Final Derby Journal of 2015 (?)
Hi! Remember me? Yeah, me neither. I've been a horrible LJ friend this last month, but my life has been filled with amazing things, and I've been out there enjoying it.
My roller derby 101 course has played a huge part in keeping me happy and on my toes, I've learnt a lot, I feel I've become more confident, more... independent. I've worked through a lot of weird anxiety issues, and I feel I've come out of it a stronger person.
I had my minimum skills check on Sunday. I had an itchy throat, and my lungs were burning with cold symptoms, but I got through it. I got my feedback today, and I'm very happy with what I've been able to accomplish during the course. I started the course August 31, I hadn't even tried to skate on my skates before I showed up to my first practice. Three months lather, and these are the things keeping me from being WFTDA compliant:
27 in 5, backwards skating, armwhips, hip whips and pushes, giving (shoulders and hips) and receiving hits.
Trainers advice: "Get more aggressive and really go for it! With Shoulder hits - use the back side of the sholder, not the pointy part :)"
That last comment makes me laugh. The 27 in 5 was not a surprise, I only did 23.5 at the test. Not sure how to get better at this if I don't have access to a track, though :X but I'm sure there are some off-skates training I could do to get better?
The backwards skating I could totally have passed, but I did two stupid things; 1. I stopped to pick up a pebble I noticed on the track to get it out of the way, 2. I wasn't able to steer clear of a girl who'd fallen down, so I fell down over her. I'll do this right the next time.
Super confused about failing the whips and pushes, not at all surprised I failed receiving and giving hits - we've only worked on that like, two, three times at practice... and it takes more practice than that.
I am SO SUPER STOKED that I passed the following things; 1 lap in 13 seconds, weaving through 10 cones in less than 6 seconds, lateral c-cuts, laterally jumping at least 45cm!!! I worked so hard on these things on my own, and it paid off. I'm so happy!
And there are so many other skills that I read through now and think ".. damn, that was super hard the first time I tried it, now I don't even think of it as a skill you need to learn". You can read all the required skills here, if you're curious.
Not sure where my derby future is headed, but it looks like I'll be invited to practice the things I'm missing and do a new test at some point :) Time will tell, but I think this will probably be my last derby update for 2015. It's been a blast!
My roller derby 101 course has played a huge part in keeping me happy and on my toes, I've learnt a lot, I feel I've become more confident, more... independent. I've worked through a lot of weird anxiety issues, and I feel I've come out of it a stronger person.
I had my minimum skills check on Sunday. I had an itchy throat, and my lungs were burning with cold symptoms, but I got through it. I got my feedback today, and I'm very happy with what I've been able to accomplish during the course. I started the course August 31, I hadn't even tried to skate on my skates before I showed up to my first practice. Three months lather, and these are the things keeping me from being WFTDA compliant:
27 in 5, backwards skating, armwhips, hip whips and pushes, giving (shoulders and hips) and receiving hits.
Trainers advice: "Get more aggressive and really go for it! With Shoulder hits - use the back side of the sholder, not the pointy part :)"
That last comment makes me laugh. The 27 in 5 was not a surprise, I only did 23.5 at the test. Not sure how to get better at this if I don't have access to a track, though :X but I'm sure there are some off-skates training I could do to get better?
The backwards skating I could totally have passed, but I did two stupid things; 1. I stopped to pick up a pebble I noticed on the track to get it out of the way, 2. I wasn't able to steer clear of a girl who'd fallen down, so I fell down over her. I'll do this right the next time.
Super confused about failing the whips and pushes, not at all surprised I failed receiving and giving hits - we've only worked on that like, two, three times at practice... and it takes more practice than that.
I am SO SUPER STOKED that I passed the following things; 1 lap in 13 seconds, weaving through 10 cones in less than 6 seconds, lateral c-cuts, laterally jumping at least 45cm!!! I worked so hard on these things on my own, and it paid off. I'm so happy!
And there are so many other skills that I read through now and think ".. damn, that was super hard the first time I tried it, now I don't even think of it as a skill you need to learn". You can read all the required skills here, if you're curious.
Not sure where my derby future is headed, but it looks like I'll be invited to practice the things I'm missing and do a new test at some point :) Time will tell, but I think this will probably be my last derby update for 2015. It's been a blast!