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...
Monday, April 19, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Floorburn FTW!
Went to Open Skate for general skating and working on endurance. Things went well for the most part, got to practice plow stops, some light backwards skating, some of the weakest attempts at a tomahawk this century. I felt good and warmed up and worked on whatever fundamentals occurred to me with my friend and was having a good time getting in a decent workout.
Later in the session (Wednesday afternoons are the best time to go btw, very few people there) people cleared out so I figured it was time to speed things up a bit. I had sprinted a few laps throughout the day whenever I had the room to safely do so, but hadn't done any back-to-back so I decided this was the time. Laps 1 & 2 felt good, crossovers were smooth and I was holding good speed through the turns leading to faster straights every lap. Had lap 3 continued like the first two I would have been content to call it good there, but obviously, it didn't. The second turn a crossover became a cross-up and I stumbled. Having been working on and discussing proper falls recently I had the perfect opportunity to put the theory to the test rather than fight the fall and end up going down like a felled tree. So I took a knee, which, given I was at the apex of the turn and had some serious radial forces going on, went very well. No bruises, and only floorburn on my thumb where it was exposed just past my wristguard. Floorburn so deep I might not have a thumbprint there again...
Good workout though.
Later in the session (Wednesday afternoons are the best time to go btw, very few people there) people cleared out so I figured it was time to speed things up a bit. I had sprinted a few laps throughout the day whenever I had the room to safely do so, but hadn't done any back-to-back so I decided this was the time. Laps 1 & 2 felt good, crossovers were smooth and I was holding good speed through the turns leading to faster straights every lap. Had lap 3 continued like the first two I would have been content to call it good there, but obviously, it didn't. The second turn a crossover became a cross-up and I stumbled. Having been working on and discussing proper falls recently I had the perfect opportunity to put the theory to the test rather than fight the fall and end up going down like a felled tree. So I took a knee, which, given I was at the apex of the turn and had some serious radial forces going on, went very well. No bruises, and only floorburn on my thumb where it was exposed just past my wristguard. Floorburn so deep I might not have a thumbprint there again...
Good workout though.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Trail skating sucks the big one...
I've been trail skating a couple times this last week just to get in free time on the wheels and it is less than fun. Four miles on the trails feels like more work than 2 hours in the rink. Add in rocks, the threat of falling on asphalt, bicyclists, and people who feel that their dog is an exception to the leash law and you have a fairly stressful workout environment. On the bright side, it is outdoors and a change of scenery from the endless left turn of the rink. I think it will prove to be a valuable endurance building tool and will ultimately make me a better skater, but until then it feels like work. Demon suggested narrower wheels to make it a bit faster and less tedious, but I am tempted to leave the wide ones on for now simply for the resistance and increased workout. Also new wheels costs new money.
On the indoor front...
Went to open skate on Wednesday with a friend and was able to pound out 2.5 hours of skate time with minimal breaks, after having gone outdoors for 45 minutes only 2 hours before that. Afterwards I looked like I had been swimming with my t-shirt on and my crash pads cause some rather strange sweat lines on the shorts, but it was a good workout. Crossovers are becoming silent and natural, and when I find myself with plenty of open lane ahead of me, acceleration and control at speed are significantly improved. If the Wednesday skate trend continues, which it likely will since Wednesdays 3-5:30 are fairly open at Oaks Park, I'll start working on backwards skating and other activities that I just can't do on the trails outside of practice.
Tomorrow, practice. Hopefully some blocking, falls, the ever-popular squats, and maybe some toe-stop sprint-starts. That would be fun...
On the indoor front...
Went to open skate on Wednesday with a friend and was able to pound out 2.5 hours of skate time with minimal breaks, after having gone outdoors for 45 minutes only 2 hours before that. Afterwards I looked like I had been swimming with my t-shirt on and my crash pads cause some rather strange sweat lines on the shorts, but it was a good workout. Crossovers are becoming silent and natural, and when I find myself with plenty of open lane ahead of me, acceleration and control at speed are significantly improved. If the Wednesday skate trend continues, which it likely will since Wednesdays 3-5:30 are fairly open at Oaks Park, I'll start working on backwards skating and other activities that I just can't do on the trails outside of practice.
