Monday, April 11, 2011

Learning derby through video 2

Please note that this is a follow-up post to Learning derby through video 1 and it makes a lot more sense if you read that one first!

Alternative names: --
Objective: To learn roller derby strategy and how to apply it
Typical length of drill: N/A
Materials needed: A computer and some working internet, and preferably working sound
Skill level required: None
Description: Once you've learned how to be an active viewer, start watching roller derby videos where ever you can find them.  First watch a video all the way through while jotting down on a piece of paper the moments that you want to re-visit (i.e. "01:50 good blocking, 02:32 effective wall," etc).  Then go back and watch these moments thoroughly while writing down what everyone appears to be doing and why.  Scroll back and forth around that moment, a little bit before and a little bit after.  Observe what leads to a certain situation, and what the consequences were of the blockers' actions, the jammers' actions.  You might notice what the referees are yelling -- do you notice the same penalties that they are calling?  If you hear what the bench coaches are yelling, does it make sense to you?  Do you see the skaters following instructions?  If not, do you think that they would have done better if they HAD listened to the coach?  Worse?  To help all of the useful information stick, write down a short paragraph about each moment.  What worked, what didn't work, what would you like to try yourself, what do you wish your teammates did more often (maybe you should try doing that more often too), what strategies you learned, etc.  Write down questions that you have and see if you can either answer them yourself a little bit later, once you've read more rules or watched some more derby, or take them to your coaches and see if they can answer the questions for you.  You can learn so much from watching if you make it a point to be an active viewer!
Additional notes: Check out the sidebar on the right for links to different websites that feature full and partial roller derby games that you can learn from!

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