Fresh Meat Week # 2

Welcome back, if your reading this you've probably just made it though one of the most physical training sessions of fresh meat... Blocking!!!

Fresh Meat week # 2 recap:

Head trainers for week #2 blocking were Kit Cat Krunch & Marshall Stacks, with helpers Vaderella, Pixie Pincher, Gateway Girl, Violent Krumble, Miss Whirl and Dee Injuria.

Warm up consisted of re visiting sticky feet, coasting on one foot, squats and our old "Uncle Candy's" favourite... Roof, window, face and floor punching. Then a quick pyramid drill.

After that Kit Cat Krunch gave an off skates blocking chat & demo with the help of Miss Whirl and Dee Injuria in the "Haz Chem" colour coded suits... red for target zones and blue for blocking zones.


For a more accurate detailed visual of these zones & the rules you can view them in section 5 of the WFTDA Standardised Flat Track Roller Derby Rules. Which you can read online or download from the official WFTDA website http://wftda.com/rules

Blocking consisted of hip checks, should checks and booty blocks.

Remember:

Stable, solid derby stance, don't lift your outside foot when you give the hit.

Don't hold your breath or tense up when you get hit,or give a hit. DO exhale, let it out so you don't get winded. ( Dee Injuria gives a great demo of this, go ask her to show you sometime!!!)


Shoulder & Hip Block discussed here:



Booty Blocking here:


After blocking off skates Gateway Girl & Violent Krumble took pack skating on the 2 tracks, getting skaters to observe the rest of the pack, practice looking behind to call out signaled numbers, avoiding obstacles such as fallen skaters, leaning, knocking wheels and responding to change in pace.

Next up Kit Cat Krunch & Marshall Stacks took some blocking on skates drills.
Snake lines, 2 per track with one person weaving through the rest of the line, and then skating with a partner the length of the room doing booty blocks with another freshy followed by hip and shoulder check with a mouldy.

Frefs- (that's Fresh Meat Referees for you newbies) this week covered blocking sections of the rules and got to observe skaters during the pack & paired blocking drills, looking for contact, falls or out of bounds skating that may incur penalties. They also checked out distances for defining the pack and engagement zones, by part taking in their own skating drill dropping coloured cones (representing skaters) on the track and using rope to measure the distances between the cones.

For more information on pack definition & engagement zones see section 4 of the WFTDA Standardised Flat Track Roller Derby Rules. Which you can read online or download from the official WFTDA website http://wftda.com/rules

Thanks for reading, as a little bonus this week I'm sharing my personal favourite block of all time... The "Slay Ride".... Gotham Girls "Beyonslay" giving Rice Rocket the ride of her life!!!



Oh yeah and look who got to meet her a few weeks ago!!!
(Our very own ADRD referees Rowan De Boate & Wolfe Whistle).

Extra Skating Opportunities

Just a quick note to let you know of a few extra skating opportunities this month.


Phoebe de Wilt Says: "Hello to all the other fresh meat peoples. I wanted to let you know that I have booked Parks Recreation Centre from 11am until 1pm this Sunday (the 7th Nov) to get some practice in before the next training session. Come along if you are keen. Hope to see some of you there."

And also that there will be a public skate session at The Hub Recreation Centre (Abferfoyle Park) on Saturday 13th November. 9am-12pm. $5 per person!!

Fresh Meat Week #1

A massive congratulations to everyone who made it through Raw Meat!!!!

Fresh Meat week #1 recap:

Trainers were Pixie Pincher & Violent Krumble, with helpers Bride of Skatan, Kit Cat Krunch, Gateway Girl & Bam Bam Belial.

Warm up consisted of skating around in a big circle and forming a line holding hands when a number was called out. This was done in both directions.

First new drill for the evening was falls. Single knee slide, double knee slide and baseball slide.
Everyone lined up in teams of 8 to 10 and took it in turns like a relay to do the fall at cones that had been laid out on the floor. Once everyone had mastered those the single knee slide with a turn was added.

Remember to "fall small" with these falls not to put your hands on the ground to get up, (no one likes fingers being skated over... OWCH!) Keep your hands in a fist, arms in snug (please don't thrust them in the air like the video below suggests), and legs down low & together if your doing the baseball slide. For the double knee slides lead with one leg first, don't crash down hard on them together, and remember to lean shoulders back while thrusting your pelvis forward. Also practice getting up without placing your hands on the floor or your knee.

