Stuck in Your Head

So after talking with some team mates and encouraging them I was reminded of how easy it is to get stuck in your own head.  We all do it, we are the only one out there that can’t do cross overs, can’t do turn around toe stops, struggle with the snow plow yada yada yada!  It wasn’t until I was injured and couldn’t skate but went to all the practices that I could to observe that I realized I was not the only one with struggles.

We tend to look at the girls that have been doing this for years and expect to be just like them in a few short weeks or even months.  I know I was intimidated by the girls who could skate fast, do cross overs and generally looked like they were completely comfortable on skates.

I grew up roller skating, taught myself how to skate backwards, do turn around toe stops, spins, learned how to jitter bug on skates (can’t do that now lol) and thought of myself as a decent skater.  However, I had been off of skates for years, was a couch potato and a little over weight when I started roller derby.  I was quickly humbled, when I got my speed skates (which I had never been on before) and hit the track thinking to myself, “I got this, no problem” and promptly fell on my bootie bruising my tail bone.

WOW, what just happened??  I discovered that I didn’t know anything about derby and speed skating and even though I knew how to skate, I had so much to learn.  It can be a bit discouraging and I spent my first year going to Rec league practice once a week and learning everything I could in that short time.  I finally realized, (even after I was told by others my husband included) that this was not going to get me where I wanted to be.

I finally made the committment to go to more practices, speed practice being my only other option at the time and start working out and eating better.  Now I began to look for more opportunities to skate and got me some outdoor wheels so I could skate in parades and such.  Speed practice helped me out immensely, coach Mel can make you a better skater.

With assessments coming up it is important to remember to get OUT of your head, do the skill to best of your ability, take the advice and coaching.  DO NOT compare yourself to others, (I know that is the hard one).  Everyone develops their skills at their own rate and everyone started at different levels. This is a tool to help you understand where you are, what you need to work on, and where you are trying to get to.  One other thing, it is easy to practice a skill you can do well, not so much for the ones you don’t do well. The important thing is to keep trying, keep working hard and quit being so hard on yourself.  Remember you crawl before you walk, you walk before you run in all of you life adventures!

Until next time!! Hip checks and derby love to you all!