WOMEN’S FLAT TRACK ROLLER DERBY MAGAZINE ISSUE 37, FALL 2017
proud partner of the WFTDA
fiveonfivemag.com
fiveonfive contents
26-27
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advice ask swede hurt and suzy hotrod!
WFTDA The WFTDA’s Partnership with UN Women. We Believe: Empowerment, Equality through Roller Derby.
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business attendance google drive
18-23 games and coaching
Jennifer M. Ramos
10-15
health and fitness getting fit for derby hydration for performance
36-37 derby photography
biking ride out teamwork
Triggerhappy explores her evolving derby photography through the evolution of the sport.
24-25 gear 30-31
junior derby a new generation of speedy gonzaleses
32-35
rookie belonging in derby confessions of a smash-a-holic
42-43 international derby
Laina McWhorter
toe guards
38-41 alcoholism Dawn of the Shred talks drinking and derby with brutal transparency.
biking ride out OLD XCHOOL, NORTHERN CALIFORNIAN ROLLER DERBY P H O T O S B Y D A N I E L W H I TA K E R
My wife, Diane, and I are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary this year, and we’ve always wanted to go to Nashville. I contacted Electra Cal of the Tennessee Nashville Rollergirls to see if we could set up a session for a fiveonfive blocking techniques article. The rest is history.
Before we get into the Ride Out Blocking technique I want to make the distinction between a Screen block and the Ride out (or seal type) block: The Screen Block: This technique is normally used within a moving or stationary pack. The moving screen block is a form of position blocking with the intention of putting your body between the opposing blockers and your jammer for the purpose of scoring points. Contact with the opposition may or may not be necessary, (the screen is very much like the screen performed in basketball). Timing 1 with your jammer is important (it’s a function of seconds) as she approaches the back of the pack. If you set up the screen block too early your opponent will just
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step around you and get their blocking position back. See Figure 1 Chest screen. A chest screen can be set from any position on the track, within the pack or against an opposing team’s blocking wall. Your skating position can be backwards, sideways or straight up. The important thing to remember is the timing with respect to your jammer and getting your body in position. The Ride-Out block is an aggressive control-blocking technique. The technique is a function of your position and again, timing with your approaching jammer. The block will last seconds at best against an experienced skater. No matter how brief a time the block is sustained. This technique keeps the opponents under control as they struggle to release themselves from your ride-out block. Keep in mind that not every block is designed to hit someone, setting up points for the team will win bouts. Assisting your jammer through the pack when possible is good team play and will help to conserve her energy during long jams. How is it done? Start with a good balanced blocking posture and stance. Get on your barstool, slight bend at the knees, straight back, head on a swivel, hips tilted as if you are sitting on a barstool and skates set at about a shoulder’s width apart. There are two basic techniques that can be used for the Ride-Out block. We will set these techniques up from the right side, (You should learn these techniques from both left and right sides): The first technique requires the right leg placement to the front of the opposing skater using the hips as the main locking force on your opponent’s thigh. Get low and come in under your opponent’s hips,
(use your footwork for good position). Step over with your right skate and angle your hips behind the opponent locking their left thigh. (See Figure 2a and b.) Figure 2a: Ride-Out 2a block front position. Note the white 2b blocker’s right leg and skate step over the Blue blocker’s left skate as white shows the referee that her right elbow is not being used! Figure 2b: Rear view. Note the white blocker’s hip extension around the blue blocker’s thigh. This holds the blue blocker, once in this position the white blocker begins to get lower to maintain control. At this point you can drive your opponent out or just hold her in position to pin the pack, using the track boundary lines as an assistant blocker. (See Figure 3.) Figure 3: The ride-out block is set by white and the white jammer is in position to score. As your opponent struggles to escape, drop lower and lower for better control, show the referee your right arm because it will look like you are holding or elbowing while your jammer skates by for the score.
