Persevere

The following drill is a guest post by coach Nadia Kean (aka "Smarty Pants") of the Texas Rollergirls.

Alternative names: --

Objective: Jammer endurance, playing clean, Blocking: holding a block in a very tight pack, avoiding the need to reset to get more space

Typical length of drill: --

Materials needed: A track, a jammer cover, a stop watch, a ref (if possible)

Skill level required: Skaters should be contact cleared unless you use positional blocking only

Description: This drill was created for a few reasons. The first, my team needed more endurance in the pack. My team also needed to stay clean, even when up against massive walls. My blockers needed to stop running forward when opponents played offense against them. They needed to hold a block for as long as possible, even when their opponent was crowding their space, making it very hard for them.

Set up: pack with as few as 5 will work, but really about 7 or 8 would be best. Have 2 skaters start on the outside of the track, with the remaining skaters starting on the inside of the track. One person on the track will be designated the Jammer. Everyone else on the track is her opponent. The two people starting off of the track will be skating laps around the outside of the track around 85-100% of their ability. Of the two people starting off of the track, one will be the next jammer. The other person is pretending that she just jammed. The whole group will go for intervals. I recommend 60-90 seconds. During the set time frame, the jammer will try to get through the pack, the pack will try to shut her down and the two skaters on the outside will skate laps. As soon as the set amount of time is up, the person who just jammed will start to skate laps, along with the person who wants to jam next. The two skaters who had just been skating laps will jump back on the track. One of them will now be a jammer, the other will now be a blocker (pretending like she just completed he post-jamming laps). While in the pack, blockers should really try to block the jammer while also being completely crowded for space by the other pack skaters.

Additional notes: To see more of Smarty Pants' guest posts, click here.

Pants Off Dance Off On Skates Work-Out

The following drill is a guest post by Smarty Pants of the Texas Rollergirls; she is the creator of this drill.

Alternative names: Pants Off Dance Off

Objective: Getting a great workout while having fun; improving your blocking skills

Typical length of drill: 30-60 minutes

Materials needed: 

• You will need a way to play music at a pretty good volume- think dance party.
• You will need a pretty good, upbeat dance mix. I prefer sometime from the 80s think Pretty and Pink or 90s hip-hop.
• You will need your skates and your pads if you want to skate. If you do not have access to a rink, you can do this off skates, which can be just as rewarding, simply different.
• Basically you will dance- practicing booty blocking and you will do other exercises for a set amount of time.
• I recommend at least 30 minutes if you are short on time and up to an hour if you’re also going to do something else that is active later that day.
• Be creative! Try to come up with some cool work-outs. Just imagine what would happen if you combined going out with your friends dancing with body circuits.
  

Skill level required: None

Description: I like to lead on-skates workouts that encourage skaters to sweat and exercise while having a good time and challenging their skater skills.

60 minute Pants Off Dance Off

Start with dancing for a 10-minute warm-up- pretend you are attempting to impersonate the ladies in music videos- you know the ones in short shorts and bras… I recommend the music mix start mild and build up over a 10-minute period.

Follow this warm-up with a 5-minute dynamic stretch and quick water.

Next go into hip blocking and sprinting for 10 minutes- have skaters hit hard and furious, attempting to get as many hip checks in as possible during a 60 second period, then have them sprint as many laps as possible during a 60 second period.

Throw in another 5-minute dynamic stretch and quick water.

For the next 15 minutes you will spend 60 seconds blocking on your knees (see description below), 60 seconds dancing, and 60 seconds sprinting.

• Hip blocking while kneeling is something I like to do with fresh meat who have yet to feel stable on their skates but who need to practice blocking- they can simulate many of the same movements while kneeling not having to worry about loosing their balance, but getting to hit hard.  For ladies with injured knees (hopefully not everyone…) have them stand and do regular hip blocking.

Throw in another 5-minute dynamic stretch and grab more water.
 
Finish your workout with 10-minute body circuits, 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off of the following:

• Kayak crunches
• Jack-knives
• Squats
• Right side plank
• Front to side crunches
• Left side plank
• Sculling sit-ups
• Push-ups
• Scissor kicks
• Plank

Quick 30 Pants Off Dance Off
 

Salt-n-Pepa in 1987

• 10 minute- warm-up dancing to your favorite hip-hop mix. Pretend that you are practicing to try out for a Salt n Pepper music video; you know what I’m talking about…
• 5 minutes- dynamic stretching with 2 sets of crunches for 60 seconds
• 10 minutes- 60 seconds dancing 60 seconds squatting x 5
• 5 minutes- dynamic stretching with 2 sets of crunches for 60 seconds
  

Additional notes: To see more of Smarty Pants' guest posts, click here.

