Loretta " Little Iodine" Behrens - Derby Memoirs

 

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Loretta's Training Course

Loretta's Secret Lesson #1 - Skate!

My first words of advice are simple and we have all heard it before, but are so important, I need to state it again.  Each skater needs to learn the track.

Having said that let me explain what that means.

The track is the most important friend of any skater and how each skater uses the track may differ because each person has their own center of gravity, length of stride, style, weight and type of skates and wheels.  Because of this skaters learn to use all their assets to leverage their ability on the track.

The Pace

Pacing or learning to do a 5-Stride is a good way for skaters to learn to have style, power, and endurance.  A pace is one of the basic exercises it is also the main technique used in all flat track speed clubs to develop speed skaters for competition.

For most skaters a 5-stride is the basic, but skaters also learn their own adapted stride.  Some might do a 7-stride, which would be to cross over taking the turns.

It is the pace where skaters learn to also develop a style & speed.

This is how their particular body rolls and moves to the centrifugal force and the inclines of the track.

Skaters learn to swing their arms, hands, and backs in a way that they have athletic styles and maintain balance.

As their legs and feet become so comfortable with skating a pace, an athlete learns to move their consciousness to other parts of their body.  This is just the beginning of becoming a professional skater.

Skaters can pace on the track, in the parks, or even in the street in order to develop cross overs, power, and balance.

Cross Overs

Roller Derby requires a skater to be very comfortable at left and right crossovers as well as the traditional push off moves.  Pacing will develop speed and endurance, and, teach how to skate the track.

Skaters can learn to cross over counterclockwise at a roller rink and in speed clubs.  They can practice the clockwise cross over anytime and anywhere, flat surface or on the banked track.

Track Walking Exercise

A skater can walk up and down each square foot of the track to get accustomed to the banks.  They can cross over walk up and down the banks trying to keep their wheels from rolling.  This teaches them great dexterity in their feet.  Their feet need to be so familiar with those banks that they do not think about what their feet are doing.

Loosened trucks for quad skate's are used to assist a skater's to maneuver on the banks.

Because part of this exercise is a balancing skill, the exercise can be done on a flat surface as well as on the banked track.

Squat Exercise

Skaters need flexibility in their body movements so keeping limber and doing exercise is good for training.

While a skater moves at each part of the track they can squat, then stand upright.  Squat and stand, and after a while improve their balance and style as they develop their squats.

This exercise can be done on a flat track as well as the banked track.

Zig Zag Exercises

The banked track sport requires skaters to do much more than skating around in a circle.  They need to learn to move up a bank and then down it.  The movement is a lateral move, rather than a rolling forward movement.  These moves need to be developed so that a skater can withstand the body contact and scoring strategies in a game.

There are many exercises that skaters can do on their own or with others to move up a bank, then down.  After time, a skater can add to this rolling movement a small jump so that there is air between a foot and the track to help the skater move up or down a bank quicker.

This zig zagging motion is accompanied by the skater's body movements to develop squatting and extending their body.

Zig Zag and other footwork can be done on flat surfaces.  Skaters with dance backgrounds will find this part of banked track skating very easy and natural.  Skaters who just skated inline outdoors will find this type of skating very challenging.

Jump Exercise

Skaters need to become used to having air between the floor or track and their skates.  They need to be able to jump, take their skates off the rolling surface and then land and continue rolling.  The first time a skater jumps, they often loose their footing and crash to the floor once their skates hit the rolling surface again.

As a warm up, a skater can jump over and over again and again.  They can jump as many times as possible as they simply roll around the track warming up.  The jumps can be incorporated into team skills.

This exercise can be done on any surface.  It should be done as often as possible.  It will teach incredible agility.

Obstacle Jumping Exercise

The game holds many unexpected situations where skaters need to think on their feet.  One of the most common obstacles is a fallen skater who goes down unexpectedly in front or at a skater's side.  A downed skater can cause a lot of injuries to other skaters.

Cones, chairs, or other obstacles can be placed onto the track by a trainer.  The obstacles suddenly appear in the way of unexpecting skaters.  The skaters, who might be in a pack formation, must learn to react to the unexpected obstacle and avoid hitting it, falling, or taking other skaters down.

