Roller derby training, all work, no drama

 

Training for Roller Derby is much the same as for other contact sports. It requires athletes to regularly train with resistance, for endurance, flexibility, and sport specific skills. What makes roller derby training different is the progression that is involved in learning the sport because not everyone starts as an athlete or a skater.

There is very little learned at the skating rink, or any sport played, that prepares you to knock people down while skating at high speeds, perfecting your ability to fall without fear, and when down, to return to skating quickly enough to answer the reason you fell in the first place.

Most girls come to their first practice having some level of skating experience and athletic background, although that is not required. The roller derby sport needs women of all sizes and shapes, so each girl’s training is individualized to meet her needs. It is the most non-judgmental sport a girl could engage in. If you are overweight, and not athletic, then practices will get you in shape, and your size is a plus. If you don’t know how to skate, then you will learn. The only requirement is that you are 19 or older, have medical insurance, committed to practicing a minimum of two times a week, and have proper equipment to skate.

A typical practice for Birmingham’s Tragic City Rollers begins with all the girls skating around the rink for 15 minutes to warm up and stretch. When the whistle blows everyone gathers on the rink and the coach takes the girls through some basic conditioning. These floor exercises may include leg lifts, abs exercises, and pushups, much like a workout you would see at your local gym, except these girls are fully dressed out in wrist guards, knee and elbow pads, and quad roller skates.

The remaining first hour of practice consists of endurance training. The girls are split up according to their endurance level and skating skill. The newbies, those girls who are still learning the sport, are given a modified version of a regular workout for the seasoned girls. There are a variety of endurance drills that are practiced; “back to front,” “twenty down”, “knee drops”, “suicide”, and “push cart”, to name just a few.

Hour two of practice begins with the girls sweaty and tired. Again, the newbies are separated from the seasoned girls, where over the next few weeks their practices will be a progression of skills. These include; toe stops, many types of drops, how to fall properly, and how get up quickly. They are gradually introduced to blocking, weaving, and learning to skate in close proximity to others. Each girl will be integrated with the seasoned pack when she has mastered the basics.

Once equipped, they will shift mindsets, and get down to the scrimmage. This is where the girls practices their roller derby skills; blocking, jamming, whipping, strategies, communicating with each other. Each scrimmage lasts for 2 minutes, a for rest 30 seconds, then repeat for about 7 cycles; take a short breather; get some water; and do it over, and over for an hour. This conditions the girls for the two thirty-minute periods that make up the bout or game.

A newbie will only bout after months of practice, but by then she has been transformed into a very conditioned athlete. Her next challenge will be to take all the skills she has learned, apply them to a high-paced, action-packed, 2 minute jam, while remembering all the rules of the game, knowing where her jammer is, blocking the opposing jammer, keeping her nerves in check while playing in front of family, friends, and hundreds of fans, and trying to look like a contributing member of the team. Over time she will ease into the smooth intimidating look of her more seasoned teammates.

About three weeks before a bout the opposing team has been scouted for strengths and weaknesses and practices take on a new purpose. The coach will make adjustments in the scrimmage and devote a lot of time to strategy and increasing the player’s endurance. The mood of the girls changes too. During this time, the coach is watching the girls closely to determine which of them will make the right mix for the line-up. She also considers attendance, and attitude from the girls she has seen at practice over the past few weeks. Ultimately though, the 14 girl line-up will consist of the players who are the best mix to meet their approaching opponent.

For the newbie, the most challenging part is enduring the months of intense training before earning the right to play the game, but that mental and physical endurance will determine when she makes the line-up. The seasoned player’s challenge is improving her game in the weeks between bouts and the enthusiastic cheers from the fans.

The biggest challenge though is always in the coach’s corner. Practices must be designed where the newbie stays interested and enthusiastic about the sport, yet challenging for the seasoned player. For most girls in the sport, practice starts and ends when the whistle blows, but for the coach who also plays the game, there is no beginning or end to practice. Somewhere from the last practice and the next, a well prepared and focused plan has been conceived from among many other competing thoughts from a job, family, and everyday responsibilities. Life is; eat, sleep, roller derby, and then everything else. As with any sport, the game is won at practice, and no one knows that better than the coach.