Learning from Losing

Photo by Patrick Bloom.

I don’t think I can say this enough: I hate losing.

I am trying to teach myself to find success in small victories. August 25th we played the Mid Iowa Rollers, which has been an emotional match up for me in the past, and I didn’t cry, I didn’t give up, and I didn’t get mad. There were moments that my brain started to drift, but I recognized those destructive feelings and chose not to react to them. Yes, it sucked that were down by up to 100 points, it sucked that we were heavy on penalties, and it sucked that we had a hard time in the first half, but there is no value in should/would/could of statements. 

We did have some pretty great defense of our own, holding their jammers for long periods of time, and stopping the point hemorrhaging. Towards the end I had a 20 point jam, with their jammer on the track, due to the wonderful blocking of my teammates. It helped the crowd get excited and kept us pumped. It wasn’t enough to win the bout, but we did cut their lead in half. That felt good.

I have been playing roller derby for nearly four years and every week I am learning something new about myself or the game. When we first started, we played a wide range of competitors, trying to find our feet and our skill level. We were pretty decent as a newer team, so there were a few blowouts in our favor that we marked down as wins and made us feel good. It's easy to get 20 point jams in lopsided competition, and it's easier to play controlled defense against fresh jammers. Of course, playing against any team is going to give us some feedback of how we play together, and let us try new things, but it's not going to push us as hard to improve and find our weaknesses. 

The first time we played a version of the Minnesota Rollergirl All-Stars, and I reference this bout often, I instantly got frustrated and upset. It was HARD and my instinct was to hide. Looking back I realize I just had not gone up against that caliber of blocking yet and I hadn't developed my mental game well enough to deal with it. I despised losing, and anytime we struggled I would instantly go into panic mode, which would affect my jamming, which would piss me off, which would send me spiraling into a sloppy mess. 

In the star, lots of eyes are on you. Especially when you fall. It sucks and is embarrassing, but all you can do is get back up.  Photo by KORfan.

 About 90% of the time we are on skates, we are practicing or scrimmaging against ourselves. The other small percent of the time we are competing and testing ourselves against others. This is the best kind of feedback, and reflecting on a losing bout in a bad way is never going to help me improve. Instead I am thinking of situations that were hard, and trying to figure out what I can do different next time. I’m picturing the moments that our pack didn’t stop the jammer, and looking for ways to work together better. I have to admit that I did learn a lot from playing the Mid Iowa Rollers, and they exceeded my expectations. Part of me is mad and frustrated that this time they were better, but I am choosing to let that go and figure out how we can win next time.

A few weeks ago I realized with all my preaching about the mental game, I wasn’t taking my own advice. I know I fail at listening to my own words a lot, but I really thought I was on the ball with this one. Yes, I had gotten better about not getting upset, but I hadn’t purged myself of ALL negative thoughts. I pride myself on not talking back to the refs or challenging penalties, but I didn’t realize my knee-jerk reaction to make snide comments when I returned to the bench. I didn’t feel bad about them because they were never directed to anyone, just said aloud. “Well THAT was a directional block…” It's not good for anyone to hear garbage on the bench, but it's even more important not to hear it come out of the mouth of their Alternate Captain.

I had a moment this last bout that I was about to say something negative as I sat down and I quickly covered my mouth. Tyna looked at me concerned and asked if I was going to puke, but I explained that I was just holding back word vomit. I recognized my negative thought, let it go, and quickly forgot about it. Just that moment of recognition, and changing my behavior before it happened, made me a much better skater. I didn’t hide behind the bench, despite not scoring a single point in the first half, and ended up the highest scorer on our team for the night with 39 points in the second half. That felt good.

I am nothing without my blockers. Photo by KORfan.

Letting go of those bad moments, clinging to the good ones, and maintaining a bit of hope can do a lot to turn your game around. Usually when I look at the scoreboard it's a matter of, "can we still win this??" I had to keep pausing and telling myself to stop caring. It's not a carelessness like giving up, but more of a re-focusing of energy. Instead of worrying about how the jammer just went to the box and what was on the scoreboard, I would look at what I could do next. I tried to take in each jam as they came, letting them go once they were over, and moving on to the next. I felt that I succeeded in this mental strategy and can work on it more as we go into another hard bout.

