Practice: Round 3!

So this week Demon's significant other ran the show for today and Speed Bump was there. She is from NJ, has played and currently coaches derby, and is awesome. Also, she will be referred to as 'The Whip' in future practices, or at least will be by me... Drills were more aggressive with a strong emphases on looking around you, staying in 'derby stance', and pushing yourself at all times. More one-knee falls, but The Whip added 5 sprinting strides after getting up to the mix and required constant looking around to maintain awareness, at one point requiring we say how many fingers she was holding up at various times. This was to become a theme for the day. Some one foot drills whistle change-up drills followed, also with requirements of paying attention to your surroundings. Finally, today introduced pushes and self assists or 'hip-whips', partnering up and leapfrogging around the track, alternating between pusher and pushee. At one point I was paired with Demon which meant every other time I was hurled forwards at speeds approaching the sound-barrier and then the other times possibly bored him to tears with a comparatively feeble push. We changed partners after a while and proceeded to the hip-whips which really made me nervous when towing another skater to steal momentum. The Whip gave lots of constant encouragement and constructive criticism which I think was well received by all. Definitely the most physically demanding practice to date, but I would be happy to see her there again in the future.

On to the 8-wheeled wonder that is Speed Bump. So my friend that got me interested in the first place told me that the first practice he attended, Speed Bump showed up complaining of a hangover and proceeded to go bouncing across the floor like an olympian. Seeing him in motion was inspiring. Tons of energy, very fast, and making it look easy the whole time. He offered advice and suggestions before/after/during drills that was always relevant and useful and was a nice guy. Hoping to see him again in the future, his being there also added something to the practice and made it a more valuable experience.

I definitely need to step up the fitness and skate time outside of practice, but am continuing to have a great time learning the basics and getting to know the team.