Pack Skate FTW!

So after missing last week's practice to go to CA to compete in the HPVC contest (PSU team took second, best in college history to date) I spent a week hacking and coughing up chunks of lung. When Sunday rolled around I felt more or less like I was ready to skate again, so naturally this would be our first 2-hour practice.

The Whip was late arriving after attending an RCR board meeting just before practice, so Faux Paul took whistle duty and had us doing combinations of pyramid sprints and other general warm-up drills. After about 20 minutes of thinking I might not die The Whip showed up and any foolish hopes of survival were dashed against the rocky coast of her merciless rule.

Apparently in the practice I missed they did more pack drills and I was sorely jealous. This was wasted jealousy. We were handed pennys, and practiced 4 vs 4 for what to do when one side's jammer was in the box. Initially this meant a messy free for all of those who could hit trouncing those who could not. While I still don't feel great hitting, it turns out I can soak up a decent hit without too much effort (thx gravity!), so I really enjoyed this. If your team's jammer was called out in the box your side had to get out front and speed the pack up, and the other team tried to catch one and slow things down. After a couple pile-ups Susan had us just use positional and booty blocking rather than laying each other out. Good times...

Another new drill was what I dubbed the conga line. first we were spaced out at arms length and the rearmost person weaves to the front. After a couple cycles the rear person did self-assists off each person. Then we finally got to do whips. Alternating inside and outside we slung our teammates ahead of us until it was our turn. While I'm a bit heavy to properly get a significant boost from most of my teammates, it works great in reverse. Even The Whip said I was good at giving whips, which I considered a huge success for the day.

Goal for next week: Skate lower so I'm not constantly being told to stay low all practice.

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.