Derby Weekend

I got to enjoy a nice weekend of derby the last few days. On Friday I watched the broadcast of the Wheels of Justice vs Charm City, then Saturday went to cheer on the High Rollers as they took on the Break Neck Betties, and finally on Sunday I got to realize how far I have to go during men's practice and seeing the Rosebuds play the I-5 rollergirls. On the bright side, all the teams I was pulling for won their game!

The Whip, or General Anarchy as she seems to prefer, was at the helm once again this weekend. More fall drills (which are becoming more automatic), laps, and sprints this week while constantly looking around/behind you incase the rumors about the boogeyman not being real are suddenly disproved. I enjoy her coaching style and hope that she runs the team for a while. She coaches the Rosebuds and seems to do a good job there, and I think the non-PG13 environment of adult men's derby suits her motivation style well. After seeing her run the rosebuds team in the close bout with I-5 she certainly has good strategy and understands what she can expect her players to do under pressure.

Two big new drills this week, one incredibly fun and the other something I think The Whip borrowed from a DIY Gitmo instruction manual. First up, sprawl drills. Imagine doing a jumping jack with rollerskates except that the moment your wheels hit the ground you drop to knees, elbows, wrists, and then chest. Now do that 5 times in a row and then sprint 3 laps. Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot... Easily my new least favorite drill, but I can certainly see the multiple benefits of doing them. Getting up faster, the overall aerobic and muscle workout, and training to take the worst fall possible in a controlled manner. Seeing these benefits does nothing for how much the drill sucks though. I'll ask to do more next practice.

The big winner of the day though was that Speed Bump was there once again and we got to do actual pack skating with a jammer on the track. Lots of nervousness and worries as we tottered about the track while Speed Bump ninja'd his way past everyone without showing any signs of real effort. Only Carpe Demon & Kill Nye were able to put up much of a showing of actual defense, using some positional & booty blocking as well as Demon forcing him outside the line with a light shoulder block. I really enjoyed that the drill more closely resembled actual derby, and that despite some hiccups we were able to skate packed up and moving together. Gotta work on that side-to-side mobility to get in those little jammers' way faster. Slippery buggers...