Week 2 saw our derby stadium graced by some lovely ladies with many, many, many years experience on skates. Old but not out, the Nannas (Flo, Gerty, Agnes and Hazel) led us all in some warm up drills that proved to be useful both on the track and in the kitchen. These included:
+ Putting the scones in the oven (getting low, using your knees, and keeping your back straight so you don't fall in!)
+ While you're nice and low, wiggling around like there's a spunky person behind you (and being aware of the insides and outsides of your feet when you lean left and right).
+ Crossing your legs back and forth to keep the wee in!
+ And don't forget those celebratory roof punches!
While the Nannas went off to make a cuppa, Rolla Junky and Tricksey Belt'em led us for the rest of the training session. They had skaters hitting the wall (literally!) with stationary snow ploughs, before practising t-stops across the stadium.
They then took slaloms and weaving to a new level, with skaters weaving between cones on one foot, carving with both feet, and skating backwards. Junky reminded skaters to stay in a low derby stance, "like you're doing a shit" otherwise "you'll eat shit" when you fall on your arse! Nanna Hazel reflected on her many decades of life experience, stating that "you take baby steps in life... and in derby", reminding skaters to take small steps (literally). Tricksey extended our ability to carve (weaving leading with one foot) by explaining how trucks work and helping skaters to adjust their own trucks (remember to read Foxy's post to fix your own!).
We then moved on to cross-overs, for which Tricksey taught us the importance of good cross-overs to maintain and quickly build speed, as well as get out of tight spots in the pack. We started by pushing with the outside leg alone, with "no cheating or there'll be smack down!" before moving on to exaggerated cross-overs and, finally, full cross-overs on the track.
Rolla Junky and Tricksey Belt'em finished the session by extending our understanding of riding the track. Junky reminded us of the importance of awareness and getting used to looking behind and around you. Remember to turn your shoulders and point to where you want to go. The trainers challenged us to count how many cross-overs we can do while riding the track and Tricksey pointed out that short strides take much more energy, while long strides give more speed with less effort.
We finished the session with those wonderful endurance laps that all skaters come to love. But remember: while it's good to get your speed on during those endurance laps, most of derby has very little to do with skating fast! It can be really hard to skate well when there are lots of people on the track. But if you can stay on the track, really work on how you can skate slow, skate safely, avoid other skaters, and really refine your technique, you'll be well set for skating effectively in a pack!
Enjoy, and see you all on Thursday!
Silks / Creamy Mash
xox
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