Roller Derby 101

Monday, May 4, 2015

Will Power

Yesterday, I assessed two more "white stars" (non-contact) to became "orange stars" (scrimmage ready). One of those girls has been through a TREMENDOUS journey involving major injuries and emotional setbacks.

I started with Wookie Tango Foxtrot when I lived on the island of Kaua`i and taught their fresh meat intake. She was not new to rollerskates but was definitely new to roller derby. She was nonchalant about the sport but liked the community. Derby over there was pretty casual, so she was casual with it, too. When I made my exit to O`ahu, I didn't know about her breaking her back. She stuck with the sport and continued to help the league as an NSO through her recovery, but we had long since lost touch.

A few years later at a fresh meat intake on O`ahu, Tango appeared again! She had seen a bout and wanted to join up. She was freshly married and had moved here. Derby on O`ahu, it seems, was a little more intense than she had anticipated. She thought it was wise to redo the fresh meat program and I agreed, especially because of her big injury. She went through to become a "white star" and graduated out, continued on to get contact certified as an "orange star," and then as quickly as that had happened, broke her wrist. :(

If any of you out there have been off skates with an injury for a few months or longer, you know how absolutely devastating a series of injuries can be. By the time she got back on skates, she had lost a lot of her derby muscle mass and was very rusty. She lost a lot of her skills from the time off of skates, and her hot tears of frustration when she didn't pass her re-entry orange star assessment could've made her quit. (I might've). She argued with me and told me how angry she was, and that she thought it was incredibly unfair. All I could do was tell her the truth, which was hard to handle. It's heartbreaking to hear that you have to skate on the side during contact drills because you are still dangerous to yourself and your leaguemates, and that your body is not prepared for full contact. When a coach tells you that you've had a setback and that your body is not ready, and they explain that you're not the skater you used to be, it's not a good feeling. It makes you feel like you have lost your identity and it is a struggle to maintain your composure, let alone continue with the sport. Who wants to watch the rest of the league scrimmage while sitting on the sidelines? That's more painful than walking away. It's why injuries are so hard to come back from. It makes you mad at the coach and mad at yourself. You lash out. You turn against your league. You turn against your friends.

Instead of quitting, however, this chick worked through that initial anger and busted her ass on skates outside of practice days. She channeled the inner FIGHT she needed in order to pass her skills. THIS IS ONE MIGHTY WOMAN. She is super slight in stature and has to work harder than most derby girls to prove she can stand up in the pack and battle with the big blockers. This game teaches us ALL how we fit in. Sometimes I feel like derby isn't for everyone... and then someone like this girl... under 100 lbs and with some serious health conditions... proves me entirely wrong.

Tango still has a lot of work to do and is going to retake Derby Middle School in June to get even more training under her belt in order to become a solid Orange Star skater... but she has a lot of determination and is willing to do the work. With more scrimmage time and more practice, she is going to protect that Orange Star and become one of the most dedicated members of our league. I'm super proud of her! Not every skater can be Suzy Hotrod. Leagues need WTF's, too. You bet they do.

God I love this sport. This is why I love teaching roller derby. This is why I can't quit you.

Wookie Tango Foxtrot

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Fresh Meat, Spring 2015 Weeks 1-3 stops, falls, conditioning, injury prevention

Aloha Freshies!

We started a new intake on Saturday, March 28th and began our journey to derby greatness by covering the history of roller derby throughout the world as well as on the islands. We then got suited up in freshly cleaned loaner gear and borrowed skates and helmets from PRD skaters so that we could learn some of the most fundamental of skills.

Derby Stance

Sitting in your invisible chair, legs should be shoulder width apart. You should be in a semi seated position with your chest "headlights" pointed straight ahead, your eyes also looking straight ahead. Whenever you feel off-balance in derby, you should return to this stance, or recover from a wobble by hunching your back like a cat and bending your knees to exaggerate derby stance. You will often hear me repeating to get "low and forward." This is what I am referring to. Activate your core and find your strong, solid core muscles for maximum stability.