Human beings are highly emotional creatures, but we also come with the ability to choose. I think in this technological age, we’re all getting used to instant gratification, but we have to remember that most change comes from self-discipline, patience, and hard work. I’m not going to become a better jammer by willing it, and I’m definitely not going to improve by saturating my brain with negative thoughts. It’s my life, I have to choose to work towards the way I want to live it. 

"Fear, anger, and sorrow are all parts of life. You can't make them go away by wishing it. Emotions pass like clouds in the sky. Meanwhile, you always have the power to choose how you will respond. You may feel afraid, but you don't have to behave fearfully. Emotions are not destiny." Dan Millman Body Mind Mastery: Training for Sport and Life

Win or Lose, it's How You Survive the Game

Wow, I really haven't written since before our very first bout of the season? It's been so long, even blogger has changed its layout on me.

The past six months have been a bit hectic. Last December I started a new part-time job working as a production assistant for the local news station. It's been really fun, and more in line with my interests for a career. However, it came with a catch: a 4am to 9am shift. I could have worked the evening shift, but since the roller derby monster ate my life, I must work around our practice schedule. It's also in Cedar Rapids which means dishing out more money on gas and having some expensive car problems. You win some, you lose some.

The last post was the eve-eve of our first WFTDA bout, which was of course also against the #2 team in our region (and arguably #1 now). We lost of course, but I found a small victory in keeping my head in the game and doing the best I could. Then MNRG sent their Rockits down here and somehow I lost my head again. Loss number two for the season. After almost a month of me trying to up the mental training for everyone, and tightening our teamwork, we had a successful bout in Sioux City, winning 175 to 111. Like the first time we played them, we were down at the half and came back for the W.

EAT THE BABY!
Photo by Jim Lee

 A couple weeks later we had a busy weekend in Chicago, with our Beta B team winning over the Shade Brigade and suffering our third All-Star loss to the Syndicate. In the beginning of May we traveled up to play Killamazoo and after a steller first half, we gained our fourth loss due to a penalty craze in the second half. (Although we won the shit out of the after party.) The end of May I got to stand at the sidelines as I watched our fresh meat become bouting skaters against the Push-Up Brawlers.

Now we're in the home stretch of spring bouting. The first weekend of June, we played the Des Moines Derby Dames and pulled out a last minute win there. Then this past weekend we tested ourselves by traveling ten hours, playing two bouts, and one of those teams was a top ten regional team. Overall, I feel like it was a successful weekend. Saturday we played the Ohio Rollergirls in a tough but exciting conclusion to their triple-header evening. Despite losing, I really feel like we stepped up our defense and performed amazingly. I started out the bout on shakey jammer legs, and after throwing a small fit, Tyna started blocking me more. I do love jamming, but blocking is so much fun. The following morning we played a closed bout against Demolition City, who lost similarly to Ohio the night before. It started out pretty close and the action stayed heated the whole time. Their blockers hit comparable to Ohio, and had some awesome teamwork. We just focused on shutting down their jammers and ended up with one victory to bring home. You win some, you lose some.

We got new unifroms and I chopped off most my hair.
Photo by Patrick Bloom

I hate losing.

Right now I feel like the point differential for my life is negative and I'm being lapped. I decided it was a good idea to live on my own this fall, but money is tight and it's going to be hard. Growing up is getting more and more difficult and I have to start making adult decisions. Currently I have many different variables pulling at my sanity and I'm not sure which ones should give. There are times, and I'm sure plenty of people outside of derbyland think that I should, but I have thought about quitting derby. At this point I can't fully justify dropping it, and I'm definitely not done with it yet. I've learned so much from this sport, and one major theme has been to never give up. I've been doing a lot of whining and pouting, when I should be looking for more solutions to my problems.

A specific derby moment ingrained in my memory is when we played our toughest bout against a version of the Minnesota All-Stars a little over a year ago. I had never before been shut down that hard during a jam, and I have referenced it painfully many times since. Vuedoo and the other girls in light blue were wiping the floor with my face and there wasn't a single thing I could do but get up and keep trying. I started to lose it mid-jam and after getting knocked down for the millionth time, I just wanted to skate of the track and cry. I no-doubtedly crumpled behind the bench and cried afterwards, but at the time there was nothing I could do but keep skating. I specifically remember that moment of panic, exhaustion, humiliation and total frustration that took over. I mentally gave up but physically kept skating, and I feel like I have been half-assedly living my life the same way. If I stopped filling my mind with negative garbage and spent more energy taking charge of my life, instead of throwing pity-parties, maybe I wouldn't constantly feel like I am drowning.