You can view the single knee slide & single knee slide with a turn here:


How to do Knee Slides in Roller Derby -- powered by eHow.com

And double knee slide here:


How to do Double Knee Slides in Roller Derby -- powered by eHow.com

Jumps on whistles were next, done in 2 groups on each track and also adding in knee slides on whistles.

Pack skating on 2 tracks- remembering sticky feet, communication with other skaters, and posture - arms by your sides not crossed on your chest, or resting on your knees.
Also practiced pack awareness by being able to look around the pack and also over your shoulder by looking at a skater holding her hand up signalling a number, each pack had to call out the number of fingers as they skated around the track.

Finally a few getting to know you games, "I have never" & "2 truths and a lie". For I have never, skaters sit in a circle one person starts by saying "I have never... ( and adding in a saying here) eg: I have never caught public transport. Anyone who had done what the person said must stand up and skate a lap around the outside of the circle.
2 truths and a lie consisted of pairs skating around telling each other 2 things that were true and one which was a lie, their partner had to guess which was the lie.

Well done everyone!!!

Just a quick note regarding mouth guards, Pretty please remember to put them in your MOUTHS not your helmet. try putting it in and leaving it in for the whole time you are training, this will help you to get used to wearing it in all types of training (which is crucial for bouting).
If you are interested in getting a fitted mouth guard professionally made by a dentist please speak to Holga Von Lomo (she's a dental professional).

If you have any further questions or comments about fresh meat training or skating in general please feel free to discuss below (as you may not be the only person with that question).

See you all next week.

Raw Meat Week #3

A total of 65 nervous and excited people turned up to take on the Raw Meat test last night. Being only a year since this little derby girl went through the very same test, it sure brought back those emotions right on back. Have to admit I found myself getting a wee bit teary on more than one occasion.

What made Disco tear up like a prickly eyed old fool? Ill tell ya what! The focus and determination. The smiles and laughter. The bonds that are already forming between people who until a few weeks ago were complete strangers. But most of all, was during the endurance testing. The way the whole room lit up with an absolute ROAR of encouragement whenever someone got back up after falling down. Those are moments to be cherished in life. Golden.

This is the feeling which I hope every skater who was in the room last night keeps with them. Unfortunately not everyone made it through the test but don’t let it stop you. Keep on skating. Keep on supporting and helping each other improve. Do it because you love it and them come on back next year and give it another go.

During the quite times in between testing I did a bit of a ‘pop quiz’ with all of the skaters, asking ‘what have you enjoyed most about your raw meat experience?’

I threw the results into ‘Worlde’ (an online Google application). The size of the words in the image reflect how often they repeated. This is what we got.

Next Week Fresh Meat Begins!

Next week will be the start of ‘Fresh Meat’ training. Things will be stepping up a notch so don’t forget you will need to bring ALL of your safety gear or you wont be allowed on the track. So please be sure to add a helmet, mouth guard, wrist guards, elbow pads & knee pads to your gear bag.

Some advice on extra items you may wish to pack in your gear bag from a few old hands!

Lula Fortune recommends:
• An extra set of ‘boy leg’ under shorts!. “I suffer from a crotch flashing phobia”. Beware the accidental flash - keep it covered!
• Mouthwash – for dealing with the skanky mouth guard &
• A spare set of socks

Grumpire recommends:
• A set of rules
• Towel & waterbottle
• Glen20 deodoriser &
• Grumpires whistle of choice – the Hurricane Thunderer (in yellow)

Buttons McBoomBoom recommends:
• Wet wipes or a facewasher for wiping wheels off
• Spare skate tool (they are easy to lose!)
• Rose oil – to sprinkle around in gear bag and keep it smelling sweet, &
• A few extra smiles :D

Later skaters! You all did an awesome job tonight.

Death by Disco x
(Yes i know i have bad grammar!)

Raw Meat Week # 2

Hello and welcome to Raw Meat Recap.

This weeks head trainers were:
Guy Incognito and Kit Cat Krunch
Warm up drill was stopping on a whistle blow, while skating around the track, one for T stops & two for snow ploughs. After the warm up there was another quick discussion on hydration, community, hard work and good pain Vs bad pain (see last week for more info).

