Kaitlyn Sexton Lyday

It’s really like that when you get over 30 💀 shoutout to KP as always being my support in every aspect of life #cheer #cheertumbling #standingtuck #STUNTtheSport #cheerproblems #tumbler

Most stunts I’ve ever seen at a wedding 🤍 congratulations to the McCrarys!! @PetiteGirlEnergy ✨ PS can report @ohkeegs is still the best shoulder stand on this earth #cheer #cheerleading #cheerwedding #cheerstunts #retiredcheerleader

Sometimes the judges don’t notice when teams do the second (easier) option bc they look so similar lol #cheer #cheerstunts #cheerleading #hightohighfullaround #cheertips #cheerstunting

There are so many right ways to do stunts 🤩 but all girl low tick full arounds are nightmare fuel #cheer #cheerstunts #cheerleading #coedstunting

Replying to @lifewithalicia tips for lib arounds/stay in lib full arounds 👇 Bases: • stay shrugged through a quick pop (aka use your legs to dip— not your arms in a compromised starting position). If you un-shrug your shoulders or dip too low, it can be difficult to snap a pop back up and keep it at extended level. • make sure you’re allowing the top’s stance to keep the heel above the ball of their foot. If the top’s heel dumps and their hips settle backwards, they may feel forced to fall back out of line before the spin/pop. backs: • the reason this is @Coach Jocelyn’s favorite stunt is because she doesn’t have to let go (the left leg doesn’t get in her way during the spin bc it’s above her hands)! Stay connected and lifting the entire time— even when it’s weightless for a moment. Tops: • standing awareness is key— make sure to find and place weight over your main base’s front hand before any spinning skill initiates. If you spin over that part of your foot, you’ll know exactly where to stand as the spin is completed. • a lib can make your spin feel slower than usual because of the minimal hip movement. For these, I aim to pull up with my upper half to the quarter (to the main) and then do a half spin with my left hip (around) to the back. The rest of the spin (last quarter when facing the side base) should glide to the front if you can master the timing of that snap with the main’s hand turn. Lastly, make sure you’re working on progressions prior to this skill. A full up and full around are easier versions of the same techniques, so if you understand consistency in those you’ll know exactly what’s happening when attempting these for the first time in a new group! Once you’ve mastered a lib around, be sure to try it in other body positions or mixing up the starting and landing body position with the same grip 🤩 Comment below any additional tips you have or a favorite variation of this skill! #cheer #cheerstunts #cheerleading #allgirlstunting #groupstunting #stunttechnique #cheerteam

She loved it :) @traci💜 thanks for being a good sport you’re a natural!!! #cheer #cheerfamily #cheerleading #cheerstunting #retiredcheerleader

Replying to @sophia.saar15 one more thing to remember on J full ups— A lot of these concepts apply on a one foot load in which is easier than a J for a lot of people!! I explained a j full up specifically for this request (in case it’s for an already set routine or difficulty plan) but here’s the difference: J full up starts from a “J” which has main in full up grip, side base in quick toss around the thigh, backspot at hips, top has hands on back’s wrists and is starting standing. Another version (easier) looks more like a lib starting point with the main base in full up; side base is stacked under the right foot/main’s hands (then releases), backspot is under the butt/on the ankle, and the top starts with hands on bases shoulders. I prefer the second approach for one foot load in full ups (if permitted) because there is more weight under the top’s right foot making the stunt more explosive! Moral of the story: there are SO MANY RIGHT WAYS TO EXECUTE THINGS WELL! Keep trying minimal fixes that make sense logically to find the best way for your team to execute! Special shoutouts to @USA Cheer & @Nick Prak for the videos used of USA All Girl Premier and all athletes featured (my bases included) for helping me explain these concepts and tips! #cheer #cheerstunts #cheerleading #cheerstunting #cheertips #stuntingtips

He is the best coed partner ever and I’m lucky he’s mine :) #cheer #coedstunting #collegecheer #cheerstunts #cheerleading #cheercouple

Competing the first all girl pike open double is my “cheerleader” legacy #cheer #cheerleader #collegecheerleader #usaallgirl #usacheer #pikeopendouble #cheerbaskets

part 2 of the summer stretching series 😛 heel stretches (or front flexibility / hamstrings)!! Part 1 was “back” (scales/arabesques) and Part 3 is “bows” (hips). Getting ready for my improving flexibility class at this year’s conference 🤸‍♀️ what other stretches are you looking to improve this summer? #cheer #cheerflyer #cheerleading #flyerflexibility #flyertips #cheertips

part 3 of my flyer summer stretching series targets HIPS so you can do pretty bows & paperclips more easily! This part is a bit more elite than part 2: heelstretches/front stretching. Part 1 was for “back” stretching aka arabesques & scales since that was the requested video that started this series :) Hope you guys are keeping up with your stretching all summer long! 🫶 #cheer #cheerleading #cheerflyer #cheertips #flyertips #flyerflexibility

the first of a little flyer summer stretching series! Back stretches were requested by a friend of mine— would anyone like more of these for other body positions? #cheer #cheerflyer #flyerflexibility #cheerleading #cheerstunts #cheertips #flyertips

