Week 12: Assessment Preview, Intro to Contact

It was an ultrapacked practice full of basic drills and some packwork, focusing heavily on your agility, balance, footwork, and overall comfort on skates. There were obstacles to weave around in a pack situation. Cones to jump over. Backwards crossovers and a time trial for the 27/5... but overall, everyone stuck it out and gave it some gusto! We covered a lot of ground and I could tell the nerves were already setting in for the assessments that will take place on the next two Saturdays... but honestly? Quit siking yourself out. If you're ready, great, and if you don't make it you will get a holiday break and start back on March 1st! Regardless, you're a derby girl now, and you are really looking good. I'm so proud of all of you. I am grateful for your perseverance, your dedication to organize and practice outside of Saturdays, your attention during our short two hours together every week, and your loyalty towards learning the skills slowly and correctly so that you don't damage yourselves. This will give you a solid foundation for years of future derby play. PRD is lucky to have you!

After we did most of the assessment material for White Star (minus stops, falls, and wheel locks), we had an intro to CONTACT. Hip checks and shoulder checks are "contact 101." Basically, as if it wasn't enough to concentrate on not falling when skating fast, you are almost ready to begin dealing with the pesky blockers from an opposing team. Today we broke down the HIP CHECK, which is when you either swing your ass over to knock your opponent's upper thigh area or when you step in front of her (I'M the boss!) to then land your upper thigh into her upper thigh. It is called a hip check because you are using your hips to swing in. You are aiming for her upper thigh, NOT her hip. We also learned the SHOULDER CHECK (or as I call it, the toe touch hit), which is when you reach down and touch your hand to the opposite foot (less later after you understand the form), then spring up to land the back of your shoulder into your opponent's upper arm. There are varieties on both of these basic hits that will be expanded upon in Middle School. For now, we wanted you to see the exciting new chapter ahead that will be added to your toolbox!

Please refrain from practicing hits at this time, as they will NOT be on the assessment and will be covered in greater depth during middle school. This was just a sampler. You're welcome ;)

With the exception of clothing whips (really similar to a hip whip), we have covered everything that you'll be assessed on. Here is your study guide checklist.

White Star Assessment Material

• Skating Stride and Posture
• Forward/Backward Crossovers
• Endurance (27/5)
• Stops (T-Stop, Snow Plow)
• Balance and Agility (fast feet, 1 foot glide, sticky skating, space invaders, hopping, jumping)
• Lateral Movement on the track
• Backwards Skating
• Recovery (single knee taps, double) NO HANDS
• Focus and awareness on the track (can look around instead of down)
• Weaving (stationary cones and paceline weaving)
• Transitions (180 and 360 degree turn(or two 180 turns in a row), clockwise and counter clockwise)
• Whips, giving and receiving (arm whips (inside/outside), hip whips, clothing whips)
• Pushing, giving and receiving (remember to SKATE out of whips and pushes!! No free rides!!)
• Unexpected obstacles (amoeba-ing around downed skaters in a moving pack)
• Wheel Locks

Beat Box was obnoxiously loud, which was amazing. We will use it for our warm up and our 27/5's on Saturday. Come hydrated and ready to show off all of what you've learned!

Calamity

Week 11: Refining skills, Intro to Buddy Work, Paceline Weaving

Off skates warm-up today was an adventure led by PRD skaters Punk and Panda. They focused heavily on "no girl left behind," incorporating a buddy system of core work to get you in the mindset of working together to accomplish a goal. There was a lot of giggling and it looked super fun!


We launched into a dynamic warmup, followed by Transitions. Some are still struggling a bit with transitions, and I find that sometimes it is best to watch a video tutorial or have a skill explained different ways in order to truly understand the breakdown. Don't worry about the final element of this skill (spinning around blockers), but watch the basic elements of Bonnie D. Stroir's footwork as she shows the Transition. You start with your head, follow with your shoulders. Eyes stay up.

Backwards skating and backwards crossovers were on your own today, as we have worked on these skills for quite a few practices now. If you are still struggling to get the mechanics of skating backwards, this chick does an okay job of starting with the march and ending with backwards crossovers. She calls what we call watermelons "scissors" and crossovers "crossables." Work on this stuff until it's easy. We also worked on Mohawk/toestop stops again today, accentuating the "bow" at the end with our legs staggered.

We separated into two groups and did "slut cars," where you skated across from the other group on opposite sides of the track. Every time I blew the whistle, you changed into a new position staying low in your derby stance and filling any holes. Remember to touch two people and then take your hands away. No grabbing onto clothing or limbs!