Skaters were split into 4 smaller groups based on their skating ability, then combined 2 of those groups to do some drills on the tracks.
Pixie Pincher & Kit Cat Krunch worked on sticky feet, stride and cross overs.
Guy Incognito & Bam Bam Belial demonstrated weaving amongst cones.
Violent Krumble & Gateway Girl fine tuned T stops & snow ploughs.

After a short drink break every one split into 4 groups again to work on fine tuning cross overs, remembering to hold a derby stance, get low and to take an nice deep step when crossing over.

Next up endurance laps, 5 laps in 1 mins and 25 laps in 5 mins were the goal.

Finished up with a chat about testing and what will be involved and what you will need if you progress to Fresh Meat ( see below).


Testing for week # 3

You will be allocated a colour group, within that group you will be given a number from 1 to 15 to stick on your helmet.
There will be 4 different skills stations that you will rotate through within your colour group.

These skills stations will be:

1. General skating:
Skating Posture - Bends at knees and hips with shoulders back, Swings arms fluidly.

Stride - Has steady, confident, fluid strides, Uses both feet to push forward on straight-aways.

Crossovers - Performs smooth crossovers while skating at a brisk pace going into and coming out of turns, Uses both feet to push during crossovers.

Wide Slaloms - Can move easily and fluidly from one side of the skating lane to the other.
Can perform smooth quick changes of direction, crossing the track at least three times on each straight-away and twice on each turn.


2. Stepping and weaving:
Stepping from a standstill - Forward and Backward, Side to side in both directions.

Weaving - Maneuvers through 10 cones placed six feet apart.


3. Squatting, balance, sticky feet:
Squatting - Skater achieves a 90 to 120 degree angle at the knee during each squat.
Feet and knees are hip width or wider. Eyes look forward, chest is out and back is flat.
Squats and coasts through the entire straight-away and turn.

Balance - Performs one-foot glides with each foot for the length of the straight-away with good balance. Skater must be in derby stance with one foot completely off the floor. Skater maintains sufficient speed and does not flail limbs.

Sticky Feet - Has the ability to propel self while keeping all eight wheels on the floor.


4. Stopping:
T-Stop - Skater must come to a complete stop from a brisk pace, using proper form and without losing her balance.)

Plow Stop - Skater must come to a complete stop from a brisk pace, using proper form and without losing her balance.)

Speed and Endurance:
Skates 25 Laps around track within five minutes.
Skate 5 laps around track within one minute.


There will be time for a warm up and also after endurance time for a warm down.
Results will be given one by one based on colour groups, there will be 2 ADRD members delivering the results. There will also be grievence team people available for anyone who may wish to discuss their results.

Anyone who passes Raw Meat and progresses to Fresh Meat will require the following safety gear for week #4. Remember if you do not have ALL your safety gear you will unable to skate.
This includes:
Helmet
Mouth Guard
Wrist Guards
Elbow Pads
Knee Pads


See you all next week- GOOD LUCK!

Raw Meat Week #1

Hello and welcome to Raw Meat recap,

Today we will be discussing week one of Raw Meat Training.
Week one was off with a bang, about 100 eager little freshies in their black and white "penguin" suits.




To start the evening after a quick warm up trainers
Pixie Pincher & Violent Krumble had a quick talk about etiquette, safety, and hydration.

ADRD promotes a safe, friendly and inclusive environment, we want you to skate confidently in a comfortable environment, please remember we don't tolerate any mouthing off, or unsafe behaviour.
Just a reminder from a safety point of view to please remove any jewellery (such as large dangly earrings, facial piercings, necklaces, watches and rings) at all your training sessions. Also that if you are wearing safety equipment to wear it correctly, do up your helmet and leave it done up all night. Remember if you have any issues to please consult with the grievance officers (listed in the the last post).
In regards to hydration, altho we do get drink breaks during training sessions remember to drink plenty of water in the 2-3 days BEFORE training to give your body plenty of time to absorb it, as the trainers mentioned if your feeling thirsty your already dehydrated!!!

Next up was weaving with Guy Incognito, Kit Cat Krunch
and Bam Bam Belial. Cones were set out for practice with either a feet together stance or one foot leading. Remember with weaving to look, turn and lean (with your shoulders) in the direction you want to go. If your leading with one foot forward, use that legs knee and foot to steer.

