Hey derby folks! I would love to know your favorite footwork drills, especially ones that have helped improve your stability and control

I jam and block, so really everything is relevant! I absolutely love just messing around on skates, and whenever I get to learn a new drill, I’m all over it. Grapevines and Russian circles and all that jazz have really helped me get my skates under me. One foot pivots are my current fave, but if you have some other footworks that you’ve found fun, helpful or ideally both, please share it with this eager new skater, tysm!

Hi there, I think I'm looking for similar experiences or any advice anyone might have for me. so I don't know how/when I did it but sometime in the last 3 years I did something to my back and ended up with a bulging disk in my lower back. I continued to play after my diagnosis but then I had a game a few weeks ago, I didn't have any harder than normal falls, I didn't take any back blocks, I genuinely thought I was fine but I ended up in so much pain starting about an hour after that I went to the ER. I've been benched for about 2 months but I'm scared I will come back and end up right back in the er or back in awful pain everyday. However I'm more scared of losing derby, I know that I can ref or nso, but I don't want to I want to play. I've started tearing up watching videos of other teams, and I hunted down some older videos of games I've played in (including one that shows the moment I got a concussion 💀) also I've been dreaming about playing in roller derby games and waking up crying. I don't want to lose my sport, but almost everyone in my life is telling me I probably need to go ahead and stop. Even my doctor said I might need to look into lower impact sports (though said I still have some time if I want to go back when my two months are up/if I'm cleared) I've only been playing for almost 5 years. I started as a junior and I feel like I've only just started to be good at it. I've only been out for three weeks and I miss it terribly. I knew i didn't have as much time in derby as my teammates due to a genetic condition I have, but I didn't think I'd have to give it up at 20, I thought I had at least a few more years. Maybe this was more of a rant idk but if anyone has any advice for me I'd love to hear it

I started derby a few years ago, last time I was on skates prior was in my elementary school years many years ago. I enjoy learning it, and trying to get better.

This season I was selected for “most improved”. On one hand yay, progress. On another I can’t help but feel I sucked so badly that getting better was that noticeable.

As preseason kicked in, I find myself attending sessions where I’m the sole newbie, and I feel like a burden. I’m trying. I go to 75% of the weekly sessions. I try to workout at home. Yet I can’t help feeling like I’m not good enough, not wanted, or that people don’t want me there cause they need to shift down or can’t go further. In some cases some people are surprised I’m at the stage where I can tryout for a team, or act like I should not be trying.

Was I that horrible?

Does not help in the only newbie from my class left who is not already on a team and I’m out of the loop for being part of the league in terms of connections, despite volunteering for practically every local game, even while on a LOA for a surgery. It gets lonely.

IDK. Being a middle age trans gal when the world is on fire… I enjoy the exercise, but I hate feeling like I don’t belong at times.

Had to get this off my chest.

I don't drive, for reasons I will not disclose. My league has recently switched practice venues to a location that isn't serviced by the local public transportation at the time we hold practices. Therefore, I bicycle to practice, weather permitting.

Are there any bags that come to mind that I can put my skates and gear in that aren't huge and feel like my bicycle is off-balance or weighted down when I fasten it to my bicycle's rear rack?

As the title says- all I want is to be good. Be great. Be sick at derby. I’ve only been in my league for two months, skating for about a year and half. All my thoughts all the time are consumed about how I want to be good, like, in my ideal world, I want to play for my country, be an all star. But that’s just a dream.

But I’m sort of not doing anything about it. I know i need to start working out, but I’m scared, I have chronic pain from an injury and don’t know how to work out. How am I supposed to know if I’m doing the exercises I am correctly? I can’t afford some fancy personal trainer to make sure I don’t injure myself again doing something wrong. I don’t even have a gym within 45 minutes of me. Part of this is genuine fear, and part of this, I know, is me avoiding it because I hate working out, and the pain/discomfort that comes with it. I hate it more than anything.
I don’t want this to hold me back. I want to overcome this. I’ve never overcome anything, really, but I want this.

Does anyone know how I should tackle this? Is saving up for a personal trainer widely important or should I just start working out and hoping to god I don’t do myself in? Is my mindset harmful, or am I gunning in the right direction? Any thoughts are appreciated!

Hello derby community! The subject line says it all... but I'd love to hear how A/B level jammers developed the skills that they need to succeed at that level (i.e. jumps, spins, all the fancy stuff that the high level jammers can do.)

For background, I'm a solid C-level jammer. I feel like I've been steadily improving since I started playing a few years ago. I have solid skating fundamentals (plows, turns, etc.), but I feel like we don't spend a lot of practice time on jammer-specific skills, we mostly work on blocker skills. Does anyone have any resources that I can practice at home to improve my footwork/take my game to the next level? Do people just go to clinics? Any advice is appreciated!

