Recap from Saturday practice: Started off with 30 minutes of off-skates led by Dynomite. Launched into a dynamic warmup stretch, followed by 60/100/squats for the sake of repetition-we did that for 7 minutes this time. Next was mohawk stops, where on the whistle we jumped (twisting with our hips and finding a spot up ahead to look at) to face the opposite direction and stop on our toe-stops, ran a few paces, then did it again to skate derby direction once more. It took a little time to understand, but eventually everyone seemed to get a handle on it. We then moved to transitions on the whistle, jumping from skating forwards to backwards, then again on the whistle backwards to forwards. We worked on our backwards crossovers just a tad bit. I hope you're practicing these a lot outside of Saturdays!
Got water, then made two packs on opposite sides of the track and did slut cars. Working in switching positions on every whistle, filling holes, minding the line. Slowing down/speeding up as one, sticky skating t-stopping so as not to trip teammates. Staying low. After about 10 minutes of that we did a drill where each pack tried to catch the other, but having to stay touching two with no skater left behind. If someone fell, we had to stop. This was exhausting, but is a great drill to work on group strategy and teamwork. Water. Did a 3-wall drill with 1 "jammer" trying to get through, as the 3-wall positionally blocked with hips/shoulders together. We're still learning this, so then we did a drill where two people put on the brakes big time with a hard plow stop, and 1 person pushed on them from behind. That effectively demonstrated that the purpose of any wall is to slow down an opposing jammer/blocker, even to a stop. We got water, then did the mirror-image drill with a buddy in two squares to work on agility.
Last new skill introduction today was a hits demonstration, and we all got to give it a whirl! We did shoulder checks first, starting with toe-touch hits." This prevents us from "teapotting," which is an entirely ineffective shoulder tap like a teapot bending over to the side. dont even bother with a hit if that is what you're gonna throw! Reaching down opposite hand to opposite toe, we snap up super fast (all in the legs) to land a HARD HIT to our partner. Target zone is her upper shoulder or slightly behind her arm on her ribs or shoulder blade. Please consult legal target zone at www.WFTDA.com for proper contact zones. We held our own hand as we did this as not to follow through and elbow our partner (terrible habit-don't do it! It will land you in the penalty box), and we also had to be careful not to follow through with our helmet. No one likes a helmet to the face! That is also illegal ;)
Hip checks started with the "I'm the Boss!" drill, taking turns stepping in front of our partner and grazing then with our hip in the process. We then tried the bigger hip check, which is actually YOUR hip hitting your target's THIGH. Aim lower than you would expect, but do not go for her knee. That is illegal and dangerous.
Hits are a part of roller derby, but I do want to stress that modern derby is 95% positional blocking, 5% hitting upon the perfect opportunity when you spot an unaware blocker. We rarely go balls to the wall and start laying bitches out just because we can. It is a strategy like any other strategy. Practice your hits safely and break down the mechanics, but do not rely on hits all the time. Positional blocking is where it's at!
Hope everyone had fun :) Next week is the assessment overview practice. You will be going over everything on the assessment. Hits will NOT be on the white star assessment. We did this to see them, feel them, and understand the fundamentals...but you will practice them more later with coach instruction at practices. Please concentrate on your agility and endurance for 7/6!!
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