Speed
Stacking
Benefits
FITNESS:
Sport Stacking is a fitness based sport that kids from all backgrounds and abilities can do. For
the athlete and non-athlete alike, regardless if you are instructing eighth graders or
kindergartners, sport stacking can be a great enhancement for your fitness routine. With over 70
fitness based activities, sport stacking helps to motivate kids to be active and fit. Teachers and
parents also like sport stacking because it can be done at home. Much like a Scholastic book
order encourages kids to read at home, a Group Order through Speed Stacks encourages fitness
at home.
Benefits
ACADEMICS:
Today schools, teachers and parents are focused more than ever on academic achievement.
Sport stacking not only promotes physical fitness, but also academic learning. Students that
sport stack on a regular basis have shown increases in test scores and levels of concentration.
This is achieved by students using both their right and left sides of their brain. When students
sport stack they are crossing the "midline" of their bodies and developing new connections in
their brains. These new connections help to spur brain growth which in turn promotes greater
academic achievement. Please refer to our studies and articles below for more information.
Benefits
SELF-ESTEEM:
One of the comments we receive consistently from teachers, parents and school administrators
is how sport stacking levels the playing field for their kids. Non-Athletic kids can now compete
head to head with their more athletic counterparts. This significantly raises their self-esteem,
motivating them to work harder in PE and be excited to participate. It's a WIN, WIN!
3-3-3
3-6-3
6-6
1-10-1
The Cycle
3-6-3
6-6
1-10-1
Terms
Ambidexterity
Using your left and right hands with the same ease and skill; very handy when it comes to dribbling and
shooting a basketball, using the computer, playing the piano, sport stacking and much more. Michelangelo,
Ben Franklin, Einstein, and more, were ambidextrous.
Bilateral proficiency
Equal performance on both sides of the body - to be able to use both hands equally well. It requires practice.
Become ambidextrous and along with physiological brain growth, a more balanced integration of your two
brain hemispheres will be achieved. Studies have shown that ambidextrous people are more emotionally
independent, more determined, more adaptable to new situations and more apt to handle problems without
giving up.
Cycle stack
This is a sequence of stacks combining a 3-6-3 stack, a 6-6 and a 1-10-1 stack, in that order. Stackers
conclude the Cycle with cups in a 3-6-3 "down stacked" position.
level.
Down stacking
Term used for "unstacking" or putting cups down. (Hands may not be on two stacks simultaneously either in
the Up Stacking or Down Stacking phase.) Down Stacking must follow the same direction as the Up
Stacking phase (i.e. if you "up stack" from left to right, you must also "down stack" from left to right).
False start
There are three types of false starts that can occur in the Team Relay Competition:
1.A lead stacker's hand(s) leave the touch pads of the StackMat™ Competition Timer before the
command of "Go" by the official.
2.A subsequent stacker's foot crosses the starting line before the hand tag.
3.A missed hand tag.
Terms
False stop
A false stop occurs if during the Individual Timed Competition, a Stacker accidentally or intentionally stops
the StackMat Competition Timer before the sequence is complete. (All cups must be down stacked and
upright before the timer is stopped.) OR In the Team Relay Competition, the StackMat™ Competition Timer
is stopped prior to the fourth and final Stacker completing his or her sequence.
Focus
The ability to concentrate.
Forfeit
A loss of a race and/or a match in a Team Relay Competition for interference and/or unsportsmanlike
conduct. (This includes "unintentional" interference.)
Fumble
The term used when cups fall during the process of Up Stacking or Down Stacking. (More about the three
types of fumbles.) Fumbles must be corrected properly. When a stacker fumbles a cup, only the stacker can
retrieve it.
Hand-eye coordination
Hand-eye coordination - Having your brain tell your hands what to do and having them actually do it, like
catching a ball or stacking cups.
Individual timed stack
Term used to time or measure a person's performance in an individual event.
Terms
Ready position
The Ready Position: knees bent, swivel at wrist.
Sport
A game or some kind of active play done for exercise or pleasure.
Speed Stacks exercises our brains along with our bodies - allowing both to grow.
Sportsmanship
The practice of honorable conduct in sport events.
Stack
An individual group of cups either up stacked or down stacked such as a
3 stack, 6 stack or 10 stack. OR A specific stacking sequence, or pattern,
involving a combination of individual stacks (e.g. 3-3-3 stack, 3-6-3 stack, Cycle stack).
Stacking sequence
The term used to describe the order in which cups are upstacked and downstacked. 3-3-3:
Cups are "up stacked" and "down stacked" from left to right or right to left.
Team relay races
Four (or five) member teams assembled to participate in one-after-the-other stacking for a combined
total time.
Teamwork
The ability to work toward and accomplish a common goal as a group.
Up stacking
Term used for stacking the cups "up." (Hands may not be on two stacks simultaneously either in the
Up Stacking or Down Stacking phase.)