The Maim Drain

Alternative names: 25 in 5

Objective: To get a good endurance workout; to practice proper derby stance and form

Typical length of drill: 5-10 minutes

Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line

Skill level required: None

Description: In this simple endurance drill the skaters are going to work in pairs.  One skater will be pushing the other skater for 25 laps while the skater getting pushed stays in a proper derby stance the whole time.  After completing 25 laps the skaters switch (if possible).

Additional notes: This drill was created and submitted by Maim-Bow Brite of Kingsford Krush Roller Derby.  Maim says that this is one of her favorite drills ever.  "This will hurt the pushee just as much as the pusher.  The person getting pushed gets a good workout too because they have to stay in derby position the whole time."  Although you can switch after 25 laps, Maim says "we didn't because the people that got pushed couldn't skate very fast because their legs hurt so much from being down in derby position- so we are going to wait until next practice and then switch."  Whoa!  That's a good pain.

Derby Burpee

Alternative names: sonsabitches
Objective: endurance and balance
Typical length of drill: 3 sets for two minutes each. 10 second break between sets
Materials needed: Full derby gear and whistle for the leader
Skill level required: Pass the fresh meat/level 1 test. There will be some falling, hopping and jumping.

Description: Inside referee's are really the only people that skate the full 60 minutes of a bout. The jam ref's really need to be in tip top shape in order to keep up with the jammers. There's nothing worse than a jam ref getting winded and lagging behind, thus missing out on points and penalties. This drill is a re-work of the classic burpee excercise. If you don't know what they are check out this video:



Make a circle. Put yourself in the middle. Start off in derby stance and start picking up your feet, alternating between left and right. Sort of like running in place. Get those knees high. When you blow the whistle everyone does a double knee fall then goes down into a four point (knees and elbows). Then immediately get to your feet and start running in place again. You can take it to the next level with a short jump when you get to your feet. Blow the whistle at random intervals. This really gets your heart rate up. See if you can go for two minutes. See if you can go longer. Take a short break and get back into it.

Additional notes: If you (as the leader) want to do this drill too then yell "down". I tell the group that the one that does it the best during the second time gets to come to the middle and lead the third. Make sure they're landing on all four wheels. It doesn't take much to twist an ankle or worse.

100 Laps

In honor of the 100th (!) drill posted on All Derby Drills, we are skating 100 laps together.

Alternative names: 5 km skate-a-thon

Objective: To build up endurance

Typical length of drill: 20 mins

Materials needed: A WFTDA regulation-size track (or a taped down track that's as close to the measurements as possible, but know that the distance skated might not be accurate in that case)

Skill level required: None

Description: The name says it all: Skate 100 laps.  It sounds like a lot but it's really not, and the skaters will feel proud of themselves after this drill for having been able to complete so many laps.  In this drill, all the skaters skate 100 laps around the track, at their own pace.  The skaters are all in charge of counting their own laps, and once they have finished they take a couple of slow cool down laps and then move to the inside of the track to cheer on their teammates.  IMO the best way to do this is to skate 4 x 25 laps, with a short, 30 second water break in between each set of 25 laps.  This helps skaters stay on track with the counting and keeps them hydrated, plus it gives them achievable goals throughout the drill ("I can totally make it to 25 laps, that's no problem" -- makes it easier mentally to complete the challenge).

If the skaters "skate the diamond" or "the perfect circle" while doing this drill (as in, edging the inside track boundary on the turns and going out to brush the outside track boundary in the middle of the straightway) they will have skated 5.07 km (or 3.15 miles) by the time they finish their 100th lap.

To avoid injury, you may want to have skaters change direction after 50 laps, or run the rest of your practice in the opposite direction.

Additional notes: This is my favorite endurance drill at the moment.  It's so nice to just skate and to focus on just one thing for a change, and when we did this recently we had a stereo playing some fun music to skate to and zone out to.  It was challenging and relaxing at the same time.  A skater even thanked me for this drill after we finished.

I came up with the thought of doing a 100-lap skateathon for a regular practice drill after hearing that a teammate of mine skated 30 km this summer outdoors.  My first thought was "Holy crap! That's crazy awesome!" and then I started to wonder how many km we actually cover in two hours of practice, and how we could probably use an extended skate drill to get skaters on our league to realize that 30 km is an achievable goal (and then we could ALL be crazy awesome).  We all know how to sprint for minimum 25 laps to do well in time trials, so why shouldn't we be able to skate 100 laps in 20 minutes at a normal skating pace?  Thus the 100 Laps -drill was born.  And I've since found out that many leagues have a habit of skating 60-70 laps just for warm-ups so hell, 100 laps is a piece of cake :) and it's a good building block towards being able to skate 30 km in one sitting.

