How to get the most out of practices regardless of skill level

Below are some thoughts about how skaters can get the most out of practices.

1) Work your ass off at every drill you do

When I did karate and was testing for my black belt, we had an endurance test.  Thirty minutes of this endurance test was dedicated to doing the first kata we ever learned (so by the time I was testing I'd known this 22 step form for over 6 years).  You were supposed to be out of breath at the end of each time you did the kata because you did it as perfectly as you could (as hard as you could, as fast as you could, with the best stances you could, as purposively as you could, etc).  We often do drills that may seem easy to people who have been skating for awhile (whip and plows, tomahawk stops, pacelines, etc).  The onus is on you to work as hard as you can during this drill, work on your form (your quads should hate you at the end of a paceline), work on getting the most out of each stride, work on the quickest transition possible, work on performing these skills at speed etc.  

 Doing 1 on 1 blocking for even a minute should be exhausting for both people involved.  If you're partnered with someone who has less skill than you so you find blocking them "easier", work on blocking skills that you're not as good at, or work on coming close to losing that person (let them get into a good position to get by you) and then regaining control of the situation.

2) Add the stuff that you need to work on into drills that allow for it.  

Often drills are very specific about what the jammer or blockers should do initially or if we're working a new skill about the intensity with which it should be done, don't mess around with this initial set-up.  Feel  free as a jammer to work on taking the outside line as it's more challenging, or turning around a person hitting you, etc.  Find a way to work on the skills that you need to work on to up your game in drills where there is this free rein.  This can include teamwork skills.  Learn how to mama hen other skaters, work on sit and hits or O-ing.

3) Be mindful of the fact that you're at practice and there's a limited amount of time available for practicing

This encompasses many things.  One, be ready to go on time.  Two, don't take long breaks to get your skates on or drink water during practice.  Three, when you're standing in a line waiting your turn, get on the track and ready to go at the earliest opportunity so that there's less wait time and a trainer doesn't have to stand at the front of the line reminding everyone to get on the track.  Also, being mindful of the fact that each moment at practice is a moment of practice makes it easier to follow the previous two suggestions.  Ask yourself, am I getting the most that I personally can out of this drill right now?  

We're all adults and trainers are using practice time to practice themselves (and paying for the time to practice also).  This means that some of the onus is on each of us to try and become the best skater/derby player we can be.  Also, because there is such a wide variety of skill at each practice, training has to work with drills that are accessible to the majority.  This can mean that more advanced skaters may not always feel challenged with the drill as it's been explained but much like an 80's aerobic video, there are "higher impact" ways to do most drills and ways to challenge yourself.  Hopefully, the tips above will help all of us to get the most we can out of practices!

Watching Video to Increase your Track and Pack Awareness

Here is a way I think you can work on track and pack awareness in your off skates time (and watch derby).

First of all, any watching of derby is good!  If you want to focus on increasing track awareness, I think this might help even more though:

Watch a derby game (I suggest the WFTDA.tv archives).  When you see something jammer related happen (jammer gets out of the pack, jammer approaches the back of the pack, jammer gets hit out, jammer goes the penalty box, etc), pause the game, look at where the teams are and try and guess what they are going to do next, then press play and see what actually happens and whether it was successful.  Try and guess both what the jammer may do (say when approaching the back of the pack or after being hit out) and what the blockers for each team are going to do.

The more time you spend trying to consciously be aware of what's going on while watching derby, the more you develop the ability to pick up on subtle cues that will help inform you what you should do on the track and a general understanding of what strategies work when.