Stride

Staying low in your derby stance, you can push off each skate straight off to the side, keeping your wheels of your skate on the ground as long as possible until finally letting it come off of the ground. This exaggerated exercise is a way of practicing a powerful stride, the very basic "push" that will help you build speed as you skate. Do not bob up and down. Stay low in your form the whole time. It will burn your quads to do so, but this is all part of building up muscle strength.

Stops

T-Stop - more like an L, this stop is used mostly for a speed adjustment in pack situations and is good for a quick slow down in tight quarters. Some skaters prefer both knees to be bent, while other skaters stand straighter when they perform this stop. Since we are learning basics, I prefer skaters to perform this stop with knees bent, engaging their core.
Working up to this stop, we grabbed the fence with both hands in a stationary position and practiced keeping all four wheels on the ground as we dragged our braking foot towards our standing leg. Our braking foot outside wheels are the wheels we are mostly concentrating on keeping on the ground, to prevent wheel chatter (a wild T-Stop that has only the front two wheels of that braking foot on the ground makes a loud wheel chatter and gives the potential for a broken ankle, so this is a very important exercise to practice and get down).

Snow Plow Stop - this stop is used for abrupt stops that need to happen when the pack has come to a halt in front of you or behind you. It is also effective when containing a jammer. An effective snow plow stop has unlimited potential for stalling opponents. In your derby stance, guide your wheels to roll out wider than your shoulders, then turn your knees and toes to face each other, activating the inside edges of both skates. The trick to this stop is entirely on the power of your edges.
Working up to this stop, we did "watermelons," where we rolled our wheels out wider than our shoulders then turned our knees and toes to face each other until they came back together, then faced them back outwards without activating our edges to apply a brake.
Some skaters prefer to use a stagger, having one leg in front as they stop.

Examples of effective snow plow stop techniques can be seen in thisYoutube video by the San Diego Derby Dolls.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjHh7fI6OeU

California Stop - We made the term up, but the stop is a really super useful, commonly used stop for packwork when we are attempting to hold a jammer and keep her from pushing us forward. This stop is basically a snow plow stop engaging your edges, but instead of rolling to a stop, you are lifting up your feet alternately to brake at a rapid pace. Edges are super important with this, and a skater looks almost knock-kneed while performing this. Along with the arched-back cat I referred to earlier engaging your core muscles, it is very hard for anyone to move a blocker who is performing this. I will demonstrate this for you this coming Saturday.

Falls

Single Knee, Double Knee, 4-Point falls - we covered how to fall forward lightly without too much weight on our knees. A single knee fall is really a "tap," a simple balance check before popping right back up and getting back into the game. Double knee, same thing, only it's a one-two fall, so both knees should rarely, if ever, hit the ground at the same time. When performing a double knee fall, lean back towards your heels with your body weight to take the weight off of your knees so you do not damage your kneecaps and ligaments. We wear pads, but over time this is a big derby injury.
Let's try to prevent injuries early by learning correctly.

With 4-point falls, perform the double knee fall, then drop both arms (wrists and elbows simultaneously), tucking in your fingers and turning your head to the side. You should try to become as small as possible. If you have to fall, FALL SMALL. Then get up as fast as possible and rejoin your pack. Derby isn't about falling. Get back in the game and help your jammer. No drama queens.

Crossovers

We begun the process of learning crossovers. Crossovers are extremely important to gain speed and increase momentum around the corners of the track. A proper crossover gains momentum on both the "overpush" and the "underpush." We will be talking about the difference in depth this Saturday. Last week we talked about a few things related to these, but I would like to cover these in a different blog post. They can be tricky.

Transitions

We begun learning transitions last week, which is how to turn from forwards to backwards, and back again. We will be continuing this skill this Saturday and this will be covered in the next blog in depth.

Skating Backwards

Because we learned how to turn around, we also had to begin learning how to skate backwards. We will be learning more about this skill this Saturday and the next blog will cover this in depth.