Suicides

Alternative names: Charlie Sheens

Objective: Conditioning; to practice stops/slides/falls

Typical length of drill: 7 minutes timed

Materials needed: 6 cones

Skill level required: None

Description: Have all of your skaters line up at the short end of your space next to each other with their backs against the wall.  Along the wall on the long end of your space place one cone about 20 feet (ca. 6+ meters) ahead of the skaters, another cone about 20 feet ahead of that, and a third cone about 20 feet ahead of that.  Place matching cones along the other wall.  These will serve as the markers for the skaters.  Depending on the size of your space you may simply want to divide it into thirds and place the cones at the divides.  The diagram below the description should help you visualize.  For the duration of the drill the skaters are going to sprint to the cones and do a specific fall/slide/stop, then sprint back to the wall to turn around and repeat.  Tell the skaters in advance what fall/slide/stop you want them to do at which cone.  This should be selected based on what your skaters need to work on.  In the diagram below I have suggested the double knee slide at the first cone, a single knee slide at the second, and a baseball slide at the third.  I like to have them practice turning toe stops or transitions when they get back to the wall.

-------------------------------------
       *skaters start*

o  double knee slide  o


o   single knee slide  o


o    baseball slide     o   

------------------------------------- 

So, here's what it looks like: A timer blows the whistle to start the drill and starts timing.  Skaters immediately sprint to the first cone, do a double knee slide, sprint back to the wall, do a turning toe stop, sprint to the second cone, do a single knee slide, sprint back to the wall, do a turning toe stop, sprint to the last cone, do a baseball slide, sprint back to the wall, do a turning toe stop, sprint to the first cone, do a double knee slide, sprint back to the wall, do a turning toe stop, etc. etc.  This continues for the specified time.  If they are pushing themselves they should be quite tired at the end of the 7 minutes, and they should have gotten the chance to practice your choice of falls/slides/stops quite a few times. 

Additional notes: This is another classic drill that's been around for a very long time.  This one can be done both on and off skates and is practiced in many different sports (I even remember my high school sweetheart doing this at wrestling practice).  I learned the derby use for it while skating with New Hampshire Roller Derby.  There are many different variations on this one as well which will be posted over time.  This drill can also be used for warm-ups.  Please note that because all the skaters will be doing this at their own pace it should not be a problem that they are all lined up next to each other at the start, everyone will quickly be at different speeds and parts of the track.  This is also a good way to practice looking ahead while skating and dodging other skaters :) 

Whether or not they are open about it, many skaters' lives have been touched by suicide and it's not something you want to remind them of at practice.  For this reason I suggest you call this drill something else (and please share your creative names with the rest of us in the comments below!).  I have playfully given it the nick-name Charlie Sheens because after only 5 minutes you want this to end...

Photo by Mick Dagger, Helsinki Roller Derby

Black Widow

Alternative names: --

Objective: To build up endurance

Typical length of drill: 20 mins

Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line

Skill level required: None

Description: In this simple, classic roller derby drill your skaters will be alternating between one minute of sprinting and one minute of a skill.  On your first whistle, start the timer and start your skaters sprinting.  The skaters sprint for one minute, then you blow the whistle to signal to the skaters to change to a skill, and after one minute of a skill you blow the whistle again to signal to the skaters to sprint.  This will continue for 20 minutes.  Switch up the skill each time; the skaters should have done a total of 10 different skills during this drill, and a total of 10 minutes of sprinting.  Skills can include (but are not limited to): Figure eights, small weaves, big weaves, squats on the turns, squats on the straightaways, gliding on one foot on the turns, gliding on one foot on the straightaways, walking on your toe stops, running, big steps, skating backwards, hopping side to side, jumping, scissors, windmills, etc. Make sure that you yell out the skill before the one minute of sprinting is up so that the skaters know what to do on the whistle -- for this drill to be most effective endurance-wise there should be no down-time where the skaters are just hanging out and listening to you explain what they are doing next.

Additional notes: I originally got to do this when skating with New Hampshire Roller Derby but I understand that this is a drill that a lot of leagues like to do (and I'm sorry to say that I don't know who came up with it so I can't give appropriate credit).  It's an easy one to run because you don't need any supplies or special skills, but it's also a tough endurance drill for the skaters.  I've heard more than one skater ask why it's called the Black Widow and the answer has always been "because it kills you" :)

Please note: To help save your skaters' precious knees and bodies, about half way through this drill you should turn around and skate in the other direction (in fact, I like to place the skate backwards -skill in the very middle so that once the skaters go back to sprinting they can easily just continue in the way that they are facing).