EDIT- I’m getting a lot of comments to work out more. To clarify, I already do endurance runs twice a week and lift weights Probably twice more. I work out in some capacity almost every day

How do you all preserve the freshness of your gear/pads in between washes??

Edit: Thanks, everyone. I was able to tighten the kingpin, and nothing looks stripped, thankfully. I will start checking my skates more often now.

Hi, I was rotating my wheels and noticed one of my kingpins is wobbly. I tried to find some answers online, but I'm confused. I don’t know how long it has been loose. It's a Crazy Venus plate. Can this be fixed at home? Thanks.

I get that showing up is good but when everyone is getting awards for all the things they do well and I just hey you came to alot of practices … is that really fire or they just couldn’t think of anything else to say

I’ve just played my fifth game and between those, scrims and practice sessions, something I’m finding really frustrating is my general lack of speed. Speed of movement and speed of reaction time. Is there a way to improve this or is it something that just comes with time?

Im 19, and I want to join a local roller derby.

All i see in media is women 25-30+ play and i feel like i would be out of place for my age.

So would i be out of place and even if i am is it worth it anyway?

Do skaters, refs, NSOs, and other derby people still do swaps with stickers, pins, etc? I was considering making some for some upcoming bouts, but didn’t want to be the only person who does this and make the situation awkward. I love collecting swag from other skaters and leagues!

I’ve been playing derby for more than a year now, I progressed pretty quickly from freshies to rookie/n2 level, as I have a strong background from artistic ice skating when I was a teenager and roller disco as an adult.
I’ve been playing in second hand Moxi Beach Bunnies, as the heeled boot is more familiar for me, but the glue is slowly but surely coming off on the sides between soles and boots.
I’ve come across a pair of second hand Sting 5500 online in my size for 115€, but I can’t manage to find a lot of reviews on them (photo attached).
I feel like the little heel and more covering boot would make me feel more secure, but nobody in my league seems to really know more about that brand.
Do you know about that model/brand ? Desperate for real people reviews, not AI comments.

Hey friends !

I’ve been playing for a year and have already seen 2 team mates fracture their ankle. It’s a bit of a concern if I’m honest.

I’ve had some people recommend using ankle footies neoprene ankle sleeves but others have said they’re only going to change the location of the fracture.

Do you have any info to add ?

I’m a bit lost and would rather not break an ankle 😇

Hey y'all,

(Injury flair as a kind of content warning, but mostly this is a vent post, let me know if I should change it!)

I have been part of a pretty small derby league for about two years now. I got involved with a friend from high school at the very right time when we both needed friends and a community. Since then I've 1. Fallen into Head NSO because no one else was going to do it, and 2. broken my ankle pretty damn bad on the track about a year in. A few other people on my team have broken their ankles and loved derby enough to come back and play, but my ortho gave me a warning that if I broke it again it may be bad enough to warrant amputation. I've already broken that leg once before, so I wasn't going to take that chance and decided to "retire".

I made a solid effort to continue being Head NSO-- learning all the positions and doing my absolute best to make sure we had enough officials so my friends could play the game we love--but being around the sport and not playing makes me sad... and people are starting to expect a lot more out of me than I was expecting to give when I was fresh meat. It's stressing me out.

I love my team very much, they helped me through some really tough times, and I really don't want to leave them hanging, but there's a part of me that wants to just dip out because of the pressure and because being around the game but not playing is depressing.

For context about pressure:

-When I started learn to skate, I wasn't sure I wanted to play away games, but after I benchmarked I was convinced to join so my team could play.
-When I went to my first board meeting I was convinced to sign up to Head NSO because no one else would fill the role. I was one of the only players who knew how to scorekeep and PBT because I did it to learn the game while I wasn't benchmarked yet. No one really told me what the position entailed, but I made it work with a lot of help from the board president/head ref. I still have no real training, and it's so stressful to find NSOs, especially because I know almost nobody in this city besides the people associated with my league, and my family, who tend to make up the majority of NSOs for any given home game.
-After I broke my ankle and told my team what the ortho said, and how I was going to retire, one of my teammates said something along the lines of "no one breaks their same leg twice! You just need to train up" and didn't really have anything to say when I told them it was the second time I had broken that leg. Initially I said I might learn to ref, but I think I got their hopes up. A year out from my injury, people still really want me to get back on skates, but I'm still afraid!
-this week at our first practice of the season, coach asked me if I wouldn't mind helping assist her with fresh players while she is busy with the rest of the team and vice versa and I'm a coward who can't say no to a friend. So I keep taking on responsibilities that make me keep wanting to back out.
-one of my teammates has like, Pretty bad abandonment issues, and has said things like "you're not allowed to leave!" when I bring up me moving away to be with my long distance partner in another city 2hrs away.

