Aloha Freshies!
I sort of forgot to start up this blog again, but better late than never! We started the new intake on March 1st and, Sound of Music Style, started at the very beginning.
Pushing and Stride
T Stops and Snow Plows
Single Knee and Double Knee Falls
4-point falls (two knees, then tuck into a ball with your elbows on the ground, fingers in)
Basically, roller derby goes fast and we need to be able to control our crazy legs. The better your agility is, the better of a derby skater you will be. You can practice grape vines in your living room, in your kitchen, down your driveway to the mailbox, down the street to your car. Work on your LATERAL MOVEMENT, which is your ability to shuffle back and forth with your hips squared forward.
This is a great off skates exercise to build up you legs and work on lateral movement. Use a pilates band for the rubber resistance around your upper legs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aB_0cCidv0
Today we used the building block components from the first few practices and incorporated them into our next few skills, TRANSITIONS and SKATING BACKWARDS. I started you on the wall of the rink with one hand holding the wall. You opened your shoulder/arm and your outside leg to "open the door," then put it down and moved the rest of your body to follow suit. It looks like the beginning of this (please note that the end of this demo is not applicable. Just the transition)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFp12rTYsw8
Another technique to learn this very important skill. Everyone learns differently, hopefully one of the ways we teach it will make sense to you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek96bzbrPL8
After we worked on that, we learned how to skate backwards. Skating backwards seems daunting, but once you figure out the mechanics, the main thing you will need to work on is how to pick up speed. I mentioned that you must look under your shoulder to see where you are going, not over, so that your body stays low. Skating upright in derby leaves you poorly balanced and makes you a target for big, painful hits by opponents. GET. LOW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZxFvpSzZMc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eCBfRQs6YQ
What she refers to as "backwards scissors" is what we refer to as "watermelons."
We did some relay races today combining all of the skills that we have learned so far. Skating backwards and transitions are your newest skills and will need a bit of time to perfect. Don't get frustrated, just practice! Get out there in your driveways and streets. Don't get hit by cars. Wear your gear. Yes, especially your helmet.
We also worked on our crossover technique today around the circles in the rink. We worked on the "overpush" and the "underpush," keeping our shoulders/arms squared into the middle of the circle. Demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMajOwSfFHc
She's good at breaking down the nose, knee, toe positioning. Notice in the demo how she is pushing with both her right (front) leg and her left (back) leg as she crosses over in a circle.
Lastly, we did a fun scissoring drill around the cones to work on feeling our skates crossing in front of each other. This drill is mainly good for weight transfer and getting used to our skates crossing in front and back without picking them up off the ground.
Demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJdettZNdxo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7AIYRQszAQ
lol totally kidding. Did I freak you out? :P
This is what we tried. Sorry it's blurry!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zw-L4lKEEg
These are super important fundamental skills. You can practice all of them off skates. Please make sure you're training outside of Saturdays as much as you can to pick up the skills faster! Once you have your own skates, organize with your fellow freshies to do a skate practice on a basketball court near you.
xo, Calamity
Bonus nugget of goodness:
I sort of forgot to start up this blog again, but better late than never! We started the new intake on March 1st and, Sound of Music Style, started at the very beginning.
Pushing and Stride
T Stops and Snow Plows
Single Knee and Double Knee Falls
4-point falls (two knees, then tuck into a ball with your elbows on the ground, fingers in)
Basically, roller derby goes fast and we need to be able to control our crazy legs. The better your agility is, the better of a derby skater you will be. You can practice grape vines in your living room, in your kitchen, down your driveway to the mailbox, down the street to your car. Work on your LATERAL MOVEMENT, which is your ability to shuffle back and forth with your hips squared forward.
This is a great off skates exercise to build up you legs and work on lateral movement. Use a pilates band for the rubber resistance around your upper legs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aB_0cCidv0
Today we used the building block components from the first few practices and incorporated them into our next few skills, TRANSITIONS and SKATING BACKWARDS. I started you on the wall of the rink with one hand holding the wall. You opened your shoulder/arm and your outside leg to "open the door," then put it down and moved the rest of your body to follow suit. It looks like the beginning of this (please note that the end of this demo is not applicable. Just the transition)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFp12rTYsw8
Another technique to learn this very important skill. Everyone learns differently, hopefully one of the ways we teach it will make sense to you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek96bzbrPL8
After we worked on that, we learned how to skate backwards. Skating backwards seems daunting, but once you figure out the mechanics, the main thing you will need to work on is how to pick up speed. I mentioned that you must look under your shoulder to see where you are going, not over, so that your body stays low. Skating upright in derby leaves you poorly balanced and makes you a target for big, painful hits by opponents. GET. LOW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZxFvpSzZMc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eCBfRQs6YQ
What she refers to as "backwards scissors" is what we refer to as "watermelons."
We did some relay races today combining all of the skills that we have learned so far. Skating backwards and transitions are your newest skills and will need a bit of time to perfect. Don't get frustrated, just practice! Get out there in your driveways and streets. Don't get hit by cars. Wear your gear. Yes, especially your helmet.
We also worked on our crossover technique today around the circles in the rink. We worked on the "overpush" and the "underpush," keeping our shoulders/arms squared into the middle of the circle. Demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMajOwSfFHc
She's good at breaking down the nose, knee, toe positioning. Notice in the demo how she is pushing with both her right (front) leg and her left (back) leg as she crosses over in a circle.
Lastly, we did a fun scissoring drill around the cones to work on feeling our skates crossing in front of each other. This drill is mainly good for weight transfer and getting used to our skates crossing in front and back without picking them up off the ground.
Demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJdettZNdxo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7AIYRQszAQ
lol totally kidding. Did I freak you out? :P
This is what we tried. Sorry it's blurry!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zw-L4lKEEg
These are super important fundamental skills. You can practice all of them off skates. Please make sure you're training outside of Saturdays as much as you can to pick up the skills faster! Once you have your own skates, organize with your fellow freshies to do a skate practice on a basketball court near you.
xo, Calamity
Bonus nugget of goodness:
YOU'RE WELCOME.
