Track awareness! Let’s talk about it. If you’ve just started playing roller derby, you may find yourself in a daze on the track and unsure about your next move. This will fade with time, but also with practice. One of the best ways to practice is to watch roller derby, and not just watch it but watch it with a purpose. Pick something specific to focus on, whether it is watching one blocker to see how they react or looking for team strategies. I’ve picked two jams from the Dublin/Auld Reekie game at D2 Champs last year to help you get started.
I chose this game because 1) D2 games are often easier to follow 2) it’s a super exciting game and 3) I wanted to watch it anyway. Sue me.
We’re going to focus on Dublin, wearing blue in this game.
First up, jam 2. I’m going to give you some frames from this jam, and I would like you to seriously consider the questions I’m asking. Write down your predictions.
- This is going to happen. Looks familiar, doesn’t it? Look at this image and imagine that you are the blue blocker in the back. What will you do next? What about if you are the pivot? The skater with the gold helmet (hidden behind two black blockers, but just barely visible)?
- This is also going to happen. That back blocker is going to play some offense and take out the blue brace. You are the blue blocker with the gold helmet. What do you do next? What if you are the blue blocker with the pink pants?
- Without any context, can you tell what is happening in this frame? (Black 626 is the jammer)
- Oh no, the blue team is split apart and the jammer is at the front of the pack! You are the blocker with the gold helmet. What do you do?
Now that you know a few things about what’s going to happen, watch this jam. You may need to watch it more than once; feel free to pause and rewatch any sections that you don’t catch the first time through.
Now that you know what happened, revisit your initial thoughts. Did your predictions come true? In the last frame, I suspect that the gold helmeted blocker did not do what you expected. What did she do and why?
Further questions:
- What was unusual about the star pass in this jam?
- Dublin starts with a blocker formation that is familiar to us, a tripod and one dangling blocker. They also have a second formation. What is it?
Jam 3
- This is what the track looks like just before the whistle. What will blue 7 do? Where is the black jammer going to go?
- Oh no, we’re split up again! What will each of the blue blockers at the front do? How about the blue blocker at the back?
- Decision time! Both jammers are out, and the black jammer is ahead. Where does Dublin want to go?
Ok, watch some video!
Followup questions:
- Black pivot played offense at the start. What did Dublin do to counteract this?
- How did Dublin reform after being split apart at the beginning of the jam? What should they have done differently?
- Dublin tried to take the front after our last frame. What did the black team do in this situation? What could Dublin have done differently?
- Which jammer called off the jam and why? How points were scored?
This is here so I don’t lose the embedding format. Ignore it.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/YkPzAfGmy28?start=248&end=288
