Making walls that will make jammers cry

Alternative names: Making Jammers Cry/Chop Stop

Objective: Starting with the basics of a chop stop and building into insanely solid walls.

Typical length of drill: 15-20

Skill level required: intermediate

Description: CLICK LINK FOR VIDEO

Additional notes: 

XOXO
Krissy Krash
www.krissykrash.com

FAT: THE BATTLE OF GOOD VS EVIL

FAT: THE BATTLE OF GOOD VS EVIL

This entry is going to touch on the topic of fats (in the simplest of ways) and help you better understand and distinguish the differences between good and bad fats. So many people think that cutting out fats from their diets completely is the key to losing weight or an overall healthy lifestyle, when in truth, fats play a significant role in keeping your body happy and healthy, ESPECIALLY as an athlete! I'm going to keep it super simple, explaining what fats are awesome to include in your diets and what fats you should be avoiding. Fats should consume anywhere between 20-40% of your daily caloric intake depending on your goals, as athletes the 30-40% range is a good daily accomplishment to strive for.

GOOD FATS

The two types of fats that are a dynamic part of keeping your body healthy are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, these types of fats are good for your cholesterol, your heart and, your overall health.

SOURCES OF GOOD FATS

MONOUNSATURATED:

•  OLIVE OIL
• CANOLA OIL
• SUNFLOWER OIL
• PEANUT OIL
• SESAME OIL
• AVOCADOS
• NUTS
• PEANUT BUTTER

POLYUNSATURATED:

• SOYBEAN OIL
• CORN OIL
• SAFFLOWER OIL
• WALNUTS
• SUNFLOWER SEEDS
• PUMPKIN SEEDS
• SESAME SEEDS
• FLAXSEED
• FATTY FISH
• SOY MILK
• TOFU

BAD FATS

Saturated and Trans fats are fats that you want to try to avoid consuming. These fats increase the risk of diseases and elevate cholesterol levels.

SOURCES OF BAD FATS

SATURATED:

• HIGH FAT CUTS OF MEAT (BEEF, LAMB, PORK)
• CHICKEN WITH THE SKIN
• WHOLE FAT DAIRY PRODUCTS (MILK AND CREAM)
• BUTTER
• CHEESE
• ICE CREAM
• PALM AND COCONUT OIL
• LARD 

TRANS FAT:

• COMMERCIALLY BAKED PASTRIES
• PACKAGED SNACK FOODS
• STICK MARGARINE
• VEGETABLE SHORTENING
• FRIED FOODS
• CANDY BARS

IT'S PRETTY BASIC

The long and short on fat is that we all know we shouldn't eat junk!!! And if you didn't know what to eat and not to eat, it was just laid out for you above. To get into it a little bit further, here are a few simple steps you can take to make sure you're eating MORE GOOD FATS!! 

• COOK WITH OLIVE OIL - for stovetop cooking instead of butter or margarine, for baking try canola oil or vegetable oil.
• EAT MORE AVOCADOS - they make for a very satisfying snack, and are loaded with heart and brain-healthy fats.
• REACH FOR NUTS - also make for a great snack and are an awesome substitute for breaded chicken and fish.
• SNACK ON OLIVES - olives make a great low-calorie snack and are a great source of monounsaturated fats.
• DRESS YOUR OWN SALAD - create your own healthy salad dressing, using olive oil, flaxseed, or sesame oil. 

THE BEST FATS FOR ATHLETES

As athletes, we need certain fats to help our bodies operate and perform the way we desire. Good fats, as a matter of fact, help manage your attitude, stay on top of your mental game, fight fatigue, ease arthritis, joint pain, inflammatory skin conditions, and even control your weight. The one good fat that we haven't touched on yet are OMEGA-3s. OMEGA-3s are a type of polyunsaturated fat. While all the fats discussed are good for your health, OMEGA-3s have been proven to be especially beneficial. The biggest benefit of OMEGA-3s for athletes is joint support, and battling fatigue. Both essential aspects of being an athlete. 

The most unfortunate thing about OMEGA-3s is that our bodies don't produce them, you can only obtain them by eating them. The best sources are fatty fish, such as salmon, herring, tuna etc.

Another great source of OMEGA-3s are fish oil supplements. There are many ways to tell if a fish oil supplement is good, but the best way to tell is by the fact that it won't freeze. As an athlete myself I take a fish oil supplement every day and consume 6-12oz a week of some kind of fatty fish. For more information on the OMEGA-3s I use, visit this link and take a look 

Chumbawamba

This drill is a reader submission from G-Wrex of East Vic Roller Derby
 
Alternative names: --

Objective: Controlled single knee taps, maintaining momentum; endurance

Typical length of drill: 3 1/2 minutes

Materials needed: A copy of the song "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba and amplification of some sort.

