Week 10: An Unexpected Breakthrough

My friends who were on the track with me last time I was on the track, were here again tonight (woah, that's a confusing sentence!) Which meant that I was torn between staying in the newbie area or going back on the track. We stretched in the middle and were told we were doing pace lines and pack work. This meant that we had to be able to control our speed, etc. Nope! Not happening then! I still cannot stop and certainly cannot control my speed. On to the newbie area it was!

We were spoilt this week. There was only two of us (me and my friend who started last week) to three coaches! This meant we could practice our skills and be watched and told what needed improvement. We were also given the opportunity to practice whatever skills we felt needed practice. I decided stops were my main area of much needed improvement so I started them. I first tried t-stops and they seemed a lot easier than normal! This was weird. Admittedly I still couldn't properly stop but I was able to twist enough to get my foot behind me and not be too scared or shaky! I managed to do a good-ish one so kept practicing and practicing it again and again but only seemed to be getting worse! Then one of the coaches approached me "Shall we try ploughs now? Sometimes you can get something right but then the more you practice the more frustrated you get, thus you get worse and disheartened"

So I moved on to plough stops. The first one I did, I was convinced I'd got it! "Nope. You've just rolled to a stop. Your posture isn't right, your heels aren't out. Try again." So I tried again. "No! Look, this is how you've got to be" The coach showed me what a plough should look like "Now push me. You shouldn't be able to go anywhere. That is a plough!" Ooo, errr. I felt like I was being told off by a strict teacher! I practiced it a few more times. Derby stance, weight on the outside, widen legs, heels out. Stop. I look up a little sheepishly. "Yes! That was probably a bit of rolling to a stop, but you've definitely got the posture right!"

Woo-hoo! Success! Now, I'm not saying I conquered plough stops. They still need some work and I do have horrid wheels that make it hard, but I definitely know what I have to do now!

Next, we moved on to crossovers...

Oh, scary scary crossovers. How I fear you so. We started skating round the circle and I was barely lifting my foot off the ground before I wimped out and put it back down. This carried on for a while until a coach called me over. "We'll try some crossover stepping. Now this is the motion you want to be doing. Practice picking up your right foot, cross it over and then push out like sticky feet. Once this gets more comfortable, start stepping the left out of the crossover." This actually made sense. I took to the track and tried to put my right foot over. Almost. I kept trying and I eventually did it! I then tried stepping out with my left. I did it! Yes, it was very wobbly and more like stepping than skating, but I couldn't even do that before! Crossovers weren't so scary! They were tricky, but they were like a animal that needed to be tamed and understood. They were now my friend...

...not a good friend though. One of those friends who you know and like but can't tell if you should send them a Christmas card or not as you don't know if you're that close yet. That kind of friend.

Week 9: A Little Bit Of Naughtiness

Okay, so I know I moved on to the track last week, but I had friends this week. It was the first ever session for two of them and one of them hadn't been in a while so they were staying in the newbie area and I decided to stay with them.
I looked over at the track occasionally at the beginning, thinking I'd made the wrong decision. But I then saw that they were doing 25 in 5 in pairs, walking on toe-stops, running starts on toe stops, running starts on wheels, jumps, it all looked terrifying! And the fact that they had to stop before they ran into us was proof that I shouldn't have been over there - I can't stop yet!

I was also grateful for being back in the newbie group as I could spend longer on the basics I hadn't cracked yet - left knee taps, sticky feet, stops, crossovers. While practicing crossovers, I found that I could do one footed sticky feet, which made going round corners so much easier! I used to hate going round corners!

Another reason that the newbie group was good was that we were taught something we don't really need to know with the new WFTDA rule set - baseball slides!