Pushing off… here’s the deal ↓ When inversions became a thing in coed college cheer, nobody pushed off bc that would mean a dead weight drop when the dude is simultaneously trying to rock the inversion over them. Coed inversions matched the tumbling skill (standing bhs, roundoff, etc.) and all was based on what momentum was natural! All girl started doing them not too long after and when trying to get 3 bases on the same timing as the 1, they naturally became a little slower to get together and rock for their throw— as they were more spread out than the coed single base directly under the torso. Since these inversions were painfully slow in comparison, the tops/flyers had an awkward pause of waiting mid-invert instead of following the natural timing of the tumbling entry (like milliseconds vs half a second). The push off was “created” to have the flyers help do the bases jobs with the inversion momentum as a means of “efficiency” (but it really ended up permitting slow technique from bases instead of fixing the root problem). Some college teams fought through the adversity of this tricky timing/learning curve and worked from the beginning to be faster off the bottom (matching coed). More commonly, these schools ended up progressing more quickly. While some OTHERS decided to leave the speed up to the responsibility of the top/flyer because it worked and it was consistent. This can still totally be effective— one group is pushing off in this video and matches the timing of the others!! But— when the same inversions became legal in high school, most younger teams decided they would take that easier route to keep up with competition— but they went wrong in RELYING on the push off for bare minimum execution instead of using it as a way to keep up top technique. I will never say it’s WRONG to do this, to AVOID being efficient with your people if you know an option, or to argue there’s only one way to do something— bc hey if a push off is what you need to execute and there’s no difficult difference, get it!!! 👏👏👏 However, relying on the top/flyer to fix the speed of the bases by giving that extra push causes another issue down the road— these groups are all taught that the flyer will fix the speed of the inversion which they can’t do when they’re backwards on a fhs up. So… obviously I wasn’t a fan of this concept because I knew it compensated a root issue. While you can totally push off in a bufu (I’ve competed it!), you can’t push off in a fhs up. Therefore, the push off limits teams to not be able to fhs up, fhs 1.5 up, get enough speed to understand a budu, cartwheel up etc. :/ If it was easy to not push off, everyone would do it. That’s why we loveeeeee when teams started shifting into not pushing off and returning back to the OG coed-style technique of inversions :) Shoutout to my above-and-beyond teams who have gradually STOPPED pushing off in their inversions 🫶 #cheer #cheerstunts #cheerleading #cheertips #cheerstunting #cheercoach

How I became the director of marketing for @USA Cheer & #STUNTtheSport, + what I studied/worked in that got me here, + some career advice 🤩 This is a 10 year career journey so far and who knows where I’ll go from here!! 💫 Bonus career advice I forgot to mention: make sure to network— I always encourage people to have a LinkedIn page! I could go on about a million career things bc I wanted to be in cheer but coaching just wasn’t for me 🫶 I hope this helps someone— I have been sobbing at comments of people saying I’m inspiring for what I do so I’m verrrrry grateful to live such a purposeful life 🤍 #cheer #cheerleading #cheercareer #marketing #retiredcheerleader #usacheer

I need to be able to whip out a standing tuck in a moment’s notice! #cheer #cheertumbling #cheerleading #standingtuck #cheerleader #retiredcheerleaders

Not the narrow hallway stunting in our neighborhood gym 😭 #cheer #cheerstunts #retiredcheerleader #cheerleading #cheercouple #coedstunting

Replying to @Holly Grace full ups: one foot load in vs two ‼️ we’re back with my opinion/experience on full up approaches 😍 breaking down one foot load in on a full up #cheerstunt vs. two foot loads— this is a common style taking over a traditional full up and here’s a full explanation as to why I prefer it over the “old” way 💫 #cheer #cheerleading #fullup #allgirlfullup #cheertips #cheerstunting

If anyone has a video of me from any of the thousands of all girl fhs ups I’ve done I’ll send you a coffee for it #cheer #cheerleading #cheerstunts #allgirlstunting #fronthandspringup #cheerleader #collegecheer #ucastaff