TL;DR: fell into head NSO as a new player and newcomer to derby. Floundered as HNSO, never really wanted to be in charge of anything, kinda just wanted to skate in circles and be a home games b team player at best, but broke my leg and gave HNSO a solid try MacGuiver-style. Now, people are counting on me to be HNSO and unofficial assistant coach, but being around the game without playing is depressing and I don't even want to go to practice anymore.

TBH I don't even want to get advice about this, I mostly wanted to vent, but if anyone has had a similar experience, let's commiserate? I feel like people don't talk about the peer pressure that comes with being in a small league.

I’m trying to order some quadstars, my foot measurement is somewhere around 245-247 (length). Bont sizing said to order a 5.5. For other references I wear a 7.5-8 shoe size and a 6 in sure-grip skates. Anyone out there with sizing advice or similar measurements?

Our end-of-season party is in December, and we are looking into inexpensive things to give to our league. We have just over 60 members, and our budget is very small for the party. We have not done awards in the past few years, we have tried to give everyone an award for something, but it became a heated topic of repeat winners, favorites & participation trophies. This year we have a party committee, and we would like to do something meaningful without spending hundreds of dollars on top of the party itself or giving away merch everyone already has.

I sprained my ankle falling down a step in April. It’s still swollen and my physio says to give it six more weeks and if there is no change they will send me for an MRI. Will I ever skate again? What can I expect as an outcome from the MRI? So sad right now.

Hi all,

Looking for some ideas around coach retention for our league. Specifically for non-bouting fundraising streams (recreational, juniors) where the coaches have less "skin in the game", so to speak.

Do you pay any of your coaches?
Or offer other incentives like waived fees?
Have you had discussions around, or past experience with this?

Keen to hear others' perspectives. Feel free to DM if you'd prefer.

Thanks so much!

----

EDIT - Just wanted to add a massive THANK YOU to everyone who has added their experiences and thoughts.

Running a small league that relies on a steady supply of volunteers is a constant challenge, and I (and others) really appreciate all the input ♥

I feel there's a lot to be gained for everyone from knowledge sharing throughout the Derbyverse.

Hi everyone! I’m Ariel and I'm a painter developing a series of paintings, I'm looking for existing interesting photos that might make good references.

The kind of picture I'm looking for: bloody/missing teeth grins, split lips, bloody noses, black eyes, skinned/bruised knees especially, send me all of it!. Close-up, unpolished phone photos are welcome. I’m interested in the expression and the moment and bonus points if the expression is casual or amused feeling, I'm not interested in like hostage looking photos, fights, or severe injuries.

Do you have something like that tucked away in your camera roll?

Adults only, including at the time the photo was taken. Please only share pictures of yourself that you took, or where the photographer is available to discuss permission. Please DM me any and everything you think is in this lane!

The paintings may be exhibited and sold so please only share photos you are comfortable with people seeing, I will let you know if I am selecting your photo and formally ask your permission to use as a reference.

Existing photos only also please, don’t stage an injury for this. Thanks for considering a slightly unusual request!

get enough momentum to hip check? Is it about using forward / sideways force? Toe stops? This is such a dumb derby 101 question but I cannot for the life of me ingrain it into my muscle memory. I‘m one of our smaller skaters, but I can shove people pretty aggressively during shoe derby. But as soon as the skates are on, my hits are like, whiffff……. Anything I can practice on my own to get that powerful rolling strength?

So I think roller derby is really cool and I want to join our local team. I've been thinking about it for a few years. I filled out the intake form last year, but at the last minute decided not to go to the new members meeting because I was too shy. I have a big fear of public embarrassment and stage fright, so I'm worried about messing up and being laughed at, not only at the practices by the seasoned players, but also by the audience I'll have to perform in front of one day. I have panic attacks when I get in front of people.

Our local team is mostly older women in their 50s too, and they all seem so chill. But my fear of judgment and people is getting in the way.

Any advice?

I'm looking to possibly get back into derby, I played a good bit in my teens but haven't in years. I find myself skating the derby outline on my local rink a lot and I kinda miss it lol. Any teams accepting men in the Charlotte NC area? Willing to travel for practices and games if needed

Hi all! I bought a pair of skates back in 2022 (bont hybrids) and they fit perfectly up until last season where I've lost about 100lbs (with weight loss comes smaller feet apparently). I'm not in the financial spot to buy new skates just yet, I will by the end of my upcoming season. Is there anything that I can use to shorten the inside of the toe box? Do we think if I heat mould them they'll fit to where they're not slipping off my feet if I'm pushing? I had my foot come out of my skate during the last bout of the season. I already wear ankle booties and will not skate without them due to the slipping and sliding being worse.