As soon as I saw them demonstrated, I found it terrifying mixed with pure joy! It looked amazingly fun! We spent about 10 - 15 minutes practicing them and I enjoyed myself so much! Every successful slide was finished with a massive grin on my face! (Even if I do have problems getting up from them without using hands!)
They're no longer being taught as people were using them to stop, enter the penalty box, etc. which I imagine got quite hazardous with your leg sticking out like that! However, we were told that they come in useful if you find yourself falling towards a wall - think "face" or "foot", which would you rather break? But this exclusion from the minimum skills made this skill feel rebellious, like we had a substitute teacher who was letting us do Art all day instead of Maths.

This fun was then rapidly over when we had to do grueling laps of sticky feet in derby stance. My sticky feet has got a million times better from it and my stance has improved but, I swear, my thighs felt like they were bleeding at one point. Derby stance thoroughly improves your skating, but it hurts like a sunofabitch at the beginning! I very very glad when then cool down and stretching came next!

Oh! And for this whole session I got to break in my new knee pads! Yay!

Now, if you excuse me, I'm off for my first mid-week skate with one of my derby friends. In this heat?! Yes, I know. We must be mad!

Week 8: Time To Play With The Big Kids

This week, we were greeted with a "Right! Put on all your gear, except your skates, and make your way on to the track". Here, we were asked to draw a 6 with one foot while drawing a circle with one arm. It was tricky. "That's what Roller Derby is like. Now go put on your skates!" An interesting start to the evening! But our coach was essentially saying that you've always got to be doing two different skills at once and it's always easier if you try and break it down. This actually made sense and that was the theme this evening took. We also had a kit check. I was told off about how thin my knee pads were but, fortunately, my new ones (Smith Scabs - Psycho) arrived this week! Yay!

This week was also a change as I decided it was time to move on to the track with everyone else! There were no other newbies to head over to the other part of the rink with, so I had nothing to encourage me to go over there and I knew I had to go on the track at some point. My first fear was that there was no bar at either end as there was no end. So where, in a 10 minute warm up, I would skate to one end, stop, then skate again, stop, etc, this was 10 minutes of continuos skating. In a boiling hot skating rink. I thought I was going to die.

We began the session with taps (were falls, but are now called taps with the new WFTDA rules) which I can do amazing well on my right knee now! I can go down and pop back up almost instantly. My left knee, not so much. We then moved on to stops. T-stops scared me but Plough stops encouraged me to go faster. We were told to skate as fast as we could and then try and stop. I could't stop. But I damn well tried! And I was given a "Nice! Well done!" by our coach which made me smile! 

The only issue I had was corners. I'd spent my last 7 weeks skating in a straight line so I was very clumsy when it came to corners, more stepping around them than skating. Especially as I can't do crossovers yet or sticky-feet!

I left feeling pleased that I'd moved over on to the track and discovered it wasn't as scary as I had thought! We've been told that next week we're starting with 25 in 5. This means 25 laps of the track in 5 minutes. It sounds terrifying. Wish me luck! 

Week 7: The Times They Are A Changing

During sign-offs last weeks, there was a little confusion as to some skills and some people hadn't been taught some even though they'd been along to the last 6 weeks. This meant that something needed to be done so people were being taught everything they needed to know. This meant they had to bring in the big guns.

The big guns, or I should say gun, was the founder of my skating team. She was my all-time roller derby idol. I'd seen her in bouts and had been in awe at how quick and talented she was at skating. It's like she had been born in roller skates. She had come in to write a whole new training programme which also coincided with the new WFTDA (Women's Flat Track Derby Association) rules. We were going to be taught everything we needed to know to pass our minimum skills with flying colours. This as reassuring and uplifting. But also kind of scary. Our coach was very intense. She lives and breathes roller derby and she wasn't afraid to push us.

So after some warm ups and stretches, me and my friend headed back over to the newbie area. Our coach for that area, called us back over. "Just listen to what she has to say and then we can go over there and practice". This sounded okay, until I realised I wasn't good at standing on skates without the rail. My legs started to shake. Right! Knee fall! I was going to stay here until we had to go and practice. I think I might need to work on standing! 