We did the Spokes drill again with 4 skaters in our line, maintaining an equal distance from other lines on the track. Then we did the fan drill from there, fanning out to cover the whole track on the straightaways, then collapsing in behind the inside pack skater around the corners. Today we moved this fan drill up a level by having lane skaters 1 and 4 switch spots as they fanned and collapsed around the corners, and lane skaters 2 and 3 also switched spots. It feels much more like a fan in this sense. I think everyone got it after a lap or two! You will do more of this at the Middle School level.

Next was Mirror Image drill, mimicking your buddy in the two squares. We then moved to the track with our buddy and did the High-Five drill. This was where one girl stood on the inside track boundary line and the other stood on the outside track boundary, and for one minute you shuffled in to high-five your buddy, then shuffled back out to your spot. We took a 30 sec rest, switched spots and repeated. Then we did it by bypassing our buddy completely, shuffling right past her to essentially switch spots. This lateral movement drill is good to be conscious of track boundaries, as well as buddy awareness and working together with a teammate. It is super good to know where your girls are at on the track and how long it takes to get to them. A quick shuffle or a large few shuffles are all that are needed, staying low in your derby chair.

lateral movement!

We moved it to a new drill called Elevator Doors. There are two pacelines right next to each other. Everyone is paired off across from their buddy. We began rolling forward in a normal paceline speed, maintaining arm's length distance from the skaters in front and behind us and next to us. On the whistle, you shuffled close to your buddy, hip to hip, making it impossible for anyone to squeeze between you. On the next whistle, you separated and created an open lane between the two pacelines. Whistle is blown, you come back together. Adding in a "jammer" from the back of the two pacelines, she enters in to the open lane. When the "elevator doors" close, she has to stop. When the "open," she skates forward. We continued the drill for a while until it was a fluid, operating line. I thought it looked pretty good!

Our last drill was a simple paceline weaving drill that is used often at most roller derby practices. In one paceline, arms distance apart, the last skater in the line weaves forward through the moving paceline with quick feet (no coasting) to the very front, then she becomes the pace car to maintain the speed of the line. The paceline should stay at the very center of the track so that the skaters weaving through can try to stay within the track boundaries as they move up. You can practice this on any court surface.

Don't worry... no one looked like this going through the paceline... I just can't stop laughing at this! :)

It was a heavily attended practice! Thanks for coming. Dusti bought rechargeable batteries and I just bought a charger, so we are SET on music from here to infinity and beyond! Have a great week :)

Calamity

Week 10: agility, intro to lanes and packwork, PRD procedures

Aloha!

Apologies for the delay. My life is busy right now :)

On Saturday we again contended with intermittent rain showers, but we used that time to go over important policies and procedures and the PRD bylaws that our league adheres to for operations. It is important to remember that being a skater is not just about skating, but also about helping to run the league smoothly so that we can continue to develop and build a fan base. Bouts are way more fun when we have a crowd watching! Running a league takes a lot of work outside of our training. Although training should be your top priority, most league girls put in at least a few additional hours a week for their committee obligations. Keep all of this in mind as you transition into league practices. Our league practice requirements vary based upon how many practices are offered in a current month (rainouts don't count), so that usually ends up being 6-7 practices in a month. Not too much, but as you begin to balance life/family/career and derby, remember that teamwork happens on and off the track! If you did not get a copy of the Policies and Procedures manual or our current PRD Bylaws manual, please let me know and I'll bring you a copy.

Our practice started with off-skates conditioning as usual, slightly extended to deal with the rain drying up. We hopped on skates and did a dynamic warmup, working on our balance and getting our legs ready for our practice. We launched into some review of stops, then moved on quickly to our new skills involving Intro to Packwork. We did a "spokes" drill, where in a group of 4 people, we skated across from another group of four that was on the exact opposite side of the track from us. We tried to maintain the same speed as them while staying in arms distance from our 4 pack buddies. We then introduced how to "collapse in" around the corners" and how to "fan out" on the straightaways, to increase the likelihood of stopping an opposing jammer from getting by us in a realtime derby jam situation. We will continue to work on this, as it can be a little tricky to comprehend at first, but basically the idea is to clog the magic circle so that an opposing jammer has a hard time getting by you.

This shows a red team fan formation coming out of a corner. Notice that the outside blocker is alerting the inside blocker that the black jammer is right behind her! She's telling her, "hold that line!!" Black team jammer is Death By Chocolate of  Houston Roller Derby.

This is the beginning of POSITIONAL BLOCKING. You will hear a lot more about that term in the practices to follow. We did some large pack work as a giant group, sticky skating to avoid wheel locks, and worked on getting familiar with the four lanes on the track. I called out a lane (1,2,3 or 4) and the entire pack moved to adjust to that area. Get accustomed to fast response to where to be, as game situations often get chaotic and teammates may call to you to cover a specific area. In derby as blockers, we use our body to block first, without going for big hits. Using the mentality of making yourself big like a bear, you are trying to take up as much of the track as possible to prevent the opposing team's blocker from passing you and scoring points. But you already knew that, since you've been diligently studying the rules of derby on the wftda rules site, right? ;)
We wrapped things up with some transitions work on the whistle, working on fluidity of moving from frontwards to backwards. Please continue to work on this throughout the week and get comfortable keeping those eyes up.

