Raw Meat Week 3

Raw Meat Week 3 was brought to you by the Skato & Moe Show, Team Stacks/Mel/Gatey and a whole bunch of sweaty freshies!

Warm Up

For Week 3 warm up Bride of Skatan & Moe Skeeto had us rolling in circles before launching into a quick game of stuck in the mud that involved team air punching to release a 'stuck' skater.  We then went on a journey with a team of air hostesses who had skaters shuffling left, right, jumping and stopping on their synchronised signals.  Warm up finished with five minutes of those endurance laps that you all love to hate!

Stride

Training was led by Marshall Stacks, Melvin Star and Gateway Girl.  Melvin Star had us skating in sweet synchronicity with a series of laps skated in a 4-skater snake, focusing on long, even strides that were nice and deep, without kicking or losing rhythm.

Stopping

Marshall Stacks introduced us to a fight-to-the-death battle of 'Princess of the Rink', making skaters t-stop and snow plow on whistle blasts, and eliminating the slowest stoppers until only one skater remained.  Remember that, like derby, your beautiful snow plough (or hip check or block) means nothing if you go out of bounds!  Those lines are there for a reason, so try to stick with them!

Hints:

For the snow plow, Marshall Stacks recommends we "sit down into the saddle!" - bend your knees and sit down into the stop.

For the T-stop, Melvin Star says that "it's all about the back two wheels [of the back skate]" - don't let your back ankle twist or bend, or you risk serious, painful and derby-ending injury!

Riding the Track

Can I say that you all looked ridiculously good riding the track this week!  Skaters made like a rectangle and embarked on a quick game of derby high-five around the track, thinking about cross-overs and nice, long strides along the straightaways.  Why?  Because good stride and good sense riding the track will save you time and consume less energy!  And that can make all the difference in those endurance laps, not to mention the difference between a good jam and a bad jam!

Weaving

Marshall Stacks began our weaving session with an eyes-closed minute of zen, asking skaters to silently rock as far forward and back as possible until we found our true centre of balance (yes, we saw some of you fall over - but at least you pushed yourself to your limit!) - this centre of balance is different for everybody, so it's important that you find the stance that works best for you, your height, weight and ability.  With our new found balance we ventured out amongst the cones, weaving on one foot (agh!), both feet, and in big slaloms across the track.

When weaving, remember to turn with your knees and think about your hips.  For wide slaloms across the track, Marshall Stacks recommends using a bit of 'sticky feet' if you start to run out of power.  Melvin Star spoke about skating with your legs apart - like scissors - to create a kind of carving motion across the track.  Lead with the left leg to go left, and with the right leg to go right.

10 Minute Masterclass

Training finished with a series of stations set up to allow skaters to concentrate on the one skill that they want to improve.  For t-stops, remember: knees bent, weight to the back leg.  At the weaving station, Bride of Skatan reminded skaters that the movement came more from the hips - keep the top half straight, weight on the heels, and point with your knees and toes.  At the snow plow station D'Juana Fightme recommended to "really squeeze your glutes!"  Phew, what a lot to get through in one training session!

Cool down & stretch

After a long training session we shook out all the 'serious' and reclaimed the 'silly' with a game of Follow The Leader that had skaters roof punching and mexican waving amongst a mash-up of manic moves.  Marshall Stacks brought us the "After School Special" during cool down, giving us the "honest truth" that being a derby mum "is shit".  She asked skaters: Do you have a support group who will look after your kids and a partner that will accept being your 'derby widow'?  ADRD has a minimum training requirement, with no allowances to parents, workers or those with other commitments.  "The pay off", she says, "is that my kids think I'm a rock star!"  You will find yourself amongst a beautiful sisterhood of derby aunties, and your children will have a mum that is contented and independent. Furthermore, they will learn to respect strong independent women, and will learn all about appropriate hitting (as opposed to inappropriate aggression).  But you will need to weigh up the pros and cons of being a derby mumma - make sure that you have balance in your life; at the end of the day, derby isn't everything and your family life, work life and sanity is important too!

Final words
Gateway Girl: "Your fiding the track looked f*@#ing amazing!"

Marshall Stacks: "That's the most improvement I've seen in an hour!"

So see you all next week for the final dress rehearsal for Raw Meat!  Happy skating!