I know I write a version of this post every few months when I'm starting to majorly freak out about something. I've been feeling a small twange of optimism lately, and I am hoping I can hold on to that and swim my way out of this rip-tide.

The Nights Before Boutday...

Two sleeps before bouting, and all through derbyhaus,
rank smelling gear could kill a small mouse.

The WFTDA patches were sewn on the jerseys with care,
with hopes that the rankings would give them their share.

Cats laid on boutfits, strewn all over my bed,
while visions of lead jams played out in my head.

From Animal's room you could hear a tap-tap
as she pretended to sleep while playing the words with friends app.

When out in the kitchen there arose such a clatter
I stumbled over my gear bag to see what was the matter.

Into a dark corner Henry ran with a flash,
and James flopped around, belly up, unabashed.

Spotting the table where clean bearings lay
made my stomach flop, remembering bout day.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear
but a tiny unicorn with a gender unclear.

With a missing horn and a cape full of sparkles,
I knew at once that it must be 'parkles.

My nerves Herm noticed but gave me no blame,
but reminded me of my team, and called them by name.

There's BatR, and Baker, and Sugar and Jen.
Goldie, and Fi, Jane Bang, and then...

Pains, Animal, Trip, Glad, Lucy and Red,
they are all there for you- get out of your head!

On the line, with strong walls, at the front of the pack,
there are plenty of blockers, who've all got your back.

Around the track you will speed, over the apex you'll fly,
When you meet with an obstacle, you'll never say die....

(to be continued)

Behold! 2012

If the world is really going to end this year, I predict I would die happy after a great year of derby. 2012 is making out to be a fantastic season and I can't wait to really get things started. We are just rounding out an exciting schedule and to make it even better, we found out Tuesday that we FINALLY graduated to the WFTDA big leagues. It was quite the surprise since it was mid-quarter and we weren't expecting any announcements until March.

That day it was also in the high 50s, in January... in Iowa, so I decided to celebrate with an outdoor skate. It kind of made for the perfect day. It made me wish I lived somewhere  that had no winter so I could potentially skate outside any time I wanted to.

Deadwards approves.

We returned to skating practice on the 4th and are just starting to get back into the swing of things. Taking a month off from skating practice didn't turn out as bad as I thought, and I'm sure we have our strength training at Fit2Live to thank for that. Without skating, all I had was planning to throw myself into; for fresh meat practices, PR stuff and anything else I decide to stick my nose in. I started getting overwhelmed and think I forgot about the fun side of derby. Skating again reminded me that this should be about the camaraderie, fun and skating. I'm going to try to make an effort this year to balance it all a little better so I don't get burnt out.

I feel like doing pack drills at practice gives me an indication of where we are all at as a team. Wednesday we did 40 laps as a pack, non-derby direction and it felt good. We all felt very cohesive and strong, not at all what I expected after a break and going clockwise. That's a good feeling since our first bout this year is a mere THREE WEEKS from today, against the Minnesota ALL-STARS. Oh god. I think I'm having panic attack deja-vu. This time it's not a vague version of their All-Star team-- it is them straight up. We're also hitting the road and are going to be playing on their awesome track at the Roy. I'm excited about the venue, but nervous about the giant crowd it holds.

Last year I seemed so mentally and mostly physically prepared for that bout, but somehow lost it all when things got tough. I'm going to try and work on my mental game prior, so I can hold myself together and give them everything I got. I've got to start getting used to tough competition since our schedule is stacked with WFTDA teams. It is going to be a very trying season, but with our league in its 4th season, and having brought in some awesome talent from recruitment, I am ecstatic at the possibilities 2012 holds.

Here's a little blast from the past that gets me emotional every time I watch it. It is a sort of video blog I recorded when we drove up to Madison last spring to play the Unholy Rollers. It is an example of how my team continues to amaze me and I want to tap into that power this season as we start taking on some harder teams.


See you on the track.

-L4D

No Excuses: Dynamic Warm Ups

I totally made this up, as seen by my
MSpaint illustration.

