cheerleading is fighting for Olympic recognition. To get there, it has to prove it’s a rigorous, standardized sport. These two-person maneuvers are the evidence. They show a level of athleticism that rivals gymnastics and weightlifting combined.
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It’s not just about pom-poms. It’s about a 200-pound man throwing a 110-pound woman 10 feet into the air, her doing a twist, and him catching her by the feet. It’s incredible. It’s also exhausting.
Actionable Steps for Aspiring Stunters
To master these movements, you need to move beyond just "practicing the stunt." Real progress happens in the gym and in the film room.
- Record every rep. Use your phone to film from the side. You’ll see things you can’t feel—like the base leaning back or the flyer’s hips sagging.
- Train the "negatives." Bases should practice slow, controlled descents. This builds the stabilizing muscles in the shoulders and rotator cuffs that prevent injury.
- Core, core, core. Both partners need a "rock-hard" midsection. If you can't hold a 2-minute plank, you shouldn't be doing high-level partner stunts.
- Master the "Toss to Hands." This is the foundation for everything. If your toss isn't landing in a solid, high-hand position every time, don't move on to extensions or liberties.
- Study the greats. Watch videos of NCA Partner Stunt winners from the last five years. Pay attention to their feet, not their faces. Look at how the base moves their "platform" to stay under the flyer's center of mass.
The path to elite stunting is boring. It's thousands of low-level reps until the movement becomes muscle memory. Only then do you get the "spectacular" moments that end up on a highlight reel. Stop rushing the process. Lock in your basics, trust your partner, and keep your chest up.