Cross over madness for all levels

Yesterday night was a very successful evening! We tried out some new cross over drills which gave a super good effect for both the freshies as well as the beginners and intermediates! And it was the first time for me since the operation that I coached while wearing skates again. Which sometimes was funny (can only maintain balance in cross overs to the left, but not to the right, can do backwards cross overs and tomahawk stops but not something as "simple" as a T-stop), but mostly just was good practice. I was dead tired by the end of the training (lots of postural and balance muscles finally get to learn how to work again) but also SO content.

The girls jumped forward in their cross over skills. Freshies started to make the actual cross and started lifting the inner foot without getting on their toestops while beginners and intermediates learned how to get deeper into the cross over and push even more with the inside foot on the outside stride. Inside- and outside edges were found and mental thresholds were dropped. Delicious!

This drill was loved by most as it gave them a good feeling of how to push (harder) with both legs and how to hang in the curves (sorry for the quality of the pic).

Giving a short repetition of all the drills before the girls will take it all to the track and translate it to skating the "diamond" (sorry for the quality of the pic).

Science you said?

Yes I did!

A few months ago I started to prepare my thesis project (for my physiotherapy degree) and since then it's just grown out of proportions! I'm scared to death of it now, even though I am also very much looking forward to the results.

My professors approved the first sketch of my plan before the summer which described how I wanted to map out which injuries happen to who in which situations and why (lots of correlations there, hehe)  so as to create a base line to make the sport safer through well thought out athleticism (you know, doing the right types of training to prevent these injuries as best we can). Of course we already have an idea of how to do this. BUT this idea on how to this is based on studies performed on young (semi) pro male athletes on either shoes or hockey skates. I do not look like them, I don't have their athletic background and I don't put in the hours that they put in (I totally would if I could). Very few of us derby players fit that description and that's why it is important to start mapping and researching our sport and future based on us. And that's what I'm gonna do. Yikes!

It's gotten rather big. Euroderby.org and WFTDA have both promised to help spread the word and the questionnaire, so if all goes well I will be looking at thousands of anonymous answers which would really create such an awesome amount of data that it can (and probably will) create new questions to take derby further into sports science.

Tomorrow the next term is starting and in about two weeks time the questionnaire (that is almost finished now) will be up for scrutiny by both my classmates and professors. After that it will run through a pilot (a small group gets to answer to it, to see if everything is clear and if the questionnaire is actually answering my main questions). After that I'm hoping that you will find it in a link near you! And if you do, please fill it out! I will love you for ever.

Monthly scrimmages!

Yes! yes! yes!

Due to circumstances of babies growing in bellies, people studying in different cities and a sprained ankle here and there, we no longer have a full team of at least 14 players. We have however about 15 Freshies eager to fill up the spots.

Even though we only had 9 skaters available we decided to go ahead with this plan of having a scrimmage a month anyways. Our 7 (!) refs need the practice, Freshmeat learn heaps about the game by NSOing and the skaters can't go a full season without competition. So last Thursday we had our first one. And it was a blast!

Wether it was being on the jammer longer, placing more controlled hits or working more tightly together, all of the girls showed new and improved moves. And I found that I really really liked bench coaching.

Team white: Gaby Grenade, Petra Pak, Trasher Smasher and Cherry Lawless. Bench: Lucy SlayHer.
Refs: Svary Mary (+ passenger) and Major Bitter (head ref for the event).

In the box: Wicked Rosie (probably a back block/forearms) and Badass Babuska (high block)
© Carolina Makkula

Progress video!

So two weeks ago Badass filmed me at my first training with the fresh meat. Well, it was just before the training so the progress you see in this vid compared to the previous one is only due to normal rehabilitation exercise (no skating) and this floor being quite a lot less grippy than the one in the previous vid.

So that was two weeks ago. I could glide a bit on each leg, but couldn't adjust my direction at all whilst gliding on my left foot (which used to be my strongest). The neurological damage in that leg has been there since February while the right leg didn't get damaged until late April. So it will take longer to heal and it now results in the control in that leg being much worse than it was before.