Now that you have mentally prepared yourself for roller derby, it’s time to strap skates on, right? Not quite. To tap into the full potential of your body when you work out, you should keep a cyclical process in mind: Rev, Run, Recover.

Rev Your Engines

Before exercise, it is best to warm up to help prevent injury and to prime the body for a more efficient workout. It’s a small amount of extra time away from practice, but well worth it in the long run.

Warming up should work your body gradually into peak performance. Start with a 5-10 minute jog at about 40% working up to 60% to get your heart rate up. This warms your muscles- which prevents injury, warms your blood temperature- which gets more oxygen in your blood for endurance, and dilates your blood vessels which makes exercise easier on your heart. It will also prepare you mentally for exercise, and a warm body will use stored muscle fuel more effectively.

Next would be when most people start bending and pulling on muscles, but recent research shows that static stretching before exercise could actually do more harm than good. Dynamic stretching is a practice that is becoming more popular and has even been mentioned in a series on All Derby Drills and an article in Blood & Thunder Magazine. The more I read about it the more this new warm up makes sense.

Studies have shown that static stretching before performance can smother your explosive power and reduce your strength and speed for up to 30 minutes after. That's half a bout!
Cathy Kovach Photography

Static: a. Having no motion; being at rest; quiescent.

           b. Fixed; stationary.

Why would you want to stop moving and bring your heart back to a normal rate before you proceed to exercising? Often a stretch circle turns into social time or daydreaming as you hold positions. This distracts your brain from thinking about the impending workout and you cancel out all the effort you put into warming your body. A static stretch pulls the muscle to its limit and is only really increasing your tolerance for the discomfort and can lead to over-stretching. Studies have also shown that this could tighten your muscles before exercise instead of relaxing them. The part that concerns me the most is that static stretching also zaps your quick twitch muscle, the kind that gives you explosive power.

With dynamic stretching, such as walking lunges, the muscle is performing actively in a way that it may be used in your exercise. It’s being stretched and warmed in a more controlled manner, which increases range of motion and power. Stretching with movement also keeps your body running warm and tells your brain that you’re preparing to work. You want to try to warm up the muscles specific to your sport, so understanding which movement works which muscle is good to know. A quick search for ‘dynamic stretches’ pulls up a handful of resources, so I won’t go into the various ones here. Most of the exercises work better off-skates, but some can be adapted to wheel shoes as well. I would recommend doing your warm up before you hit the track, although making that transition to the rest of your practice while still warm is important, so gear up quickly.

Tons of resources on YouTube. This one is pretty thorough and doesn't have an annoying 

hard rock song attached to it. 

Run Your Workout

The second part of the cycle is obviously your practice, workout, bout, etc. You are most likely working hard and breaking a sweat, so make sure you give your body a few small breaks and re-hydrate. Staying well hydrated all day is important because at practice you’ll only be making up what’s lost. When exerting yourself for longer than an hour, you may want to reach for a Gatorade or something else with calories and electrolytes to replenish the carbs and minerals burned. Red Bull may give you wings, and energy drinks are proven performance enhancers, but caffeine will also dehydrate you. They are best to consume in moderation or along with some water.

Taking care of your body is the moral of the story throughout this cycle and it doesn’t stop while you’re pushing yourself on the track either. We are obviously playing a contact sport but you should do everything in your power to prevent injury. Some no brainers like wearing proper attire, gear and footwear (in this case skates that FIT) are vital to the longevity of your body. In my opinion, most injuries are caused over time, like repetitive falling on crappy knee pads, foot problems or blisters from ill-fitting skates, etc. This sport comes with a high price tag, but investing in top notch gear, and replacing it regularly, will give you a loving, long-lasting relationship with roller derby.

Running yourself ragged at practice will do you no good either. Arriving at practice on an empty stomach or dehydrated is a quick way to hurt yourself. You risk becoming physically ill or light-headed which means you are not practicing at your peak performance. It could also lead sloppy skating or passing out which may injure you or others. Derby hurts, but experiencing real pain is a smoke signal from your body telling you something is wrong. If it’s a severe or reoccurring pain, get it checked out! Wear any suggested gear or braces and do your PT if coming back from injury. Pushing yourself at practice breaks barriers, pushing yourself past the tipping point breaks bones- listen to your body!