Skill level required: Safe falling skills - non-contact

Description: Skaters skate around the track in derby direction. "Tubthumping" is played and every time "down" appears in the lyrics, skaters must do a single knee tap, then get up again... 'cause they're never gonna keep you down. Skaters continue for the entire song, without using their hands to help them get up and without coming to a stop if possible.

Additional notes: If you'd like you can add extra lyrics-based instructions, e.g. a transition for every "pissing the night away" or a C-curve every time "he takes a ______ drink"

Musical Stops

Alternative names: --

Objective: Stopping on command in small spaces; pacing

Typical length of drill: 10 mins

Materials needed: Varies -- I use a track that is permanently laid down and create "boxes" between 10 ft -markers, but you can also choose to create boxes elsewhere in your space, and depending on your skaters' skill level they can be either large or small boxes.  At the very least you will need either chalk, masking tape, or cones to mark out the boxes that you will want your skaters to stop in.

Skill level required: Safe stopping and falling skills

Description: For the original version of Musical Stops you will need a laid out track with the 10 ft -markers included.  Use chalk, cones, or masking tape to mark out the boxes.  What I'm referring to here are small areas in which your skaters will be required to stop.  For my freshmeat, I mark out five 10 ft -boxes as in the illustration to the right.

Now comes the fun part: While you play music, the skaters skate around the track in a counter-clockwise direction.  Each time you abruptly stop the music, the skaters come to a complete stop within one of the boxes on the track.  The last person to come to a stop within each of the five boxes is out of the game (this is on the honor system, people).  If a skater is all by herself in a box, s/he can remain in the game.  The game is over when you decide--I usually end it when it's clear that the five people left on the track have set a pace that allows each of them to get to a box by themselves when the music ends, but, what you can do alternatively is reduce the number of boxes once you get down to the same number of skaters as there are boxes, and from here go with the traditional musical chairs -route: The last person standing wins.  Depending on the skill level of your skaters this can be a fun way to end it.

If you have really skilled skaters, this game can be adapted and made more challenging:

• Mark out the boxes in different parts of the space
• Don't dictate what direction skaters can skate in
• Reduce the size of the boxes
• Increase the number of boxes while limiting the number of skaters allowed per box like traditional musical chairs
• ALL of the above as in the illustration to the right

Additional notes: This is a really fun drill that I came up with while training the freshmeat in Boston.  I really like to always end every practice with a game that uses the skills we've practiced over the course of the three hours, because games (and especially competitive ones) gets the skaters to think about the object of the GAME and not about their feet.  This one is good for pacing and stopping in short distances.

The Director and Her Extras

Alternative names: --

Objective: To practice being a leader and a follower on the track, to practice physical and verbal communication, to improve team-blocking skills

Typical length of drill: 15-20 mins

Materials needed: A full taped-down track

Skill level required: Skaters must be cleared for contact

Description: Create three lines of skaters at turn four. The first line will be for the Director, the second line for the Extra, and the third line for the Enemy. Skaters should make sure to rotate through the lines during this drill so that they get to work on being BOTH the Director and the Extra.  On the whistle the first skater in each line will skate out (you can also choose to have the Enemy come in one second later than the Director and the Extra).  The Enemy's job is to play stupid and permit the Director and the Extra to do their job over the course of one lap.  In this drill the Director will use the Extra to positionally and physically block the Enemy. S/he will be pulling, pushing, grabbing, and directing the Extra.  The Extra's job is to be a rag doll, to let herself/himself be moved around.  For her/him this is an exercise in being flexible on the track.  I mean, how many times have you tried pushing a teammate into the opposing jammer and found that your teammate is so committed to her current position that she is an immovable piece?  This will teach the Extra how to be steady on her skates while still being jelly-like enough for her teammates to use her/him and move her/him around.  The Director should use the time wisely, be active the entire time, and not just save up for one good hit.  S/he should be constantly hitting or positionally blocking the Enemy.  The drill ends once the group of three skaters have completed one lap.  As you progress through this drill and get better and better at it, allow the jammers to use more and more force and brains to get out of the situation.  This drill should challenge the Director and the Extra, but not be so impossible that they aren't getting any practice out of it.

Additional notes: This is a drill that we ran quite a few times with Team Finland back in 2011 to improve our communication and team work.  We worked on this drill in conjunction with the Two-Point Touch drill, a similar drill that can also improve communication and team-blocking skills.

A lot of people wonder about multi-player block penalty possibilities when they hear about this drill and the Two-Point Touch.  I would like to address that by saying that Practice Makes Perfect.  You can avoid MPB penalties by practicing this over and over and over again.  Your body will learn how to use your hands without incurring MPB penalties.  It's the same with most other drills -- there will always be a chance for penalties, and some drills / moves / strategies are more prone to one kind of penalty over another, but the more your practice, the more you can work on executing your plans within the boundaries of the rules.