Sit Down And Get Up

It is obvious that skaters in a game can be knocked down; therefore a skater must learn to fall.  Starting to simple roll and sit down is one way to begin to develop the skills needed for a game.  When a skater sits down, they should use their butt and not their hands to support their sit out.  Another rule is not to go down on the knees to break the fall better off using the butt.

After a skater is down, they need to stand up and begin or continue to roll and stride.  This all sounds easier than what it is.  Because the track is designed with varying angle every foot or so, a skater will find their ability to get up different at each few feet of the track.  For instance, if a skater falls at the highest part of the bank, near the kick rail, and try to get up; the incline will be greatest to pull them down into the infield as they try to roll again.  They must learn to overcome the natural tendency to roll down the bank, but they must pick up speed.

If a skater falls near the lowest part of the high bank, near the infield.  Then they must get up and pick up speed.  The tendency will be to fight the banks to get up high and roll smoothly.  Skaters look very awkward and unprofessional when they fall in these areas of the track.  Even the best skaters stumble and wobble as they try to fight the bank and pick up speed again.

Falls

Once skaters begin to understand how their body works as they learn to get up; they need to develop their falls.

These falls are more than just sitting down.  A skater should get plenty of air time as their legs go out from under them, they also need to be able to learn how to balance them selves as a 200 lb skater comes around and blocks their body to the track.

This is fine during a training period, but when in a game skaters can be knocked down with out any warning and if you will feel your body going down be sure to keep the hands away from the fall.

All the techniques learned from training & exercise will come into play.

Kick Rail

Skaters need to learn to roll into the kick rail and then let the rail spring their body back into a forward skating direction.  This exercise is easy and can be done at any point when a skater is on the track.

Over time a skater learns to be aware of their own body as they hit a rail, spin, and then regain their stride, but they become aware of all the other skaters on the track and reposition themselves appropriately to the other skaters.

Loretta's Secret Lesson #2 - Conditioning!

Skaters need to be in condition.  The sport is very rough on the cardiovascular system, leg muscles and the body.  It is important that skaters take their effort seriously and get their body into tip top conditioning.

Brain Dead

While on the track skaters need to fall over and over again.  The falls will hurt, but by getting up right away after the fall and forcing the body to go back into a stride the brain will become conditioned to avoid thinking of any pain.

This is great conditioning and exhausting.

A skater should practice this about three times a week.  Doing more each time than there exercise the day before.

If no banked track is available, then some skaters use gym mats or large pillows and no skates to just practice the art of falling and jumping up again.  All those muscles must be conditioned.

Running

Almost all skaters use running exercises to help improve their leg muscles and endurance.

Weights

Today's athletes always augment their development and training with weight training.  Most skaters do not weight train to build mass, but to strengthen and condition their muscles.

Exercises such as squats and torso and upper arm workouts seem to improve skaters overall abilities greatly.

Loretta's Secret Lesson #3 - Think!

A skater needs to learn to think for them self.

This is another one of those cardinal rules that all skaters have heard.  It is easy to break this down into simple exercises that a skater can do to learn this skill.  These exercises can be done on the banked track or on a flat surface or just at home.

Awareness

New skaters focus on their feet and how their body is out of balance.  They generally only look in front of them and their eyes prepare their mind for what their feet or skate are about to encounter.

This is a form of awareness that all skaters go through.  It is an awareness that occupies most of their brains activity.

At this stage, a skater is simply mentally focused on skating.  There is no ability to move their mental thoughts or awareness to any other thought patterns.

Breaking The Mental Focus

Skaters need to skate in order to start to break this intense focus on their wheels, skates and feet.  Skaters need to skate and do every imaginable thing in order to break their awareness from the mundane focus.

Be Comfortable On Your Skates

Professional skaters are so comfortable on skates that they do not think about it.  This means that they can use their mental awareness to perform other things.

How do you become comfortable on your skates?  It is simple you just skate as often as possible.  Skate in any rink, club, or activity that helps you to become comfortable.

Obstacle Jumping And Jumping Exercises

These are great for getting used to letting your body skate while your mind begins to think of game strategy!

Standing In Place

This exercise can be done anywhere and anytime.  Put your skates on and just roll your feet back and forth and stay balanced.  You will need lots of balance in order to think on your feet.  Do this several times a day.  Do it at home and anywhere.

 

 

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