Do you remember being a freshmeat and gliding on one foot, trying to make the corner, but your skate just having a mind of it's own? That's what it felt like. I couldn't get any movement in my foot to adjust the weight on the skate to make it turn.

Today however, I suddenly could do it! Ok, not as tight a corner as on my right foot, but I could feel the pressure under my foot adjusting against the sole of my boot to adjust the direction and I had relatively good control over it. Yay!

In skating backwards I even managed some cross overs. My legs just remembered the motions and I did it! That feeling is so amazing after an injury like mine. Because that feeling is exactly what you start to distrust. The feeling of knowing how to do something, feeling that your brain is giving off the impulses to your muscles to do it, but your legs (as if they aren't your own) just wont do it. But now they did! And then getting the sensory input in your brain saying "yep, all is under control, doing what you want them to do *thumbs up*" is like a drug. It makes me want to do it again and again and again. Look Mom! I'm doing it! Well, I do actually sometimes scream out to the others: "look look look!" And then I look overly happy like a child on christmas morning.

Endorphines, contagious?

Sometimes, like tonight, I wonder if endorphin highs are contagious. Tonight I led an amazing training. The intensity was high, the girls were focussed and improving by the minute and by the end ready to never get up again and drenched in sweat. Everything just worked. The chemistry clicked for everyone.

So why did I leave on a high? I didn't physically do anything more than stand in the middle, talk, sometimes scream and take on derby stance a few times. Well, ok, I jammed on shoes a few times, but not in an actual jam, just in a drill to help out. Just some pushing into a wall of strong women. Didn't even sweat. Well.. didn't get wet of my own sweat at least.

I wonder what brain substance I'm high on.. <3<3<3

So proud of my girls

Yes, MY girls. Oh and guy. Pappa Smurf was there last night and he worked just as hard as any of the girls!

We set goals for the team, both social goals, tactical goals and fitness goals. Last night was the first fitness training of the season so it was time to measure the start values for the fitness goals. To give the girls an endorphin kick I decided to after those tests keep going at high intensity and make them puke.

You know it's getting good when some of the better trained girls start dripping sweat from their noses into a nice little pool while in a plank or another girl sounds like she is about to cry, but keeps going, or when you can make Badass so angry she loves you: "why are YOU doing back raises, you DON'T have shoulder problems! YOU do the push-ups, NOW!"

I more than overshot my personal goals for the session:

1. get their start values registered in an adequate way (thank you Kaiser Geuze, our head NSO).
2. push the skaters to aim for high start values.
3. instill one of my basic principals in all the skaters: never quit, slow down if you have to, but never quit.
4. let the skaters go home feeling proud of themselves (and possibly each other).
5. let the skaters that aren't so training minded experience in what way high intensity training can be nice.

By the time I got home I was being drowned in messages of love and enthusiasm. What I loved most was that I got to see everybody push themselves. Nobody gave up. There are always lazy skaters in any league, but last night none of the girls were lazy. They all worked their pretty asses off! Well done girls!

Thank you Luleå Roller Derby, I love you!

Back to freshmeat

A month ago I wasn't sure I would be able to start skating again, and I haven't tried since then, but in many other activities I can feel that the control and teamwork in my leg muscles (synergy) has improved.  A little over a month ago, I looked like this:

Now I don't know if you've seen me skate before jan '12 but I was doing pretty alright for someone who had just skated one year. Fluid movements, backwards crossovers, pirouettes, jumps it was all fine and I looked and felt confident.

Now that Badass is fresh meat coach I have my hands free to focus on my own progress and try to partake in the fresh meat program. Not sure what I'll do with the fall practices. The surgeon said everything is safe from about now (three months after spine surgery). I'm curious to see if I will pass the minimum skills test just before Christmas. As it is I can't even get up from the floor within three secs without skates, haha!