A little glimpse into my team's practice. We began working out at an awesome local gym, Fit2Live, and Ryan talks a little bit about dynamic stretching vs static stretching.

Rest and Recovery

Just like you slowly prepped your body to work hard, you should bring it back down to a resting state. Doing some slow, relaxed laps at the end of practice (preferably both derby and non-derby direction) at a conversational pace is a good way to get a bit of social time in while your heart returns to a resting rate. This gradual decrease in activity helps get rid of lactic acid in your muscles which could prevent soreness. 

Now is the time for static stretching to have its place. The studies I’ve read haven’t banned it all together, but suggest it be saved for your cool down or outside of practice. Animal Mother is a yogi who has ran us through a routine after practice that feels great after a hard workout. She often attends yoga outside of practice to help get rid of aches and pains or uses it as mental centering. Not only is this a time for your body to rest but for your mind to reflect. Incorporate some of your mental training as you end practice and think about your performance.

The hour after your workout is an important time to replenish your body of everything it lost while working hard. Chocolate milk is the best beverage to keep in the fridge for a post-workout boost. The calcium and protein are particularly good for female athletes and the carbs and sugar help tired muscles regain energy. It’s suggested that you eat a recovery snack rich in carbs and protein immediately and then eat a meal full of protein, fiber and whole grains within an hour or two. If you wait much longer, your body’s ability to fully refuel drops by half. Since derby practice can burn from 600-1200 calories, it’s important to eat a healthy recovery meal and continue drinking water.

A wide range of people stumble onto roller derby and not all are already athletes who maintain a healthy lifestyle. If you are a derby girl you must face the fact that you are now an athlete and you should do your body a favor by cutting out junk food and enriching it with non-saturated, healthy fats. I know the ravenous feeling post practice combined with an elated exhaustion often leads to popping a pizza in the oven or going to your favorite bar for fried things, but please reduce these indulgences to a moderate consumption. Stock your fridge with colorful fruits and veggies or prep some pasta for the week to make it easier to refuel when you’re exhausted.

Sure, derby girls love to party-all-the-time,
party-all-the-time but remember alcohol can have
lasting affects on your performance.

“Alcohol is the enemy of the athlete”.

Beer may be a liquid, but that does not mean it makes a very good recovery drink. It can hinder your recovery process and still affect your performance 48 hours later. I think most skaters are told not to drink the day before a bout or even the week of, but this great article by a derby girl may make you even think twice about indulging at after parties. (yeah, right.) Drinking, especially after bouts, can be a celebratory time and a reward for hard work, but keep in mind how detrimental it can be for the serious athlete. 

Keep your workouts well-rounded with the three Rs; rev, run, and recover, and not only will you train at peak performance, but you can help your body prevent injury. Everyone's bodies have different needs, so always consult a doctor and do your own research before you start any fitness routine. I am by no means an expert on any of the material covered here, but am merely reporting what I have learned from research and experience.

No Excuses: Introduction
No Excuses: Mental Training

No Excuses: No Train No Gain

New York Times article

MSNBC article

About.com article

Derbylife.com article

Random fitness & nutrition blog

Studies on static stretching

List of dynamic stretches

No Excuses: Mental Training

Roller derby is unique in that most people have to start from scratch when they join, having no knowledge of the sport or much skill at roller skating in general. It can be a daunting task for anyone to get involved with, but there is some training you can begin before you ever step foot at a practice. It’s a type of training that often goes overlooked and is very underestimated. It requires discipline, repetition and constant use. The part of your body that is arguably the most important to cultivate for roller derby is… your brain!

Phase 1 –Fresh Start, Clear Minds

For someone brand new to the sport, the best possible thing you can do for yourself is keep a positive attitude. It may sound silly and easy, but sometime it’s harder than you think. Roller derby is already a difficult sport, don't make it harder on yourself. I know I get frustrated easily when I can’t do something right, and the first few months are going to be full of that frustration. The worst possible thing you can do for yourself is to say “I can’t!" Be the little engine that could, but instead of “I think I can” say “I know I can.”

A mantra personal to yourself or the drill can make it even better. During a lap drill I was having a hard time and kept repeating “low and hard” to remind myself to keep a low stance and to dig hard in my crossovers. A phrase can focus your concentration to the task at hand and make your practice time more productive. Be sure to avoid negative phrases like “stop fucking up.”  Anytime you find that you are getting down on yourself, stop, reset and repeat your positive phrase over and over.