The evening's sessions took the pattern of each skill being explained and demonstrated extensively and then we were given time to practice it. I loved the fact that each skill was explained. It helped so much as you could then focus exactly where you were putting your weight, your posture, etc. However, we were only given about 10 minutes to practice, which didn't seem enough to me. With my other sessions, I've been given more of a free rein to practice what I want for as long as I want. So, this week, I didn't feel I had enough time to truly practice the skills. What made it worse was that I had to sit out for about 20 minutes at one point! I have a respiratory allergy but haven't been told the cause yet and, unfortunately, I had a flare up where I was having a hard time catching my breath. Whether it was the sweltering temperatures in the rink or whether it was because the staff were painting the lockers(!), I had to go sit outside. I spent ages trying to catch my breath and couldn't for a while, but I knew I had to go back in and skate! Unfortunately, by the time I got in, we practised falls and then that was it.

My friends who had moved to the track were buzzing. They'd loved all the tuition and couldn't wait until next week. I, however, felt a little bit let down. I was expecting a lot, but had hardly felt like I'd skated at all! For the rest of the week, I was craving getting back on to my skates but never had the opportunity. 

Week 6: Sign Offs

This week it was sign offs. This is where aspiring skaters get marked on basic derby skills, today was Level 1 & 2. These mainly include derby stance, falling, stepping, weaving, cross overs, etc. And they are every six weeks. Now, I've been every six weeks but I still didn't feel like I was confident enough to do these. It was around the track too and that was scary enough as I was still relying on the safety of the bar at either end - I can't stop otherwise!

My friends who I go with decided they were going to give it a try and the team members were encouraging everyone to try it but I still wasn't convinced so I decided to stay at the other end and just practice.

At the beginning of the session, there was another lady who hadn't been for a while and was a bit unsteady on her skates. I instantly sympathised as I knew exactly what she was going through so I decided to slowly skate up and down with her while she got her confidence back. I wasn't trying to be cocky and thinking "Oh yeah, I've been there but now I'm awesome", it was the fact that I knew exactly how she felt and I found it comforting when I had people skating with me. It makes you feel like you're not alone. So, after everyone went to go for sign offs, we spent the session skating up and down. We both gained confidence as the session went on and by the end we were having great fun! The lady's merby boyfriend also came over occasionally to have a chat and to help us practice, which was nice and there was always a team member on hand to give us tips and to help us perfect what we were practising,

Part of me was regretting not trying out for the sign offs but, when my friends returned they seemed a little disheartened and felt like they'd done really badly. I knew, of course, that they hadn't! I kept looking over and admiring how well they were doing. But everyone is always self critical. However, I was buzzing from my session. I'd got my falls down (no pun intended!) and was beginning to get the hang of stops. I felt like I could've pushed myself a bit more but I knew I could do that next week! I knew that by the next sign offs, I'd be ready to try them.

Week 5: A Little "Me" Time

So hey! I'm finally up-to-date with my posts! I am now writing about the week I have just done! I hope you've enjoyed reading them so far and I hope I've helped the newbies out there, who started off exactly as I did, the confidence to keep going! If you love it as much as I do, you won't want to quit!

So this week I didn't get the chance to practice with my Mum again, but that was the least of my worries. Up until now, I have always gone to Derby practice with friends. It's good moral support and it makes it more fun. However, this week, none of my friends could make it! Eeek! The first issue on my mind was "What if I hurt myself and I have to drive myself home?!" until it occured to me that I drive myself home anyway! "What if I hurt myself and no one helps me?!" until I remebered that there is always someone with a First Aid Kit there! I was running out of excuses, so I took a deep breath and headed to the skating rink without trying to think about it.