Injury Prevention

We discussed some ways to strengthen common areas prone to injury, such as ankles, knees, and lower back. If you have questions about any of the exercises we did for these areas or an area that is troubling you, please talk to me or any of the PRD girls and we will find you resources. It is better to figure it out early than wait until a sore area becomes a torn something-or-another or a broken bone. Our goal is to train you correctly so that only freak accidents occur.. not preventable ones. Most if not all of our skaters do a ton of core work and off-skates conditioning to get their bodies into shape and build up muscles that are necessary to play effective derby. If you are not cross-training, now is the time to start. We will also be doing a dynamic warm-up before every on-skates practice and a dynamic cool-down stretching after the workout, to make sure that your bodies are being properly conditioned for this demanding sport. It is a lot of work, but that is why we love it.

this derby chick has great planking form and her ass is down. Yes!

And now, your reward for reading this blog! A link to watch Team USA scrimmage each other. OMG!! The best derby evar. You're welcome :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVoZEbldPJg

xox,

Calamity

Thursday, February 19, 2015

How long does it take to pass the 27/5 laps?

"How long does it take to pass the 27/5 laps?"

I get this question a lot. And a lot of times, girls start into derby and get super frustrated because they aren't instantly good at it. They're angry because even if though they know what they're SUPPOSED to do, their legs of cardio of coordination aren't cooperating.

Well the truth is, it depends on a lot of factors. It depends on your coordination to begin with. It's not fair, but it's true. It depends on your dedication. It depends on your overall fitness level upon starting, and it depends on how hard you try to improve that. I would love to say that derby is for everybody and every BODY, but I would be lying to you, and I'm not a liar: it's not for everyone. Sometimes it doesn't work out because of xyz. But if you work hard and you're stubborn as hell, you will pass those laps eventually, or at least achieve some milestones along the way. It's about unlocking personal bests and feeling good inside, and being s part of a team. These girls worked on it for 5 months. How long will it take you?

I can't answer that, but you can.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Referee Roundup, Day 1

Aloha all!

As I make that trip across the derby rainbow bridge and "retire" from skating after 10 seasons, reffing seemed like a natural transition. The thought of giving up a sport that has become such a huge part of my life wasn't something that sat well with me. Coaching, teaching, and reffing will always be viable options for skaters that are retiring. Reffing will be the most challenging! Thanks for following along with my journey! I am especially excited to help new refs that have never known the sport of roller derby, so if that is you, welcome! There is a lot to learn :)

What would a team be without a kickass name? Lame. That's what it would be. After very little discussion, we decided on Saturday that Oahu refs will be known as the ENFORCERS and we will be amazing! It has a very Terminator-esque feel to it. We can solidly say that we will be very intimidating and powerful with a name like this. Plus, we can wear cool accessories, like cyborg helmets. Or something. With the Big Island refs being the Punishers, we felt we needed a competitive title. Done.

At our first day of the three part clinic I handed out this handy-dandy packet which includes 28 lessons. We got through the first 11 and there is a QUIZ due on Friday!! Here is the packet if you missed it.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UKwnttr8cDQCrzXr67Ox502xYkryIyX8-accHwlbkAQ/edit

Here is the QUIZ for Lessons 1-11!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XnD9yIWp2WWfEWLSLAdpjTapxBFU8Q4l6QKTTROPxWw/edit?usp=sharing

Remember, referees must be rules experts and are looked at as the authorities on rules, so study hard! I will release the answers to the quiz the following Monday on the event page so you can see how you did. You can get up to 4 wrong to pass.

We played "Telephone" to practice ref calls with distractions and learned that loud noises and commotion is, indeed, very distracting. We are going to need to study our butts off and practice lots. We're in this together, thanks for coming and being polite and listening respectfully while I went through all of this pertinent information for 4 hours! It was a lot of talking!

Other helpful links that were discussed on Saturday:

www.wftda.com is the place to go to learn more about our main derby organization
www.wftda.com/rules has the most recent rule set
www.wftda.com/officiating talks about certification programs for the over-achievers
ref-ed.com is a GREAT source for the materials that will help us on our journey! They have videos demonstrating some of the things we will be learning here.
zebra huddle is the place where the packet was verified and produced.
the facebook group for Hawaii Referees is called HORD

Whistles can be purchased online through Sin City Skates Wicked Skates or at Sports Authority, or I'm sure a variety of other places! Hella Ratty will also be stocking them locally when her stock comes in at her store.

