Week 6 - Paceline and Pack

by Striking Dervish
Skating in and around other skaters is a learned skill.  Before taking the track, we practice this in the form of paceline and pack drills.

Paceline Skills

Paceline Skating

As each person works on their tested paceline skills, all other skaters in the paceline will need to practice keeping a proper paceline moving.  Remember what we learned last week: 

1. Stay one arms length behind the person in front of you
2. Modify your stride/crossover slightly to keep your feet from kicking the person behind you
3. Stay in derby stance
4. Use t-stops / snowplows when necessary to slow down
5. Use quick feet to speed up when necessary
6. If you fall out of line, get back to the line quickly

Paceline Weaving

Weaving through the paceline starts with the rearmost person in the line.  The skater will approach one side of the next forward skater and cut in front of them, skate forwards on the opposite side of the next skater and cut in front of them.  Progress continues back and forth through the entire line.  Things to keep in mind while weaving:

• Remember your edges, and cut hard to cross the paceline quickly
• Keep knees soft to keep your balance
• Once you have passed the line, turn your feet back straight so as not to drift away from the line
• Once you have reached the front of the line, you will likely need to slow down (t-stop or snowplow) slightly to match the line’s pace again

While in the paceline, do not slow down to let someone by.  It is the weaving skater’s responsibility to cut through the space, and slowing down with mess up the pace of the rest of the line.

Paceline Hip Assists

In a similar weaving pattern as the above drill, we practice our hip assists in the paceline.  This is the same skill we practiced last week with a partner:

1. Approach directly behind
2. Grab at the hips
3. Pull inwards and then to the side

Remember: you are taking the other skater’s momentum from him/her, so he/she should slow down from your performing this skill.  Avoid pulling downwards (and thus pulling the skater down).  
For skaters in the paceline: be ready in a good derby stance.  The hip assisting skater should be slowing you down, so once they pass, pick up your feet to quickstep back to the original pace quickly.

Paceline Hopping

Again, in the same weaving pattern, we hop through the space between skaters in the paceline.  Remember the elements of hopping that we learned in Week 3:

• By hopping, we mean leaving one foot and landing on the other.  
• In order for it to be considered hopping and not stepping, there should be air space under both feet at one moment of time.  
• Be sure to take off of a bent knee and land on a bent knee.

Once the hop is complete, you may set down both feet to reset yourself before the next hop.  

Pack Skills

Leaning

Roller derby skaters engage other skaters on the track all of the time.  To increase our ability to skate around other skaters and begin making contact, we practice “leaning” while skating with a partner:

1. Hold the arm closest to your partner across the front of your body, exposing the side of your body.
2. Center your balance over the leg closest to your partner.
3. Make contact with your partner all of the way from the shoulder to the hip
4. Paddle the foot furthest from your partner to keep momentum going.

Remember that both skaters must be in derby stance!

Shoulder Block

This is the first tested block that we learn.  To administer the block:

1. Skate side by side with the target, no more than one step away.
2. Shift your weight from A-frame to centered over the leg closest to the target.
3. Move your ribcage towards the target (as opposed to “tipping over”)
4. Make contact with the target’s shoulder with your shoulder

Generally speaking, this is the most ineffective block on the track.  You will affect another skater more using your hips or the side of your body.  We will get into more blocks next week.

Wheel Bumping

Purposefully bumping wheels on the track is not legal, but it can happen.  To test a skaters stability, we test reaction to wheel bumping.  With a partner, gently “kick” the other’s wheels.  Remember that you must be in derby stance for the greatest stability.  You may also need to think about engaging your core.  

Booty Blocking

Booty blocking is also known as positional blocking.  The person booty blocking is in front of the person being blocked and attempts to keep them behind by moving side to side.  Some tips for success:

• Keep watch over one shoulder.  If the partner goes out of sight, you will still know that your partner has moved towards the other shoulder.  Flipping your head back and forth is a quick way to get faked.
• Stay low, but do not bend over (keep your chest up).
• Feet should be a bit wider than shoulder width, but not too wide that you lose agility with your feet.
• Use snow plow motions to keep the pace slow.  If you are able to make contact with your partner, this is ideal.  Contact means you not only know visually where they are, but you can feel where they might be going.
• The quickest way to close off space is by leading with the booty.  

Skating as a Pack

Skating in a pack is a bit different than regular skating.  You will need to modify your stride and crossovers to minimize foot motion so as not to trip those around you.  Often you will be utilizing watermelons, leaving all eight wheels on the floor.  You should be able to touch at least two people at any given time.  The pack will often speed up and slow down, and just as in the paceline practice, you should be utilizing derby stops and quick feet to match the pace changes.  It is extremely important to remain in derby stance in order to deal with any falling skaters.  

Unexpected Obstacles

Roller derby skaters find unexpected obstacles (fallen skaters) on the track all of the time.  The most advantageous reaction is to avoid the obstacle and continue skating.  Methods of avoidance include: cutting, jumping, hopping, quick stepping, transitioning, etc.  We practice and test a skater’s ability to deal with unexpected obstacles by skating in a pack and having skaters from the front of the pack fall small.  The skater should avoid the obstacle and return to the pack as quickly as possible.  Remember to stay in derby stance to ensure stability.

Conclusion

It’s very important to learn how to safely skate around other skaters prior to really getting into the best part of roller derby next week: BLOCKING!