A group of ladies were standing outside the rink waiting to go in. All of them were better skaters than me, some of them my Roller Derby idols as I'd seen and cheered them on at bouts. It was quite intimidating. I shyly stood at the edge of the group and waited to go in. "I love your skates!" said one of the girls "They're just so pretty!" This made me smile. "Thanks, I do rather love them!" The ice had been broken. I felt a lot more comfortable and joined in with other conversations. My anxiety levels subsided. This is another thing about my roller derby team. I've heard about some teams being quite cliquey and the more experienced skaters can be quite elitist, but ours are so lovely! You always feel part of the team no matter how well you can skate. Everyone is super friendly and will always talk to you and try to help you out. It's like one big family!

I put my skates on and decided I'd watch other people warm up before I felt like I wanted to skate. Everyone moved on to the centre of the track so I decided to skate up and down the side by myself. It was nice because I could just concentrate on what I was doing but I did hear some sweet comments from the center such as "Awh, I didn't want to leave her!" which some may find patronising, but I found nice as it shows they care.

After the warm up, I skated to the middle for stretches and then headed back over to the newbie area. It turned out that I was the only one this week. What used to be a group of six of seven had been reduced to one. One of the skaters I knew told me that, if I was happy with it, I could stay over here and she would help run through the skills with me. First, we started with the basic Derby Stance. We practised skating up and down in Derby Stance until I got used to it. Next, we did falls. I was told to mix it up a bit and try all three falls - single knee, double knee and 4-point. Most of these I was comfortable with, except falling on my left knee. So I was able to practice that until it seemed to click. Next, 180-knee turns. I had tried these before and I gave them a quick go, but I was too scared to skate fast enough to get enough momentum so we then moved onto stops. I'd never tried any of the stops, but I remembered being told about my wheels preventing me from doing certain things and was convinced stops would be one of them. I mentioned this to my coach who called over a skater with the same skates and wheels as myself. She said that she could stop just fine. It took more work as the wheels were more slippery, but she could do it. This meant that if I could do it on my wheels, I might find it even easier on indoor wheels. This was reassuring!

The thing I loved about my one-on-one session was that the coach could really help me with what I was doing. In usual sessions, the skills are demonstrated, practiced for a little while but then it moves on to another quite quickly. This week, I could practice one skill for as long as I wanted and the coach was able to watch my feet the whole time so she could then tell me what I was doing right and what I could improve. For example, with T-stops I was told "You got the position perfect that time!" or "Ah, you're putting your pressure on the middle two wheels. You can use the front two, or all four, but the middle two cause cause you to break your ankle if you put too much pressure on it and fall", etc.

I think this week really helped me improve my skills! I did fall over backwards again, but this time I knew to fall on my bum rather than my coccyx and managed to get up, if in pain, but not in agony, and carry on skating! And, what's more, I'm getting more and more confident on my skates. I love it!

My Name & Number!

You may have noticed, the Roller Derby Skaters tend to have awesome names. Most are puns based on the skater's name and something violent or skating related. To see the list of all registered names visit Two Evils.

Ever since I saw my first ever Roller Derby game, I wondered what my skater name would be. I'd been through a few, most of them terrible, until one day, I was bought an album for my birthday. This album was Hugh Laurie's new album - Didn't It Rain. It's an amazing mix of blues and jazz and I loved it! Then it struck me! My favourite song would be a perfect Derby name - Wild Honey!

Now I had to decide on a number. I originally wanted 9 3/4 but decided that, as my name had no Harry Potter references, it didn't really work. So I decided on 18. It's one of my favourite numbers and it happens to be the day of my birthday.

However, when I was at my last NSO game, I started to look at everyone elses numbers and it suddenly came to me! I had completely over looked a very obvious number. A number relating to one of my all-time bands, Blink-182.

So, that's it. It's been decided and I am getting my t-shirt printed. I am:

Wild Honey

#182

 (I just need to get permission from  lady in the USA who is "Wlyde Honey" before I can register it on Two Evils. But I can still use this name in my team!)

And for now, here's the song that inspired my name: