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.
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.
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:
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
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
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