Building your strategies

Alternative names: --

Objective: To create customized strategies and counter-strategies for your own team; to practice thinking strategically about roller derby

Typical length of drill: 2 hours

Materials needed: Your team, a secretary to take detailed notes and send them all out to team members in a timely fashion

Skill level required: A basic understanding of the game and rules

Description: There comes a time in every team's life (perhaps as often as every season) when the whole team needs to sit down and think about /  discuss / develop / improve / edit / write down their strategies.  We do this so that we are all on the same page, so that everyone in the team knows what to do in every situation (or so we hope).  Learning new moves is great, practicing different moves is great, but without a plan of execution, these are basically just that: moves.  Not strategies.  A strategy (as explained by Wikipedia) "is a plan of action designed to achieve a specific goal.  Strategy is all about gaining (or being prepared to gain) a position of advantage over adversaries or best exploiting emerging possibilities.  As there is always an element of uncertainty about future, strategy is more about a set of options ("strategic choices") than a fixed plan."

So how do we begin to put our moves to good use, to create plans of action and sets of options?  How do we ensure that all of our teammates know that in situation A the team will execute strategy B, and in situation X the team will execute strategy Y?  We have to start from the hypothetical situation, think of the goal we must achieve in that situation, and devise a strategy for achieving that goal.  For example:

Situation: We're up 50+ points, there is 15 minutes or less remaining in the game
Goal: Don't give the opposing team an opportunity to score by playing for time
Strategy: [insert strategy here] 

To help my team work out strategies, I created a questionnaire of sorts.  We thoroughly analyzed all the different potential scenarios on the questionnaire, thought in depth about what we needed to do to maximize our chances of gaining an advantage in those scenarios, and then created a plan of action using the moves we had learned and practiced at our training sessions.  From this we got our strategy hand-book.  The hand-book was a living document that got updated as strategies developed and rules changed, but it was a really important tool for the team because it helped us with our teamwork and unity -- we all knew what we were expected to do in what scenario.

So without further ado, to help you out with your own strategy hand-book, here is the questionnaire that we used:

What do we do when:

• We are losing in the first half? Losing in the second half? Losing at the end of the game?
• We are winning in the first half? Winning in the second half? Winning at the end of the game?
• We are outnumbered at the beginning of a jam?  In the middle of a jam?  At the end of a jam?
• We outnumber the opposing team at the beginning of a jam?  In the middle of a jam?  At the end of a jam?
• We have lead jammer?
• We don't have lead jammer?
• Our jammer is in the box?
• Their jammer is in the box?

When do we:

• Play offense?
• Play defense?
• Force the jammer whistle? Do a knee start?
• Play for time? Start the game slow?

As you answer these questions in your group, also keep in mind counter-strategies: What do we do when THEY do a knee start?  When THEY play for time?  Cover all your bases.

Additional notes: When we did these strategy sessions we basically all sat down in a teammate's living room and went through each question in meticulous detail.  We did not watch anything as we were drawing from what we already knew from bouting and scrimmaging a lot.  The sessions would take a long time but we felt confident with our plans after we finished.  Because roller derby is still developing, and at a fast rate, any and all written plays and strategies must be living documents; what has worked this season may not work the same next season.  Even though we like what we have now does not mean that we're going to use it in the game after next.  The sport can change quickly so all of your strategies and plays must be adaptable. Not to mention, other teams' strategies change quickly so you must change yours so as to know how to react in a new situation. Know that some times you gotta "kill the baby" -- the strategy you so loved last season and spent hours perfecting might be totally obsolete (or even illegal) this season.  Throughout the season my team would work on the strategies we had written down, improve upon them, edit them, but since we already had that initial written document from our first session the improvements were simpler as we could just work on them during our on-skates practice time.  I also have to say that I think working on the strategies as a group can be more useful than having a strategy hand-book just given to you by your captains/coaches to study.  Being part of the process of breaking down the situation and building up the plan can really help a person execute the strategy well and at the right time.

The questionnaire in this posting is also a living document -- if you feel that something should be changed / removed / added, just drop a line in the comments below!

Simon Says

Alternative names: Simón Dice / Kungen Befaller / Kapteeni Käskee / Kommando Pimperle

Objective: To practice basic skills; to practice paying attention and listening to your teammates; agility; communication; warm-up

Typical length of drill: 5-10 minutes

Materials needed: None

Skill level required: None

Description: This is simply the classic Simon Says game with the added bonus of being on skates and thus being able to practice some basic skills while having fun.  Decide first if you alone will give commands or if you'll be giving the skaters turns to do it too.  Also decide on the punishment for doing something at the wrong time -- I like to give 5 or 10 push-ups.  Once the skaters have spread out around your practice space (everyone will need some room around them to shuffle and move around), face them and start giving commands.  For example:

• Get low
• Lay down
• Jump
• Shuffle left/right
• March in place
• Run on your toestops
• Drop to a knee

The possibilities are endless!  Make sure you enforce the punishment for any time a skater does something when you have NOT started the command with "Simon says...".  For an added challenge, have the skaters do multiple commands at once and dole out punishment if they stop doing one of the tasks to start the next one (e.g. "March in place" and "Get low" -- skaters should continue marching while getting low unless Simon has said to stop marching).

