What I Learned During Meat Week

Discussing the mechanics of jumping.

Last week we focused on the fresh meat and revisited some basic derby skills: falls, stopping, and endurance (including 25 in 5!).  These are things even veterans can use refreshers on every once in awhile.  Thursday night the new girls participated in their first ever multi-skill endurance drill. Basically 10 minutes alternating between sprinting and other derby skills such as one- and two-knee falls, turning around, and plow stopping.  Trust me, this drill can even be challenging for the vets (depending how tough coaching wants to make it) so I was happy to see that most of the meat worked through it, despite looking like they wanted to die. Good jobs, girls!

Look at that jumping meat!

Near the end of practice coaching suggested a jumping drill. I thought, eh... I'm kinda tired. I already know how to jump. I think I'll skip this one.  But then I saw some of the new girls really getting into it without any fear or reservation. Some of them were jumping pretty high.  So, in the spirit of meat week and learning new things, I participated in the drill and by the end found myself jumping higher than ever before -- attempting to touch my wheels to my butt!  I didn't get quite that high, but I definitely gained some height tonight.  I should also note that skaters are only required to be able to jump 3 inches off the ground.  Some of us were just getting fancy that night!

Meat week is for everyone, and there's always something to learn.