Skating on Outdoor Wheels (Inside)

At last Monday's practice, I realized I left my indoor wheels at home.  I had my outdoor wheels on because I was skating outside for Troy Night Out. 

From my basic understanding, outdoor wheels are typically made from a softer material which makes rolling over rougher surfaces smoother.  They also have more traction so you slide around less.  Lastly, the outdoors wheels I am using have seen better days - they're just pretty worn down in general.

As I was warming up at practice, it felt like I was skating on marshmallows.  I was slow and generally had to work harder to propel myself around the track.  Of course, this was a night where coaching started out with the 25-in-5 drill.  Nooooooooo!  But, for science, I skated my heart out during that drill and just squeaked out 25 laps.  Normally, I can skate 28-30 -- who thought it could make such a difference!

So...good workout on Monday.  I will not be forgetting my indoor wheels again!

25 in 5 - aka, roller derby physics

Besides roller derby, physics is one of my other casual hobbies. Today I ask the question:

How fast do you need to skate in order to complete 25 laps in five minutes?

The circumference of a WFTDA regulation track is:

148.5 feet on the inside

236.5 feet on the outside.

For my calculations, I took the average of these numbers: 192.5 feet.

The number of feet in a mile is 5,280. The number of laps in one mile is (5,280 ft /192.5 ft) = 27.4 laps.

25 laps is equal to 0.91 miles (25 laps /27.4 laps).

Therefore, the skater must travel 0.91 miles in 5 minutes.

We all know that velocity is distance divided by time.

5 minutes is equal to 0.083 hours (5 minutes / 60 minutes).

Therefore, a skater must travel 0.91 miles in 0.083 hours.

0.91 miles / 0.083 hours = 10.9 miles per hour.

∴ In order to skate 25 laps in 5 minutes, a skater must travel at an average velocity of 10.9 miles per hour.

Many girls on the team can skate over 25 laps. My personal record is 31. Looking at our team's time trial data, it looks like the maximum number anyone has done (recently) is 34. MPH equivalents for other laps below:

# of laps -- MPH

25 ---------- 10.9
26 ---------- 11.4

27 ---------- 11.8
28 ---------- 12.3
29 ---------- 12.7
30 ---------- 13.1
31 ---------- 13.6
34 ---------- 14.9

**Please note these are just quick and dirty calculations. If any other super nerds want to add to or continue this conversation, leave a comment!

Fresh Meat Training

Over the past six months, the Hellions have really begun to hash out a solid new skater training program. While the veterans practice on the track, all the new skaters are gathered together on the side to work on minimum skills requirements. They work as a group with a coach or other veteran who teaches them the basics of falling down safely, stopping (without crashing into a wall, haha), and basic hits. They also work on other basic derby skills such as balance, giving and taking whips, avoiding obstables on the track (imagine skating and someone falls down in front of you. What do you do? Skate around or jump over them of course! Either way, you have to act quickly!)

Last week we held skills testing for the majority of our freshmeat. The test is pass/fail and based on the WFTDA Minimum Skate Requirements.

Obviously, everyone's favorite part of the test is "25 in Five":

1.4 Speed and Endurance

1.4.1 Skates 25 Laps around regulation track within five minutes

(based on WFTDA regulation track)

What's that you say? Not everyone loves that drill? Ok, just me I guess! It's not easy (at first), but you gotta do it. And then when you pass skills testing and get to skate with the vets, you get to do it all the time. Awesome!

On Monday night Coach Beefcake announced the six girls who passed Minimums. Of course we got them right into the pack with us doing drills. They did great! A couple have some super speed and all of them can take a hit. We are proud of you Hellions! Can't wait to watch you grow into even stronger skaters and players!

Does this sound like something you want to do? Send an email to hellionsrecruitment |at| gmail |dot| com and tell us you're ready for whatever we dish out. Or tell us you're scared as heck but would love to give it a try. It's all good!