Great Wall of China 2

Alternative names: --

Objective: Endurance, sprinting, and to practice maintaining a tight wall with a partner; agility practice for your faster skaters

Typical length of drill: 15 mins

Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line

Skill level required: None 

Description: This is a variation on the drill Great Wall of China 1.  Start with a double pace-line of skaters going around the track; everyone is paired up with someone of the opposite speed, the faster skater is on the INside and the slower skater is on the OUTside.  The line should stay in the very middle of the track, leaving a path open on both the inside and outside.  The skaters are all working on staying as a tight wall with their partner while keeping a medium pace the whole time, and staying one arm’s distance from the pair in front of and behind them. Once the pace-line is going at a comfortable speed the pair in the back is going to start the drill: On the whistle the two skaters let go of their wall and they begin to race to the front of the pace-line.  The inside skater (so, the faster skater) is weaving through the pace-line while the outside skater is racing the pace-line along the outside.  When both the skaters get to the front they pair back up and make a tight wall again.  The next pair in the back of the line begin to race each other to the front and this cycle repeats for 15 minutes or however long you choose to run this drill.  Because this is supposed to be a race you can add a competitive edge to it and say that the skater who gets to the front last has to do five push-ups in the in-field before getting back into a wall with her partner.  Because the inside person is weaving and the outside person is skating along the outside it should (hopefully) naturally be a pretty close race between the two.

Additional notes: This is a drill that I came up with as a result of having to frequently run practices with people of multiple different skill levels (not uncommon in roller derby) and it's good for leagues that have similar situations (i.e. use it at the first few practices after your freshmeat training camp is over and you are mixing the newbies with the veterans for the first time).  Your veteran skaters get to practice their agility skills by doing sharp weaves around broad walls, while the new skaters get to practice endurance and learn the hard way why jammers should never take the outside (aka. "take the cookie" as I believe Olive Spankins of Maine Roller Derby once called it).  And if you are indeed having the more experienced skaters pair up with newer skaters then you can also rely a little on the experienced skaters helping the fresh ones with their walling skills.  This drill can also be really good for large leagues in smallish spaces because it uses the double pace-line.

Great Wall of China 1

Alternative names: --

Objective: Endurance, sprinting, and to practice maintaining a tight wall with a partner

Typical length of drill: 15 mins

Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line

Skill level required: None

Description: In this drill the skaters race against each other around a line of other skaters.  Start with a double pace-line* of skaters going around the track; everyone is paired up with someone of the opposite speed, the faster skater is on the outside and the slower skater is on the inside.  The line should stay in the very middle of the track, leaving a path open on both the inside and outside.  The skaters are all working on staying as a tight wall with their partner while keeping a medium pace the whole time, and staying one arm’s distance from the pair in front of and behind them.  Once the pace-line is going at a comfortable speed the pair in the back begins the drill: On the whistle the two skaters let go of their wall and they begin to race to the front of the pace-line.  The outside skater is racing on the outside of the pace-line and the inside skater is racing on the inside of the pace-line.  When both the skaters get to the front they pair back up and make a tight wall.  The next pair in the back of the line begin to race each other to the front and this cycle repeats for 15 minutes or however long you choose to run this drill.  To spice it up you can slowly but surely increase the pace-line's speed during this drill so that it starts out easy and ends much more difficult.

*A pace-line is a simple line of skaters following each other around the track in one straight line; the skaters are to always maintain a one arm's length -distance from each other (or sometimes less).  A pace-line can have many different speeds, depending on what the drill requires but no matter if it's fast or slow, the skaters should always be able to touch the person in front of them at the coach's call.  A double pace-line is exactly the same as a regular pace-line except that the skaters are skating in the line in pairs, standing next to one another and thus making the line twice as fat as usual.

Additional notes: This drill can be really good for large leagues in smallish spaces because it uses the double pace-line.  It's also a great drill for freshmeat because it gives them endurance training while they also get to practice walling and skating really close to another skater.  In addition, because this drill pairs up skaters of the opposite speed it gives skaters who might not normally pair up during drills a chance to get to know each other and work together.  I'd also like to add that this is a good drill to do in the opposite direction.

Lire cet exercice en français!