For more advanced skaters you can remove the "Simon says..." aspect and simply have a commander-in-chief who tells the others what to do in rapid succession ("Jump, down, shuffle left, shuffle right, down, up, run, stop, back, shuffle right...").  That can transform this into a conditioning or endurance drill as well.

Additional notes: This is a fun way both to start and to end practice, and it's a good way for a skater to practice doing what they are being told (that sounds wrong but bear with me here).  Derby is a team sport and it should show when you are playing.  Even if you disagree with the strategy your teammate is commanding the pack to execute, it is better to fail as a team than to go it alone.  We need each other on the track -- the jammers need the blockers to make holes, the blockers need the jammers to score points, the blockers need the blockers to protect points.  When you are on the track it is almost *always* better to do the wrong thing as a team than the right thing by yourself, because it's like we used to say in NHRD: "When you're alone, you're a loser." As a team we can accomplish anything.  And hell, if we fail, at least I didn't fail by myself.

Obstacle Course

Alternative names: Popsicle Horse

Objective: Customizable, but a basic obstacle course is great for developing agility

Typical length of drill: 15 minutes

Materials needed: Whatever you can think of!  Lots of cones to jump over, people to juke around around, pads to step over, lines at which to perform a fall, etc.

Skill level required: None -- you can customize every obstacle course to the skill level of your skaters

Description: Decide in advance if you want your obstacle course to be a continuous loop or a one-at-a-time set up where the other skaters do squats (or something similar) while waiting in line for their turn.  Set up obstacles around the track that create situations for skaters to practice something that you have been working on recently or something that they need to work on in particular (e.g. weaving, jumping, hopping, crossovers, backwards skating, falls, slides, stops, communication, sideways skating, stepping, etc.).  Once you are finished and have demonstrated for the skaters what they should be doing through the course, let them have at it!  Run the course for as long as needed, or until everyone has gotten to try it a couple of times.  The illustrations below show examples of obstacle courses.

Illustration of a one-at-a-time obstacle course.

Illustration of a continuous obstacle course with TWO paths to choose from.

Additional notes: This is a simple classic that can be customized to whatever your needs are.  The obstacle course can incorporate both simple and complex exercises, from toe stop walking and double knee slides to hits and turns.

Ref Pace Line

The following drill was submitted by Riff Reff of the Stuttgart Valley Rollergirlz.

Alternative names: --
Objective: Getting used to make and pick up calls while skating
Typical length of drill: 15 minutes
Materials needed: --
Skill level required: --
Description: Form a pace line on the outside of the track. Skate at a moderate pace a good arm's length behind each other. The last person in line makes up a call (colour-number-verbal cue). The person in front repeats the call, then the next and so on until everyone has repeated the call. Once the first skater in the line made the call s/he takes off around the track and re-joins the pace line from behind. Then s/he makes a new call and so on.

You can increase the pace with every round. You should also change to non-derby direction halfway through the drill. Remind the participants to look back over their shoulder in the turns, towards the center of the track. The more experienced the participants are, the higher the call frequency and pace.

Variation: Form another pace line in the infield and zig zag the call across the track. Swap groups from inside to outside every couple minutes.

Additional notes: This is a good drill to take new and intermediate skaters' focus off their skating and getting them used to communicate calls and to look and listen for things around them. Also, this drill can be done while skaters are on the track.

Dodgeball

Alternative names: Roller Dodge, Between Two Fires / Kahden tulen välissä

Objective: To get comfortable moving around on your skates; to improve your agility; to improve your reaction time; to practice playing both offense and defense at the same time (if playing with more than one ball)

Typical length of drill: 30 mins

Materials needed: Many cones or brightly colored painter's tape to mark out the different areas; one or more large, soft foam balls; 10 or more skaters divided into two separate teams

Skill level required: A command of basic skills is important so that no one gets injured

Description: Decide in advance if you will use one, two, or more balls in this game (directions below are for a game using TWO balls).

Make a large rectangle on the floor using your cones or painter's tape, and split the rectangle in half creating two facing courts.  The end zone behind each side of the court is "the field".    One player from each team is stationed in the field behind the opposing team's court (see illustration).  This way both teams are flanked by opponents on each side.  For the purpose of this explanation we will call this person "the cow".  Each cow gets a ball at the beginning of the game, and when the whistle blows, the cows are the first to start throwing the balls.  Remember to always aim BELOW the neck when you throw the ball.