I will post the second Homework assignment next Monday.

Hugs, Calamity

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Week 9: Endurance Day

OFF-SKATES WORKOUT
This is usually circuit training in your cross trainers, including 4-corner stations of mountain-climbers, burpies, V-ups, and push-ups. Running a lap in between sets of 10, or add in whatever else your off-skates coach might want to include to focus on particular core muscle groups or overall fitness. Basically, this is your body's warm-up before stretches. Very important.

(approx 20 mins)

Gear Up

5 MINUTES OF HELL

60/100/squat

60% of speed for 30 seconds

sprint for 30 seconds

squat/sticky skate 30 seconds

(approx time 5mins 30secs)

water - a little extended

BACKSEAT DRIVER

push cart ladder drill

pair up. girls do a lap of pushing, then switch off. this goes in increments, so it goes 1 lap (switch), 2 laps (switch), 3 laps (switch), 4 laps (switch), then back down to 3 laps (switch), 2 laps (switch), 1 lap (switch) and done.

(approx time 20-25 min)

water

NASCAR

Two groups on opposite sides of track

Tight packs, touching two people. Switching spots in their pack whenever you say switch. Staying exactly opposite of the other group on the track while rolling at pack speed. Have one group pick up the pack a bit to mess with the speed of the packs. Have someone fall if no one is falling. You should be barking out switch enough to create chaos. After they get the hang of it (about 10 mins) have them try to catch the other group-but they must be arms length from all of their own teammates...no girl left behind. If someone falls, they must collect her.

(approx time 15-20 min)

water

TOE STOP DISCO

turn around toe stops on whistle or command "switch"

skating derby direction, you will call out "switch or blow whistle, indicating that they must turn around toe stop and start skating opposite direction. We do this drill in PRD practices. At first you will need to space them out, every 15-30 seconds or so. After that, increase how often they are having to turn. Occasionally yell out which direction they should be skating to re-orient them, sometimes girls get confused, especially the first few turns at the beginning or when the pace picks up. Make it hurt.

(approx time 5-7 min)

grab water and bring it trackside

THE OLYMPICS

individual ladder, with cheerleaders

one person from each team is on the track at a time. cheer for teammates when not skating. sprint 1 lap, then tag next teammate for her to start her lap. Do 1 lap, 2 laps, 3 laps, 4 laps, 3 laps, 2 laps, 1 lap, done.

(approx time 15 mins)

cool down stretching/core abs

Monday, November 10, 2014

Weeks 7 & 8: Working out the trouble spots & Skate Cleaning Demo

So this intake was extended slightly due to some scheduling conflicts due to a hurricane and the rescheduling of an island tournament that I am skating in, and it ended up working out better, anyways so that all of the skaters have time to hone their skills and fully develop those basics. Nothing wrong with taking a little bit longer to get comfortable, after all, rushing into skills in general only causes injuries later.

Working Out the Trouble Spots

For week 7, we had a very small turnout, being the day after Halloween (cough). This was great for the three diehards that showed up because they got one on one help. What I especially liked about this on-the-fly adjustment to the workout was that it allowed me to exploit whatever particular skill it was that each skater was struggling with. I recommend taking some time this week to find your trouble skill and finding a way to work on it. Be creative!

Skater 1 - Endurance

Plugged into her iPhone for music and some headphones, she skated the magic circle on the track and worked on her crossovers. I told her to do a ladder drill where she started by doing 7 crossovers to propel herself around the full track, then on the next lap went down to 6 crossovers, the next lap 5 crossovers, the next, 4. She then worked back up to 7. You can try this by increasing the range to 11 crossovers on the whole track and decreasing down to 2. It's meant to be hard. It's also a triple-whammy: you are working on the amount of power being placed in each stride, you are working on the most effective place to do your crossover on the track, and you are working on your endurance. If you get really into the music and zone out, at the very least you are getting a good workout. At the very best, you are dramatically improving your crossover technique.