Push-n-Pull Pyramids

Alternative names: Shopping Carts

Objective: To practice proper stance and form; to get a good endurance workout; to practice using your outdoor voice

Typical length of drill: 15-20 mins

Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line

Skill level required: None

Description: In this drill all the skaters take turns pushing and pulling a partner around the track.  To begin, have all of your skaters pair up with another skater.  It's good for them to pair up with someone their own speed and size but it's not crucial.  Each pair decides who is going to be skater A and who is going to be skater B and then all the pairs line up on the pivot line with skater A standing behind skater B, her/his hands ready on skater B's lower back/butt (basically on that sweet spot in-between the two).  On the whistle all skater A's begin pushing their partner around the track and the skater B's are simply staying in a nice, low derby stance and acting as dead weight.  After skater A has pushed skater B for one lap s/he speeds up past skater B and then becomes dead weight for skater B to push.  Once skater B has pushed skater A for one lap s/he speeds up past skater A and becomes dead weight. Then A pushes B for two laps, they switch, B pushes A for two laps, switch, A pushes for three laps, switch, B pushes for three laps, etc. (this is called "going up the pyramid").  They keep going like this until both have pushed each other for five laps, and then they switch to pulling each other while they are coming down the pyramid, starting with pulling each other for four laps each, then three laps each, two laps each, and finally, one lap each.  In the end both skaters are going to have acted as dead weight for 25 laps, have pushed another skater for 15 laps, and pulled another skater for 10 laps.  During this drill it is the dead weight skater's job to loudly yell out the number of laps that the pair is completing.  This helps skaters practice communication and using their outdoor voice (important when there are hundreds of screaming fans drowning out all the communication within the pack).

It's good to remind skaters during this drill that the lower they are when they're acting as dead weight, the easier it is for their partner to push and pull them.  Also, if you have a large group of skaters at practice, instead of having everyone pack up tightly on the pivot line at the beginning of the drill you can just have all the pairs spread out around the track and simply ask them to remember their point of origin for the sake of switching.

If you find that your skaters aren't pushing themselves during this drill, what you can do is add an element of competition to it.  Instead of having everyone go up the 5-lap pyramid and come back down, choose a number of minutes for which to do this (i.e. 5 minutes) and then challenge your skaters to see just how many steps up the pyramid they can go with their partner.  The pair who gets the furthest wins and maybe as a prize they get to skip the next five push-ups or something (or if you want to be really sinister, make the prize 10 push-ups and don't tell the skaters before-hand.  I mean hey, we're athletes and it's rewarding to get exercise and feel strong, right?).  If you use this alternative at practice, make sure that your skaters are partnering up with skaters of opposite speed so that the fastest and strongest skaters don't push and pull each other and automatically win.  Since yelling out the number of laps is a key part of this drill you have an opportunity to keep an eye on the skaters and make sure that they're not making up any laps or steps up the pyramid.

Additional notes: The original version of this drill is one that we did with New Hampshire Roller Derby (and again I don't know who the originator is so I apologize for not being able to give appropriate credit!), but the competitive variation is my own creation.  I'm a really competitive person so it should be no surprise that I like to participate in and make up competitive drills :)

This drill can work for warm-up, just make it timed or cut down the number of laps to skate so that it's not so endurancy.  I'd also like to mention that this is a good drill to do in the opposite direction.  If you like this drill you might also like Push-n-Pull and Pyramids.

Back & Forth

Alternative names: B.N.F.s

Objective: To practice falling; to practice repeated quick blasts of power/sprinting; to practice getting up off the floor quickly; to get a good workout

Typical length of drill: 7 minutes timed (or more if you want to give them a really good workout)

Materials needed: Minimum four cones, and a time-keeper/whistler.  If you have a large group of skaters in a small space and you divide them in half, you will need a minimum of six cones.

Skill level required: None

Description: This is a variation on the classic sprints and there is a diagram under the description to help you visualize the set up of the room.  First, set up your four cones in the four corners of the room/space, leaving about 3 meters between the cones and the wall (or however many meters/feet you feel that your skaters need to comfortably slide without hitting the wall).  Then, have all your skaters line up next to each other along the wall, with at least one arm's distance between them.  Before you start the drill specify to the skaters what slide/fall they are expected to be doing at the cones.  On the first whistle the timer starts and all the skaters sprint to the cones at the other side of the room and do the specified slide, after which they immediately lay down on their stomachs where they stopped.  Once everyone has laid down, the time-keeper blows the whistle and all the skaters sprint to the other side where they again do the specified slide and then get on their stomachs.  Once everyone has laid down, the time-keeper blows the whistle again and the sprinting-sliding-stomaching repeats until the end of the timed minutes.  The idea is for this to be a quick drill where everyone is sprinting, sliding, getting down, getting up, sprinting, sliding, getting down, getting up, etc. etc. as quickly as possible.  The coach can remind the skaters that the quicker you get to the other side the more down-time you have to "relax" while you wait for the other skaters to finish.  This drill is different from sprints because it's not at your own pace, it's more of a team effort, where everyone waits for each other to finish before going the next round.