Please start getting super familiar with the WFTDA site outside of the rules page to learn more about what is happening in roller derby throughout the world. This last weekend was the Championship tournament, and Gotham (of New York) won it again in a narrow margin over Texas. WFTDA level derby is super exciting, and there is a TON you can learn from watching the best teams. Don't be intimidated... we don't expect you to skate like Suzy Hotrod straight away. But she's a damn fine role model!

Suzy Hotrod of Gotham Rollergirls. Tyler Shaw Photography
Check out that underpush in her crossover!

There is a rules clinic lead by our head referee, Bacon, on November 17th. Please see the Fresh Meat facebook page for more details. If you can't make it, find a buddy to take notes for you! I will try to get access to his powerpoint.

If you have not yet signed up for a mentor and would like one, contact me right away! Everyone in the current Fall intake that requested one has been paired up so far and should be hearing from their Mentor to get together. Remember, it isn't necessarily about skating. Make a friend out of your mentor! Learn about them and how they got into derby, and what challenges they faced when they became a league skater. This will help all of us become better leaguemates.

See you Saturday!

Calamity

Week 9: Review of transitions, Wheel Locks, Beginning Pack Work

This practice was a little chaotic due to a few brief rain delays. We did the best we could to maximize the time we had and make it worth your while.

Practice started with White Dynamite's 20 minutes of cardio and strengthening. He does a great job of getting your heart rates up and making you sweat which may suck at the time, but it's conditioning you to have better endurance on skates and a stronger core. Make sure you thank him for bringing the pain... he doesn't get paid to come kick your ass, you know!

White Dynamite says, "Give me 20!!"

After gearing up, we did a dynamic warmup on skates and also did a new one where we sprinted and then on the whistle squatted (without sticky skating) until we came to a complete stop. I think we did it four times, but it's a thigh burner. I know I groaned... I think you did, too. We got on the white line and did some Space Invaders to work on agility, footwork, transitions and crossovers. There was side stepping, side shuffling, single and double knee falls with no hands, jumping from back to front and front to back, and balancing on one foot. We got water, and then it started raining.

After it poured for a hot minute, I broke out my emergency activity and we had a wheel/bearing cleaning demonstration. Please make sure to clean your equipment prior to the review day we will have leading up to your assessment. The review day is scheduled for Saturday, November 30th. If you did not make practice and you would like a comprehensive breakdown on how to clean your wheels and bearings, please go to this link: 

http://www.sincityskates.com/images/downloads/sincity_cleaning_bearings_and_wheels.pdf

Remember, don't put your bearings in the soapy water! Wheels only ;)

After the track was dry, we buddied up and did a couples skate to have one person skate backwards while their buddy held their shoulders for a little support. This drill was meant to help your confidence as you work on skating backwards with more speed. Hopefully it allowed you to push your comfort zone just a bit and go faster than you were used to. We worked on our backwards crossovers a little bit, then worked on the rink circles to do our backwards crossovers in a tighter radius with Peku and I giving feedback. Weewah worked with some of our newer skaters on backwards skating techniques.

We then introduced some new skills, starting with Wheel Locks. Wheel locking happens when you are skating in close proximity to another skater, and the wheels of your skates accidentally jam with another girl's skate. The catchy phrase to remember what to do is SHIFT YOUR WEIGHT, LIFT YOUR SKATE. It's as simple as that. Don't panic... just shift the weight of your body onto the other leg and lift your foot to break out of the lockup. We practiced it carefully at first, then intentionally made it harder on our buddy by trying to trip them up a bit. Watch your elbows and body positioning for this drill... this is not about hitting or pushing your buddy, it is about finding your balance when you lock skates. Practice this carefully.

Next, we got in a large pack on the track where we were able to touch two people, and we did one of my favorite drills called Pack Molestation. We started skating forward on the track (sticky skating as to not trip our teammates), and on the whistle everyone switched positions on the track without leaving our derby stance. We moved to the outside, inside, front and back, filling all the holes as we saw them. When I called out a body part, you had to turn around and touch that body part behind you. This is a fun drill. When you do it, make sure to get low when maneuvering and not stand straight up! We sped up together, slowed down, moved as a big amoeba to the outside and the inside, and then I added in having Weewah or Peku fall small within the pack so we had to quickly amoeba around them, too. You did great!

We stretched it out and had some announcements. I hope you can all organize some skating outings this week! See you Saturday.

Calamity