The object of the game is to hit people from the opposing team with the ball in order to send them to the field.  Once all members of one team are in the field, the opposing team wins the game.

The skaters who are on the court are allowed to catch and throw the balls as well.  If a ball is caught before it hits the ground, the thrower of the ball gets sent to the field.  In advanced game play, each time a ball is caught, a member of the catcher's team is simultanously allowed to return from the field to the court (you should decide in advance if you would like to play the game with this bonus, note that it makes the game longer).  Any time a ball hits a player before hitting the ground, that person is sent to the field.  This includes failed catches.  Players on the same team are allowed to pass the ball to one another, either by throwing or rolling (and you cannot send your own teammates to the field by doing this).  Players on the court are not allowed to retrieve balls from the field and players in the field are not allowed to retrieve balls from the court.  No one is permitted to retrieve balls from the opposing team's court or field.  Players in the field are allowed to pass the ball to the players on the court, and vice versa.

In the illustration below you will see that the field extends beyond the end zone to wrap around the courts completely.  Decide in advance if you wish to allow your cows to use the whole area around the court or only the end zone behind each court.

An illustration of a team of 6 yellow skaters playing
against a team of 6 green skaters, using an extended field.

Additional notes: Roller Dodge is an actual, legitimate sport, developed by Tom Green, a retired referee for the Dallas Derby Devils.  The version portrayed here in this drill is a bit different though, this one is based on a children's game.  I learned this one from my teammates in Finland and we had an incredible time playing it.  The game was not only fun but it was a great team builder, and I think this is an excellent way to do some bonding with the referees as they too like to have fun and they too need to work on their skating skills, agility, and reaction time!

Please note: This is a drill you can also do OFF skates!

RMRG’s Blocking Drill

Tigre Force's guest blogging series: 5 drills from the Skater Progression Diagram.

DRILL TWO
Blocking: Positional and contact: RMRG's Blocking Drill

Alternative names: I bet this drill has a real name too, I learned it from the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls and so I named it after them
Objective: To keep the jammer behind a blocker wall of two
Typical length of drill: 20-30 mins
Materials needed: 8 cones
Skill level required: WFTDA minimum skills
Description: (see attachment)

The skaters are divided into four groups. Everybody gets to practice each position: inside blocker, outside blocker, jammer. The skaters form four lines inside the track on each turn. There are blockers in a line by the pivot line and jammers in a line by the jammer line. Both pivot and jammer lines are marked on each side of the track (four groups of skaters allow the skaters more time to practice this, since the rotation time is faster with more groups).

The blockers form a wall of two (on the pivot line on each side of the track), and their purpose is to keep the jammer behind them as long as they can. They should not pass the line marked by cones right behind the jammer line. If there is some heavy blocking, pushing or hitting involved, make sure the action ends at the cones, to make sure no one bumps into the jammers getting ready for their round.

Rotate the groups every 5 mins so that every skater gets to practice both blocking and jamming. The blockers should make sure they switch from inside to outside (and vice versa) on each round.

Additional notes: The drill probably has an official name. I didn’t catch it while skating with Rocky Mountain Rollergirls in August, 2011.

If you can dodge a wrench...

Alternative names: --
Objective: Agility, balance, reaction time
Typical length of drill: 5-15 minutes (depends on the number of participants)
Materials needed: Four cones and 1 soft ball (or ball-like substitute, i.e. bunched up shirts or socks -- having to dodge your teammates' sweaty gear makes this drill even more effective)
Skill level required: None
Description: Mark out a medium-sized square on the floor with the cones. Each skater is going to stand in the middle of this square for 60 seconds (or until they get hit out) while the other skaters try to throw the ball at them. The skater's job is to dodge, duck, and avoid the ball, making this an excellent practice in balance, agility, and reaction time. If you want to make it competitive, time all of the skaters while they are in the middle to see who can avoid being hit by the ball the longest. Alternatively, create multiple groups of three and have two skaters on the outside of the square tossing the ball to each other while trying to hit the person in the middle. This way everyone can get more time inside the square, plus the skaters on the outside get practice as well. To challenge your skaters, shrink the size of the square.
Additional notes: This is a fun and easy drill that can really help people with their reaction skills and balance. I love sneaky drills like this where you are learning things without even realizing it. You are focusing so much on the ball and where it is being tossed that you forget your are on skates. This drill is appropriate for newer skaters, and it's also great if you're struggling with a small practice space!

If you like this drill, you might also enjoy dodgeball on skates!