Normal cone set-up:

--------------------------
   *falling zone*
o                       o




o                       o
   *falling zone*
-------------------------

If you have a large number of skaters or are dealing with a really narrow or small space you may want to split the room in half and have half the skaters start in the middle of the room and the other half start at the wall.  On the whistle the skaters all skate in the same direction but they never hit each other because they only skate a half-distance before sliding, stomaching, and turning around to go in the other direction.

Cone set-up for a split space:

-------------------------
   *falling zone*
o                       o



o  *falling zone* o



o                       o
   *falling zone*
--------------------------

Additional notes: I learned this drill while skating with New Hampshire Roller Derby.  I don't know who the originator of the drill is so I apologize for not being able to give appropriate credit.  I really like this drill a lot.  It gives you a good workout, it's an easy way to practice getting up quickly and using your tripod (= using your toestop to stand up), it's a great way to build muscle memory for correct falls because you're repeating the same fall over and over again, and people often start cheering for each other during this drill, giving their teammates support like "You can do it!" and "Push yourself!"  It can be done in small practice spaces, and although I recommend having someone who is NOT participating keeping the time and whistling, it is possible to do this as a skater-coach.

Sprints

Alternative names: --

Objective: To practice repeated quick blasts of power/sprinting (good for jammers); to get some good exercise; to practice transitions (if you so choose)

Typical length of drill: 7 mins timed (add or subtract minutes depending on your skaters' abilities)

Materials needed: None

Skill level required: None

Description: Have all your skaters line up next to each other along the long side of your rink/space.  It's good for them to stand at least one arm's length away from the person next to them, so that they don't risk running into each other once the drill is going.  The timer and the skaters start on a whistle blast.  The skaters sprint from one long side of the space to the other.  At each end they perform your choice of turning toe stop, hockey stop, T-stop or knee slide and then get right back to sprinting to the other side.  That's it.  The skaters simply sprint back and forth like this, over and over again for the entire time.

Additional notes: It's a classic, it's simple, some might perhaps call it boring, but it's effective.  This kind of drill is done in a lot of different sports, and in fact, it also works really well off-skates where the skaters just touch a line or cone at each end instead of performing any sort of transition or stop.  It's also a good base for variations.  We will be posting some soon.

Cross-training: Ice Skating

Alternative names: --

Objective: To be able to practice roller derby and improve your skills even when you don't have an indoor space to use, and even when the weather outside is frightful

Typical length of drill: N/A

Materials needed: A pair of ice skates, good thick gloves, knee pads, and depending on your own skill level and comfort, you can choose to deck out in the full derby protective gear (and I definitely did it myself the first time)

Skill level required: None

Description: Ok, so, this is not really a drill, but I really want to inspire all of you to try ice skating to see how you can use it to your advantage as a roller derby skater.  Your roller derby skills are totally transferable to the ice.  I don't think that we should be playing straight-up full-contact roller derby on the ice what with the dangers that the sharp blades pose, and the difficulty of fitting all the appropriate protective gear over winter clothes, but those of us who live in countries where the winter comes on hard we can really take advantage of the ice skating opportunities.  There are several different things that you can practice on the ice, and we've covered just a handful of them in the video.  The video is meant to get you started and motivate you to try some simple things just to see what you're capable of, and then you can start trying out some more advanced things yourself.  Some of the things that you can practice on the ice (most of which we demonstrate in the video) are: Endurance, agility, balance, stops, and assists.  Balance in particular can be practiced really effectively on ice skates because it can be much harder to stay up on two thin blades on slippery ice than on eight grippy wheels on hardwood floor.

Disclaimer: Although ice skating is very similar to roller skating, it is NOT the same.  If you're great at roller skating, don't assume that you'll naturally be great at ice skating.  I did and was sorely disappointed when I discovered that it was like month two of derby training all over again.  The good news is though, that it doesn't take long to improve.  Just like when you started practicing roller derby, every time you skate you'll learn something new.  The improvements are tangible.  If you keep practicing, you'll be doing gliding swans and shooting the duck in no time!

