Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Blood & Thunder

Alternative names: Queen of the Rink
Objective: For fun; to practice keeping your balance and staying within boundaries when giving and receiving hits; to practice knocking opponents down or out of bounds; to practice avoiding hits
Typical length of drill: 5-15 mins (time adaptable to how much time is available)
Materials needed: A WFTDA regulation-size track (or a taped down track that's as close to the measurements as possible)
Skill level required: Skaters must be cleared for contact
Description: This is a fun game where the primary objective is to be the last skater standing (or rather, skating).  All the skaters start by spreading themselves around the track and skating at a medium pace.  On the coach's whistle the game begins: The skaters are allowed to use any and all legal means to get the other skaters to fall or go out of bounds (i.e. pushing/leaning, hitting/blocking).  As soon as a skater goes out of bounds or falls she is out of the game and sits down on the middle of the track.  The winner of the game is the last skater left on the track.  One round of this game usually goes pretty quickly so playing 3-4 rounds is recommended (and usually requested by the skaters as well).
Additional notes: This is in my opinion definitely one of the most fun games ever.  I don't know who the originator of the drill is but I understand that this game has spread far and wide; I learned it when I played with New Hampshire Roller Derby.  It's a great game to end practice with, it usually puts everyone in a really good mood.  It's also a good one for newer referees to participate in because they can watch for the legality of the knockdowns and pushes, and keep an eye out for skaters crossing the track boundaries.  I also recommend it for skaters who have recently passed their minimum skills tests as this gets their feet wet when it comes to using contact while skating in a circle, staying in bounds, and being a target all at the same time.  Happy hitting!

If you like this drill, you may also like Queen of the Rink!

6 comments:

  1. I know the originator of this drill!

    Well, not really this drill, but the original "Blood and Thunder" that the drill/magazine are named after.

    Looks like it's evolved to different things as it's made its way around the world. : D

    Some day you and me can talk history. xoxo!

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  2. This is one of our favorite drills to unwind at the end of practice with. :)

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  3. @Bonnie: Would love to know what the original Blood and Thunder is! And of course, who came up with it. Feel free to post it here if you want :)

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  4. In Gotham it's not called Blood and Thunder - since Blood and Thunder is a packdrill with one single jammer trying to get thru - and according to Fisti Cuffs who is probably one of the longest still skating skaters - she claim that a pack with only one jammer - is the original Blood and Thunder

    I think I often hear ppl call it Queen of the Rink

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  5. We use the name 'Queen of the Rink' for an alternative version of this drill (which I'll be posting soon actually). But I will cross-reference the names to each other in the 'Alternative names' -field!

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  6. We did Queen of the Rink like this and Blood and Thunder as 1 minute of sprinting (Blood) followed by one minute of hitting (Thunder) for 15 or so minutes.

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