After weaving was stepping with a little help from Bride of Skatan.
This consisted of standing on the spot, marching to practice agility and then taking steps to form a cross. Eg: step to the left, then back to the centre, step forward then back to the centre, step to the right then back to the centre and step back and back to the centre. This is something that you can be practising at home, carpeted surfaces work well as you wont get so much roll.

After that Violent Krumble & Gateway Girl demonstrated stopping with
T stops and snow ploughs. T stops consisted of making a T shape with your feet, one foot leading and the other dragging behind making a 90 degree "T". Remember to keep your skate flat or tilted back on the wheels on the right side of your foot. and not to drag it along on your toe stop.
Snow ploughs consisted of pushing both legs out, then bringing them into a V shape with your toes pointing slightly together and heels pushing out. Remember with this one to bend at your knees and not to tilt forward from the waist.

Here's a useful video that demonstrates both techniques.
(ignore the last technique for now)



General Skating covered things like stride, riding the track & posture (derby stance). Riding the track involved skating around the track as if it were a rectangle, Imagine 4 points at the corners, skating straight down the straight aways to the corner point then crossing over as you skate around the curves.

Derby stance involves a squatting posture, feet at shoulder width apart for a steady stance, hips over your ankles with a slightly tilted forward torso, arms tucked in to your sides at 90 degree (not dangling by your sides) and head and chin up looking in the direction you want to skate. The most important thing to remember with derby stance is STABILITY! Once you start getting knocked around you will know what we are talking about.

Kit Cat Krunch & Marshall Stacks then demonstrated scissor "sticky skate", scissor sticky skates "figure 8 cross overs and then cross overs lifting your feet. (as demonstrated in the video below).
scissor stick skates consisted of skating without lifting your feet, pushing both feet in and then out continuously whilst moving forward, and having the feet come together as your skates move back in. The figure 8's however consisted of one foot crossing over in front of the other as they met (but not lifting) changing the leading foot each time they meet.
Cross overs lifting feet consisted of a gentle push back and out then lifting that foot forward and around the other leg in a stepping motion, then lifting the rear foot and stepping forward to take the lead position.

If your finding cross overs difficult break it down into comfortable sections, try the sticky skate crossovers, practice walking or running in a circle without your skates on or try the stepping motion while holding onto the back of a chair, or just walking in a "grapevine" line side to side.



After the demonstration, everyone got a change to practice on the 2 tracks, and then finished up with some endurance laps, the goals for endurance is 5 laps in 1 min and 25 laps in 5 mins.

Congratulations to everyone who participated we were very excited to see you all skating so confidently this week.

See you all next week

Three More Sleeps!

Hi Freshies,

Only three more sleeps till the first Raw Meat session :)
Please read the information below regarding how it's going to work.

When: MONDAY 11th October

Time: arrive 6.30pm for 7pm start

Where: The Parks Community Centre - Cowan Street, Angle Park



Remember to bring:

- white t-shirt with your REAL name on the back

- your forms filled in and signed

- your ID to confirm your over 18yrs

- $8.50 (which is the cost of each training paid to Parks reception)


There will be over 100 people that need to get through the doors and geared up ready to go at 7pm. PLEASE be thoughtful of the other uses of The Parks Rec Centre.

1) There will be registration desks set up outside the doors to the centre. This is where you need to hand in your forms, have your name signed off and your ID checked. There will be ADRD league members to help you.

2) Once you have been checked you will then need to head into the centre and pay your $8.50 at the reception desk.

3) Head all the way down the passage and turn right at the end near the weights room, past the stairs and toilets to the Creche, this is the designated area used to "gear up", put your skates and ALL your safety gear on.

NOTE: Please don't gear up in the hallway and especially not in front of the stairs. This is an OH&S issue for the centre.

If you need to hire skates or need gear please let one of the ADRD league members know.


Please remember there are lots trying out and unfortunately not enough spots for everyone to join the league. It’s going to be competitive & results are hard on both parties, so if you have any issues during the Raw or Fresh Meat process please speak to one of our ADRD grievance officers (Pistola Balboa, Grimy Knickers, Lula Fortune, Miss Whirl, Coconut Rough and Psycho Fox)
or email the ADRDfreshies@gmail.com account and you will be responded to.

Look forward to seeing you all there:)
ADRD Fresh Meat Team