Video: Roller derby cross-training: Ice Skating

Additional notes: This video was made by All Derby Drills and some really determined skaters from Helsinki Roller Derby who had no qualms about braving the -12°C weather for two hours (and did I mention it was snowing the whole time too?).  Plans for a video demonstrating some actual derby drills that you can do on ice skates is in the works too, stay tuned.

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Push-n-Pull

Alternative names: Shopping Carts

Objective: To build up endurance and strengthen the derby muscles; to practice proper derby stance; to support each other

Typical length of drill: 10 mins

Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line

Skill level required: None

Description: This is an endurance drill where skaters take turns pushing and pulling three other skaters for 60 seconds at a time.  Divide all of your skaters into groups of four (if your skaters don't evenly divide into groups of four you can have one or two groups of five, or involve the referees!) and then have all the groups spread themselves out around the track so that everyone isn't starting from the same exact place.  The groups should form lines where everyone but the first person is holding on to the hips of another skater, essentially building a train (see image below). On the whistle the person in the back begins pushing the three skaters in front of her/him while the three skaters stay in proper derby stance doing nothing but being dead-weight.  The skater in the back pushes her/his teammates for 60 seconds and then the coach blows the whistle again signaling for the pusher to let go and skate up to the front of the line and become dead-weight.  The person now in the back begins pushing.  This continues until all the skaters in line have gotten the chance to push for 60 seconds, then the pulling begins.  Each skater pulls the line of three dead-weight skaters behind her for 60 seconds and then drops back and grabs onto the skater in the back becoming dead-weight herself/himself.

Coaches during this drill should consistently be correcting skaters on their form because after a while this drill gets really heavy on the legs and skaters begin standing up more.  It's good to remind skaters that they can make it easier for the pusher/puller by being low -- the taller a skater stands, the more difficult it is for the pusher/puller.  If you look at the image below the skaters being pushed should be told to get lower, and particularly the skater in the pink shorts second from the front should be told to bend her knees more as her stance is not quite proper.

Additional notes: This is another one of those drills I learned while skating with New Hampshire Roller Derby :)  I think that this drill is great for freshmeat because they can practice the proper stance and form without having to worry about falling since they are all attached.  Also, this drill gives all the skaters a good chance to show each other some love -- during the drill they should be helping each other out by encouraging their teammates to push themselves and keep going hard and not give up.  Finally I'd also like to add that this is a great drill to do in the clockwise direction, in fact, we often change direction in the middle, when we switch from pushing to pulling.

Minnie Gun BangBang pushing a group of three at a Helsinki Roller Derby practice. Photo by Mick Dagger.

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Don't Leave Me Hangin'

Alternative names: --
Objective: To build up endurance and muscle; to practice proper skating form
Typical length of drill: 15-20 mins
Materials needed: A full track or just a couple of cones to mark an inside track line
Skill level required: None
Description: Have all of the skaters pair up with a partner of similar speed.  The partners split up: one skates 5 laps at a sprint while the other does calisthenics off the track (push-ups, crunches, planks, mountain climbers, etc.).  The skater tags her/his partner when s/he's done with the laps, and then two switch.  Keep this going for 15 to 20 mins and give prompts for maintaining good skating form as the skaters get more tired.
Additional notes: This is a drill by Lady Shatterly of the Boston Derby Dames that originally appeared on the roller derby coaches Yahoo group here; it is being re-posted with permission.  This was indeed a good endurance and workout drill!  The skaters were dripping sweat and expressed being sore the next day (in a good way).  Definitely good for freshmeat because they got to practice their stance and form AND they got a really good workout.  I would also like to add that this can be a good drill to do in the clockwise direction.

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The Build A Bitch II

Alternative names: -- 
Objective: To build up endurance and muscle while keeping it interesting
Typical length of drill: Unknown (please share if you know!)
Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line 
Skill level required: None 
Description: At the beginning of your training session have the skaters sprint for 30 seconds then drop and do 30 jumping jacks, 30 push-ups, and 30 crunches / abdominal leg raises.  Then go for another 30 sec. sprint, drop for 25/25/25, and continue with a 30 sec. sprint and go down to 20/20/20.  Keep going down by intervals of five on the jumping jacks, push-ups, and crunches, and when you complete the last set of 5 do another 30 sec. sprint and end with 1/1/1.  Repeat the whole series at the end of you training session.
Additional notes: This is a drill by Tara Bitch Down and Mr. Bitch Down of the Romsey Town Rollerbillies, posted with their permission.  It originally appeared on the roller derby coaches Yahoo group here.  Tara Bitch Down says "For my skaters I make them encourage each other and push each other and if I don't get that then I make them go back up the [...] pyramid of intervals until they work together to get thru it."  I have not tried this drill myself yet but I really like it on paper and I enjoyed the comment that Tara Bitch Down made in the original post: "It's tough and should make people too winded to be bored!"

