Making Endurance Yours: Mind over Matter

by Sissy Facecheck

Ask a vet how to get through the endurance portion of skills testing and the advice you receive will differ depending on the person.  Like derby, there is no one-size-fits-all way to get through the 20 lap endurance test.  Below, you will find some basic tips from experienced vets ranging from technical to mental to cross-training.  Consider it all, try it all, then use what works for you.  

Technical Tips: Try these first!  These tips are meant to help lay the foundation of good form and speed.  They will help reduce the risk of injury, give you more speed with less effort, and build confidence in your stride.

1. Get low and use long, full strides – long, full strides may sound counter-intuitive but it’s not.  The lower you go, the deeper you push into your strides, the more power you will get.  Short, choppy strides may keep you moving forward but it will be at a slower, more labor intensive pace.  Watch skaters like Tenacious V or Jam Pa.  Their strides are deliberate, slow and smooth, more like a glide than a step.
2. Move your feet – When you stop moving your feet, you lose momentum.  When you start moving your feet again, you have to work to gain back that momentum.  Focus on crossing over in the turns and keeping your feet moving.  Combine this with tip #1.  
3. Skate the Diamond –  hit the apex and outside the straights. Just as important, pick a smooth line between those points. 
   
   

   from RollerDerbyAthletics.com
4. Swing your arms to help gain momentum
5. Clean your wheels.  The less dirt and grime on your wheels, the more productive they are for you.  You’re less likely to slip and slide into the turns.  And, when you feel stable on your feet you feel more confident in your cross-overs.
6. BREATHE! In through the nose, out through the mouth.

Cross-training:  Most athletes will tell you, cross-training is an important component.  You can work and strengthen muscles you don’t normally use in your sport of choice, you can build up speed and endurance, strengthen your core and your quads; the benefits go on and on.  

1. Some of the league’s best players swear by stair sprints and running.   To start, try running at a moderate pace for 2 minutes, then sprint for 30 seconds.  Repeat for 15 minutes, then 20 minutes, and so on.
2. Take a class a couple times a week:  Yoga, High-intensity interval training, cardio.  It all helps to up your game and give you an edge.
3. Plyometrics or Jump training:  You can do this at home 5-10 minutes a day.  Burpees, Jump Squats, Skater Jumps the list goes on.  These exercises are designed to build strength and endurance by using explosive bursts of energy in short amounts of time.

Mental Tricks: Derby is 90% mental.  The can-do attitude will most likely give you the edge you’ve been looking for.  The 20-lap endurance test is daunting.  It pushes your mind and body to go when all you want to do is stop.  If you let it, endurance will show you exactly what you are made of and how much farther you can go than you actually thought.  To get out of your head and into the zone, try some of these tricks….

1. Get a rhythm going.  Count your strides or your breaths.  How many does it take to make 1 lap?  Keep that pace!  Don’t focus on sprinting, focus on pace.
2. Break those laps down into chunks.  Don’t count 20, count 5, then 5 more, and so on.
3. Hit open skates with a four minute song.  Challenge yourself to 20 laps before the song ends.
4. Find a solid skater and keep pace with her (or him).
5. Be the Little Engine that Could – i think i can, i think i can….
6. Be positive, expect only your best from yourself!  Don’t get angry or upset if the first time doesn’t pan out.  Derby is about progress.  Just keep going, keep moving and eventually you will get there!

The endurance test doesn’t have to be scary!  Set your goals, come prepared, and celebrate finishing 20 laps!