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The second ride-out blocking technique requires a right foot placement to the rear of the opposing skater using your torso as the controlling force against your opponent. (See Figure 4a and b). Figure#4a: Ride-Out 4a block front position. Note the right leg and skate step behind to the rear of the blue blocker and again the right arm exposed to the referee as white uses her torso for control. Figure 4b: Ride Out block rear position. Note the white blocker’s torso around the opposing blue 4b blocker’s body as the white blocker’s right leg cuts off the blue blocker’s escape to the rear. At this point you temporarily have control. Figure 5: The ride-out block is set, white jammer is in position to score. As your opponent tries to escape, drop lower as you show the referee your right arm while your jammer skates by for the score. Options: If you need to maintain longer control of your opponent while using one of the ride-out blocking techniques, you can spin if your opponent tries to escape either inside or outside you. This will buy you a couple more seconds.
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a new generation of speedy gonzaleses HERMIONE DANGER, SHEFFIELD STEEL ROLLERGIRLS
For juniors, 27 in 5 seems like a Herculean task. After all, trained adults find it hard, and half of these kids will only be stepping onto their little quad skates for the first time. This is where JRDA (Junior Roller Derby Association) comes in. Juniors still have to do laps, but on a two minute scale. Each of the three levels in junior derby has a different number of laps to complete its minimum skills. Level Ones do 9 in 2, which equates to approximately 22 in 5. Level Twos do 11 in 2, which works out to 27 in 5. Level Three skaters do 13 in 2, which means that the next generation of skaters are working up to 32 in 5. Some of the junior skaters across
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the world’s junior leagues will be achieving Level Three at twelve years old, just like my sister did. This is a step forward in derby which will allow these little skaters to become stronger, better, and faster. I know for a fact that it also helps massively with achieving 27 in 5. My sister and I just skated our 27 in 5s within weeks of each other, and she’s years away from being able to skate in an adult league. I managed it after two years of skating in a junior league, and I don’t think I would have been able to accomplish it as soon as I did without the graduated levels of junior derby. This isn’t to say that the graduated levels are everything. The first time I tried 27 in 5, I got 13. That was a huge blow. However, I couldn’t do a crossover to save my life, and my stance made me look like I was a baby giraffe: wobbly and weak at the knees. This changed over the years, and I got over my fear of falling sideways and hurting myself doing crossovers. The juniors I skated with learned crossovers within weeks of starting training – not that they all succeeded in doing them consistently, but they now had the tools and muscle memory to continue. If I’d started learning those things as early, I probably wouldn’t have put up a mental block of fear up, and would be confident in crossovers sooner.
Another important thing in how junior skaters skate is just how resilient they are. I’ve seen skaters pushing themselves to the absolute limit in their laps, and ten minutes later, want to go again. In my junior league, our fantastic coaches nurtured this resiliency right from the start. A skater falls over? That’s a sign of progress! A skater doesn’t quite get their laps? They were so close that next time they are almost sure to get it! Our coaches supported our desires to push ourselves with our laps, but let us know that it was okay not to get it right. This kind of support system really helped every single junior skater I skated with, and I’m confident that it led to many of our skaters performing better, and attaining their laps. The way that the JRDA has structured junior derby laps-graduated laps for the different levels-allows said skaters to gain a sense of confidence and drive them to shoot for the next level. With me, I knew that if I got to Level Three, I would be able to compete in full contact jams with my derby sister and my little sister, and that motivated me to skate better and faster. That then laid the foundation for my 27 in 5. Achieving my laps was one of my proudest derby moments, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget that exhausted, sweat soaked, jubilous moment for the rest of my life.
Sean Hale
As almost every derby skater knows, 27 in 5 is one of the most difficult parts of minimum skills. For me, it took three years from the time I started training for it, and it was a pretty rough journey. The way I had been skating was all wrong, and my stance was wrong. It also didn’t help that I couldn’t do crossovers!
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