Another thing you can do at the beginning of your mental training is to set goals. The best way to make goals more effective is to not only set an outcome goal, but also process goals. If you’re going on a trip but don’t have directions, you’re never going to get there. Writing them down is the next way to actualize your goals.  Putting them on paper is like making a written contract with yourself that you are going to hold up your end of the deal. Make them attainable and specific. As with the positive thinking you should avoid all negative language. 

It should be more like: “I want to complete 25 laps in under five minutes by February 1^st.”

Great now how are you going to get there?

“I will exaggerate my derby stance throughout every drill at practice to improve my form.

I will skate extra laps during warm up and cool downs to work on my stride.

I will go to the rink on Saturdays to practice my laps and work on speed.  

I will run twice a week outside of practice to increase my endurance.”

Solid plan! But it doesn’t end there. Check up on yourself. Log when you go running and skating. Write your progress down and make sure you’re on track to your goal date. If the date is nearing and you’re still no where near completing 25 in five, this does not mean you failed. It simply means you may have set your goal too high and you just need to re-adjust your plan. Did you skimp on something? Is there something more you could do? This isn’t a loop hole to be lazy; your goals should still make you push yourself to work hard. 

These tools are applicable to the veteran skater too. There’s always more to learn in our evolving sport and new ways you can improve your skill. Stuck in a rut after years of skating? Maybe you’ve spent too much negative energy putting yourself down and you haven’t even realized it.

Phase 2 – Mental Training

So now you’re on a positive track heading towards improving yourself with goals. Awesome! To supplement your physical training to achieve that goal, you can also do some mental pushups. Your brain can be treated like a muscle, so with little use it could become weak. Concentrating your thoughts on how you want to improve will give you a clearer focus and a better commitment.

Warm up with a few laps through your memories. Pick out a few times when you succeeded or did well in roller derby, or other parts of your life. How did you look? What specifically did you do well? How was your stance and what were you thinking? Pick out a certain bout your performed well at, or a string of moments from a certain season. Make this your personal highlight reel to recall later.

 

Before every bout, I would watch this and other highlight reels of OCCRG to remind myself that I'm awesome.

If you have actual footage of yourself, that’s even better. Try to only repetitively watch the successful moments, not the times you may have tripped up. We of course learn from our mistakes, but only watch them a few times and move on- focus on what you did well and why.

Next, stretch out your ego a bit and think about what your strengths as a skater are. Are you fast? Strong? Smart? Focus on your positive attributes and create a personal statement. “I am an awesome booty blocker and can sit on a jammer all day.” Then take your goal and create a statement of what you want to achieve. “I will be faster and have more endurance than my competition.” Write these down and remember them for later.

There are some very specific mental workouts sports psychologists have created that I won’t go into great detail about here, but they have some pretty basic concepts. Pick a time every day to do your mental workout. It could be in the morning as you’re eating breakfast and getting ready. It could be at night as you get ready for bed- whatever time works best for you. Take a deep breath in with a slow exhale and start focusing on your personal statement. Now mentally go through your mental highlight reel of past successes. Imagine it first person and include every detail. Next, picture yourself executing the outcome of your goal: low stance, hard strides, even pace, finishing your laps in under five minutes. Take another deep breath and exhale slowly. That wasn’t so hard, was it?

On days you have practice it is beneficial to do it before and after. Focus on a positive self-image and what you want to accomplish beforehand. After, think about what you did well at practice and what needs more work next time. Physical practice won’t be very helpful if you’re just going through the motions. Get everything you can out of your training by focusing on your results afterwards.

It also helps to watch footage of skaters or athletes you want to be more like. Want to jam like Suzy Hotrod? Look up videos of her and other skaters so you can learn their style. Want to block like Amanda Jamitinya? Find all the video and photos you can to nail down her footwork and how she works with others. These are both things I’ve done personally and have had epiphanies about footwork and technique. In general, you benefit greatly from watching any and all footage of roller derby you can. Focus on certain positions, teams, pack situations, etc. Keep yourself up-to-date on strategy in this ever-changing sport.

Besides watching this for the amazing last few jams of the 2010 WFTDA Championship, I watched 3:05 over and over again. Amanda Jamitinya kept knocking Atomatrix out and stopping on the line and I wanted to perfect that. 

