Practice

Tonight we had roller derby practice. I wore my prosthetic boob and I did notice a difference in my balance-it really helped. Most women's roller derby leagues have the same philosophy regarding new skaters -- physique is irrelevant, and it doesn't matter if someone hasn't worn skates in years. Leagues hold practice sessions to teach the rules and basic skating techniques, and no one actually competes until the team is confident that they can do so safely. Leagues also encourage players to skate whenever they can in addition to organized practices. We practice two days a week, and always begin with stretching and warm-ups to help prevent injuries. Practices focus on endurance and maneuvering. We learn to squat, how to dodge, and how to jump over stuff and over people. Endurance and skating practices use traditional roller derby drills, modified hockey drills or exercises that the coaches have developed. In addition to building endurance, these drills reinforce our abilities to:

• Start and stop
• Skate at high speeds
• Dodge obstacles
• Dodge other players
• Fall without injury

In addition, drills encourage players to stay aware of their surroundings and react to the unexpected. Tonight we worked on our stops. I've pretty much mastered the plow stop but still need to work on my T-stop. We also have to be able to complete 25 laps in 5 minutes-at this point I can do 21 in 5 minutes so I need to work on my speed. I am loving this!