Tomorrow, practice. Hopefully some blocking, falls, the ever-popular squats, and maybe some toe-stop sprint-starts. That would be fun...
Monday, April 5, 2010
You know you want to...
Are you a guy in Portland, over 21 years old, kept up late at night wondering "Could I play men's roller derby?"
The answer is yes. Yes, you can.
Go to the Portland Men's Roller Derby website to find out information about practices, skill and equipment requirements, and more.
The answer is yes. Yes, you can.
Go to the Portland Men's Roller Derby website to find out information about practices, skill and equipment requirements, and more.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Second Practice
Second practice this week, only 5 of us skating, but also attended the board meeting to be better informed/involved. Learned a lot about our relationship with RCR and got to voice my opinion (despite it's newness in the group) on open questions of interest and goals.
Today Demon asked if we had any special requests for the day and I wanted to do some basic hit drills. Though before we did that I asked about practicing falls and doing squats since they're generally related. So after squats and falls (which I am happy to say I have gotten MUCH better about getting up into motion using my toe-stop from a knee after a single knee fall) we paired up and did basic contact drills. Since many of us had never put a hit on anyone we started with just making legal contact. Not bad, but doing so with any coordination is harder than it looks for sure. A person on the outside was designated the hitter and their partner, conveniently gliding along in the 'derby' position, the one taking the hit. Once we all had a few runs through barely bumping into each other Demon changed it up so the hitter would continuously push their opposite until they were forced out of bounds to the inside, changing up to do it again in opposite roles on the next straight away.
Taking the hit, no problem, sit there and be a trauma sponge until you're forced across the line. Dealing the hit was a real challenge for me. First, I don't feel terribly confident on my skates in close proximity to others just yet so I was quite cautions about accidentally clipping someone's wheel during the line-up and approach. Second, these were my teammates and that always makes me a bit nervous when potentially causing injury. Long story short, I liked the contact drills, but thought my hits/contact was crap. Perhaps this week along the Springwater trail I'll farm a jogger or two for practice... probably not.
Overall, feeling better about the skating, but really need the weather to clear up so I can add outdoor skating to the weekly routine and start building some endurance to prep for the 2-hour practices we hope to move to. I have a nice section of the trail picked out that is a 6-mile round trip from the apartment which should start to really help build up those oddball skating muscles and give me more general skate time.
Today Demon asked if we had any special requests for the day and I wanted to do some basic hit drills. Though before we did that I asked about practicing falls and doing squats since they're generally related. So after squats and falls (which I am happy to say I have gotten MUCH better about getting up into motion using my toe-stop from a knee after a single knee fall) we paired up and did basic contact drills. Since many of us had never put a hit on anyone we started with just making legal contact. Not bad, but doing so with any coordination is harder than it looks for sure. A person on the outside was designated the hitter and their partner, conveniently gliding along in the 'derby' position, the one taking the hit. Once we all had a few runs through barely bumping into each other Demon changed it up so the hitter would continuously push their opposite until they were forced out of bounds to the inside, changing up to do it again in opposite roles on the next straight away.
Taking the hit, no problem, sit there and be a trauma sponge until you're forced across the line. Dealing the hit was a real challenge for me. First, I don't feel terribly confident on my skates in close proximity to others just yet so I was quite cautions about accidentally clipping someone's wheel during the line-up and approach. Second, these were my teammates and that always makes me a bit nervous when potentially causing injury. Long story short, I liked the contact drills, but thought my hits/contact was crap. Perhaps this week along the Springwater trail I'll farm a jogger or two for practice... probably not.
Overall, feeling better about the skating, but really need the weather to clear up so I can add outdoor skating to the weekly routine and start building some endurance to prep for the 2-hour practices we hope to move to. I have a nice section of the trail picked out that is a 6-mile round trip from the apartment which should start to really help build up those oddball skating muscles and give me more general skate time.
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