Phase 3 – Game time.

Alright, you have done all the mental and physical training you could, and now it's bout day. Both types of training must be done repetitively and consistently leading up to competition in order for your body to be fully prepared, but mental toughness is something you can carry with you onto track. A lot of people can get pre-bout jitters and freeze up when its time to perform. Dropping down and doing some push-ups isn’t going to do much for you now, it would just make you more tired. Instead you can do a few mental laps to freshen your mind and focus your attention on the game.

First, ban any and all negative thoughts from your brain. If you say “I can’t do this” when your on the jam line, then you have already beaten yourself before the opposing team could try. Replace the negativity with positive mental chatter. Repeat a phrase to yourself that applies to your current situation. As a jammer, you may think “low and fast” as you stand on the jam line. Pivoting, you may constantly be thinking “line and jammer” as you watch the opposing star and the line at all times. As a blocker, you may be thinking “buddy, jammer” as to stay with your buddy when the jammer approaches the pack. Don’t overwhelm yourself with who the competition is or what size the crowd is. Narrow your focus to the situation at hand, and work through the bout jam by jam.

Have a particularly bad jam? Sit on the bench and take a deep breath. Re-center your brain and quickly go through your mental highlight reel. Remember how awesome you are and what you are good at. Repeat your positive personal statement to yourself and then focus on what you will do next.

I’ve never really been one to get in my head at bouts, but it did happen to me this year against Minnesota. You can hear how negative I got in my write-up about it here, and you can see how deep a hole I dug myself. I kept telling myself I couldn’t do it and kept replaying that one awful jam over and over in my head, virtually paralyzing myself for the rest of the bout. I think our whole team started to get down on ourselves even though we had a relatively good first half. The second half we barely scored any points because we mentally gave up.

Mental toughness is not something you can get over-night. Like building muscle and endurance, you’ve got to work on it and create a routine. Self image creates your reality, so build a strong body by starting with a positive and focused mind. The stronger the bond is between your mind and body, the stronger athlete you will be. 

“Decide who you want to be and how you want to live- and then continuously tell yourself you have what it takes to be that person.” -Jason Selk 

No Excuses: Introduction
No Excuses: Dynamic Warm Ups
No Excuses: No Train No Gain

Books to read:

The Mental Edge by Kenneth Baum

10-Minute Toughness by Jason Selk

No Excuses

Me as a newb.

Foreward
When recruitment comes around, I always start thinking about what it takes to be a derby girl. Most outsiders think we're all former speed skaters, violent, super tough, or "big, scary dykes"... There is no one type of person that makes up roller derby; it is a very diverse crowd to get involved with. We are gay, straight, tough, sensitive, experienced and not; there's no prescribed personality for it. Most people I hear from don't quite know what to think about it, but almost always immediately say the couldn't possibly play. 

That's what made us different; we said we could.

The simple belief of yes I can, that first step into the local rink/gym/park, the courage to put on a pair of skates- that's what made us all different from everyone else. 

People who play roller derby range in age, aggression, body type and background. I would say that most people have no formal skating experience and quite a few have probably never played an organized sport. Most lead very busy lives- students, moms, doctors, multiple jobs. Most of us aren’t rich either, and this isn’t a cheap sport.

This sport prides itself on being grassroots and by the skaters. It has grown at an incredibly fast rate, and it has been all by our own hands. We do not get paid to train, we do not get paid to run our league as a successful business, but we do have to do it all in our free time. So before you say you “can’t,” look at all these strong men and women who have built this sport and try it for yourself. It is definitely not for everyone but you won’t know until you try- you might love it.

Believing you can is the first step. The next step is deciding to commit yourself to this amazing sport, to be open to new things and to push yourself to work harder than you ever have before.

This begins a series of posts that will highlight what it takes mentally and physically to play roller derby. I will give some insight for the new skaters, and new ways to push older skaters. I’m about to hit my 3 year anniversary playing roller derby and begin my second year coaching. I’m trying to learn as much as I can to push myself forward and pass along what I learn. Take it all with a grain of salt, and alter it to your own needs; I just hope I can help in some way.

No Excuses: Mental Training
No Excuses: Dynamic Warm Ups
No Excuses: No Train No Gain