Skater 2 - mohawk stops/transitions

This skater took the full time to work solely on the skill that she worried the most about, which was how to nail down those mohawk stops. Most of it is mental game. She could do the transition most of the time but only when she hopped into it, so when it came to putting down her toe stops into the mohawk stop, she was trying to jump into landing onto her toe stops. We are not trying to be ballerinas in a 3 month time span, so she worked on relaxing and breaking down that skill into smaller, bite-sized chunks so that it wasn't so scary. Also, no need to jump. Once she realized that the jump wasn't necessary, I could see her whole body relax and she started just working on skating backwards.

Skater 3 - transitions while moving

When we learn how to skate, we are taught to do so many things at once that it is often overwhelming and creates mental barriers. We become human stress balls. We are rigid, even in our derby stance. We cannot possibly remain pliable enough to do a transition because we are physically frozen. This skater's only job for the practice was to abandon the "get low" golden rule in order to RELAX while skating. She was so focused on correct form and skating low and staying on her feet that she couldn't even enjoy the skating. I decided it was time for her to look at the birds and the mountains and enjoy the moment of being free on wheels. Not looking down, not worrying about "am I low enough," but just being liberated from the structure. I also prescribed street skates. haha

If you have a trouble skill that needs work, I highly recommend taking an entire practice or a time slot after work on your own to work specifically on that skill. Sometimes we only graze the surface of each skill and you don't have enough time to really get in there and work out the mechanics. More time on skates and more time practicing those trouble areas is always a good solution. Youtube is great for demos, just make sure you're getting good advice. I recommend the San Diego Derby Dolls tutorials and the Rat City tutorials on specific skills. Can't find what you're looking for? Comment on this post and I'll find it for you.

Skate Cleaning Demo

You should clean your wheels and bearings when you notice an excessive buildup of dirt, debris, or if you have been caught in a torrential downpour while skating. If you keep your equipment in good shape, you will rarely need to replace it. It's like maintaining a vehicle.

To clean your wheels and bearings, you will need:

a safety pin or button with a thin, sharp end (to carefully pop off the bearing covers)
sewing machine oil (cheap) or quick lube/bearing lube (pricier). Both work the same
water tight container to agitate dirty bearings in, or fancier contraption as shown
rubbing alcohol (above 70%) or a citrus degreaser if you're fancy and have some time
bucket of soapy water (dishwashing liquid okay) to soak wheels (sans bearings)
towel to set your bearings and bearing covers on
fingernail brush or old toothbrush (fine wire brush ok, but not too abrasive or you'll wreck stuff) to brush your bearings and wheels if they are super crusty

I do not personally advise using canned air, as you can lodge debris further inside of your bearings after you've already done a fine job of cleaning them. If you use citrus cleaner you will need to thoroughly dry your bearings before continuing. This is why I like to use alcohol... does the job, super cheap, dries fast.

The one thing I like to stress is that there are a lot of different techniques and products to clean your wheels and bearings, but there are a few rules of thumb:

DO NOT use WD-40 or acetone. These aren't good choices and can deteriorate your equipment.
DO NOT put your bearings in water or in contact with water. They will rust and seize up.
DO NOT soak your wheels in alcohol. The wheel material deteriorates with prolonged exposure. Only wipe off wheels with alcohol occasionally, like during a bout to remove surface dirt to create more traction.
DO NOT try to take the balls out of your bearings. You will ruin them. Don't do it.
DO NOT use your fingernail to pop the cap back on your bearing. If you dent the cap, they won't spin! That defeats the purpose, right? Be gentle :)

If you follow the above, you'll be able to keep your equipment in good shape for a long time. Bearings are machined metal parts that require some sort of rust remover or solvent to clean them. Water will rust them. Please watch this video for a complete demonstration!

http://youtu.be/XeUyqHCI6Ms

I found another clip that I would like to add on to the skate maintenance talk... about rotating your wheels. Over time, your wheels will "cone" due to a wearing away of the urethane from prolonged use. It's hard to avoid, but you can even out the wear on your wheels by regularly rotating them. Here is a demo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elbzA9amtS0