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Pyramids

Alternative names: Hot Laps
Objective: To build up strength and endurance
Typical length of drill: 20 minutes
Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line
Skill level required: None
Description: Split the group of skaters in half.  The two groups are then going to take turns sprinting on the track and doing calisthenic exercise inside the track, first for the duration of 1 lap, then 2 laps, then 3 laps, and so on, until 5 laps -- this is called going up the pyramid -- and then they come down the pyramid again and end with one final explosive lap.

To illustrate: Group A stands inside the track while Group B lines up on a designated start line on the track.  On the coach's whistle all the members of Group A immediately get into a squat position whilst all the members of Group B immediately begin sprinting.  Once everyone from Group B has completed their 1 lap the coach yells "Switch!" and that's when everyone from Group A is allowed to get out of the squat position and hustle to the start line.  On the next whistle Group A sets off sprinting while Group B holds a squat (again holding until the last person in Group A has finished).  On the next round, Group B sprints 2 laps while Group A does planks.  Then they switch.  On the third round Group B begins by sprinting 3 laps while Group A does push-ups.  Then they switch.  Etc.  Sprinters should practice using their outside voice by yelling out the number of laps completed every time they pass the start line.  This also signals to the coach and the skaters inside the track when the switch will happen.

Some calisthenics suggestions: Regular squats, hold-a-squat, push-ups, crunches, planks, side planks, leg lifts, ab straddles, hydrants, lunges.

Additional notes: Learned this one a few years ago while skating with New Hampshire Roller Derby and I believe it is a widely practiced drill.  I still heart pyramids to this day but IMO it can lose its endurance effect once skaters reach a certain level so this may be best for newer skaters or skaters who struggle with endurance.  Please comment if you agree or disagree.  Either way, I am always a big fan of anything that combines both calisthenics and skating!  I'd also like to add that this is a great drill to do in the clockwise direction.

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Just Skate

Alternative names: Lazy Coach, Coach Cop Out
Objective: To prepare skaters for the WFTDA minimum skills test; to build endurance; to practice pacing yourself; to practice proper skating form
Typical length of drill: 5 mins
Materials needed: A properly laid down track 
Skill level required: None
Description: This is basically just skating your hardest for five minutes straight and counting your own laps; like a time-trial without the pressure of an actual time-trial.  All the skaters spread out around the track and on the first whistle start skating.  Each time they pass their point of origin they count one lap.  Skaters who have done this drill more than once can use this as a way to gauge their own improvement.  Skaters should also be using this drill to learn how to pace themselves, meaning, not necessarily pushing at 100% from the start because then you might be skating at 50% in the last two minutes because you're so exhausted. 
Additional notes: This drill is aah so simple yet so effective.  Great filler at practice because it's nice an' short but still good for endurance.  This is one of those drills that I came up with myself but since it didn't require the least bit of brain-power I don't think I deserve any credit for it (it can be called "Lazy Coach" for a reason...).  When I was including this drill in practices on a regular basis I noticed that skaters really appreciated the opportunity to check in on themselves, they liked doing this drill more than once and being able to count their own laps to see if they'd improved since last we did it, or to push themselves to do better than they did last time.  It became sort of a confidence booster.

Please note that if you want to know the definite number of laps that a skater can do in five minutes (like when you're doing REAL time-trials for WFTDA testing) you need to have someone who is NOT skating counting the test-takers' laps because most skaters lose track after about lap 12 (or lap 3 if you get as distracted by the good lookin' refs as I do).

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Blocker Hell

Alternative names: --

Objective: To build up endurance and stamina; to build up muscles

Typical length of drill: 15 minutes

Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line

Skill level required: Skaters must know how to stop effectively

Description: This is a variation on the Jammer Hell -drill.  All the skaters skate around the track at 80% capacity for two full minutes, then do 30 seconds of plyometrics or calisthenics (i.e. planks, push-ups, crunches, flood kicks, ab straddles, etc.).  Repeat this cycle until the 15 minutes have gone by.

Additional notes: I learned this drill at Rally in the Valley 2010, Germany's first roller derby bootcamp organized by the Stuttgart Valley Roller Girlz.  At the camp it was used as a warm-up exercise.  Although you are not sprinting at 100% during this drill it can sill be considered an endurance drill (particularly for blockers who don't usually skate at 100% during a game anyway) since you are skating quite hard for quite a long time.  This drill can of course also be lengthened to make it more endurancy.

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