How to secure hair for cheerleading?

[DreamSheep]

I'll be going to a cheerleading practice tomorrow and ideally, will be training regularly from then onwards. As stunts are performed, hair does need to be tied back. In the past, I've always worn a ponytail - however my pony is now quite long and I don't want to damage my hair/ends either.
Hairsticks are out of the question because they could hurt someone, so I was loooking for ideas for hair-friendly and people-friendly and rock-secure hairstyles for an intense sport.

[Madora]

How about braiding in a single braid, then doubling the braid back on itself and tieing it with a ribbon?

You could also do a lace accent braid which is great for confining the hair. Sew it in to your completed accent braid to make it secure.

[Larki]

Maybe put it in a bun with a claw clip or two? Those are always super solid for me, especially with a large claw clip on either side of the bun. Holds up through jumprope.

[DreamSheep]

Thanks for the suggestions! I might try the folded up braid (or probably, do two folded up braids - as I don't call my single braid the fat-plait for nothing, it's not very flexible. :P Will have to buy some ribbon though.

I had considered claw clips, but as I will likely be a flyer, I will be tossed in the air and caught by my bases - and I'm worried the metal spring in the claw clips might hurt people as they catch me (with is also my rationale for not wearing my chopsticks) - or that they might break if impacted upon. Although I do love my claw clips

Also, I feel quite silly asking this, but what is "You could also do a lace accent braid which is great for confining the hair. Sew it in to your completed accent braid to make it secure."?
I know/think accent braids are the smaller tiddly ones, but I'm not sure what sewing / lace braids exactly are or how to do them - although it sounds very dainty.

[Madora]

DreamSheep, mea culpa! Sleep deprivation wasted my brain on that entry. What I meant to say was to try a lace crown braid. Here's a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPHEzUr5bWQ

If your braid is long enough, just tuck it under the crown braid (at the place where it began). If not, just tuck, pin for the moment. Then take some sort of thread that matches your hair color and "sew" the braid end to the lace crown (to make sure the end doesn't unravel). The rest of the crown braid is already "locked in" so no hair escapes (except whispies, perhaps).

[RoseofCimarron]

The buns that worked best for me (when I was in cheer/drill and in a super fast-paced badminton class) were a cinnabun, a vortex bun, a sock bun, and a modified Elling woman bun. The things I would be most worried about (if I was a flyer, I wasn't ) would be the bun coming loose, the bun getting caught on something else (I would not do any sort of looped ponytail/braid), or falling and landing on the bun. My coach would not allow any of the stunt girls to wear pins of any sort, because they could fall, hit their head, and the pins could go into the scalp. I'm not trying to scare you, I promise!

For the cinnabun I would put my hair up into a ponytail (with a gentle elastic), either braid it or not, and then wrap it around the ponytail base, securing it with spin pins (I used between 3-5 when I was around your length). The only problem with spin pins is that when you fall on your hair they can hurt your head, so I was always very careful of that, but they held like a rock. You can also do this without the ponytail base, but if you don't twist the hair it can come loose.

Here is a thread on the vortex bun. This uses too many pins for my taste, but it is also flat and secure!

Sock buns are good if you do fall. I use them for when I go to the fair and ride rides. The sock provides a cushion between my head and the back of the ride, so it doesn't hurt to hit my head (I love crazy fast rides!). I do the method where I make a ponytail, slide the doughnut (sock) down to the base, cover the sock with hair, secure with an elastic, and braid/wrap and pin the extra length around the bun. Here is Torrin's tutorial. Her bun is a little bigger than I would have gone, but it is awesome. You could also do the "rolling your hair around the sock" way and get really pretty curls afterward.

A normal Elling woman bun is basically (from what I have seen) a French braid with a gap that you loop the braid around to form a bun. Here is Habioku's tutorial. The only problem I have with her way of doing it is that the single French braid base can be really loose and unstable for me, so I do two French braids joined (braided) together into one (where the gap would be) and then wrap the rest of the braid around it. It is so much more stable. I wear this one when I only have two spin pins (I'm a very forgetful person sometimes! ) or when I have to go to the dentist and I have to lie down.

As an extra, if you are required to wear a ponytail (we were), you can shorten your length by pulling all of your hair into a low ponytail, twisting it up (as if you were doing a twist with a big claw clip), making a small bun (you can omit this step if your hair is too short), and then securing it with a flat barrette (like these, I love these ones by Goody. After you secure the small bun with a couple bobby pins (small bobby pins, short spin pins, etc.), you should be left with a tail of hair where a high ponytail would be, just tie the ponytail with the cheer ribbons around the tail and from the stands no one can tell that you don't have a short ponytail! My hair is tailbone length and I totally freaked out a few of my friends with this style.

Good luck! Cheer is so fun, I miss it so much!

[darklyndsea]

Amish braids! Which I have once again lost the link to...

Comfortable, rock-solid, and doesn't use anything other than your hair and hair ties. It does take quite a while to do, though.

[kpzra]

Hair taping

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqbAdvL8kME

[DreamSheep]

Hi!
Thank you everybody so much for your wonderful and in-depth suggestions I will probably be trying out the different methods over the course of several practices and settle on the one that holds the firmest.

Today I tried out Madora's idea - I made a ponytail with a scrunchie, which I then made into one fat braid and rolled it up, tucking the ends into the original scrunchie, and put two mini clawclips to hold it. Held pretty well - hair escaped from most of the sweat too (it was such an intense session!), although it did look a bit tatty at the end.

[Larki]

Have fun with cheer! I always secretly wanted to do it, but couldn't!