Sunday was our first proper practice session since the bout.
We train just after the Banditas though this month there will be a newbie session between the sessions. This will allow new skaters to work on minimum skills. I attended this week. I think it’s important to practice skills over and over, so they become second nature. There was a mix of Banditas and Dead. The session was led by Jeanette (Sue Perman) from the Banditas. We covered stops, falls and cross-overs.
A few of the Banditas stayed on for the Skateful Dead session. This week we kicked off with a warm up. Gillie had us power through a mix of sprints, press-ups, sit-ups and planks. I loved it! Since training for a 10k run last November I have been keen to keep a reasonable level of fitness. It paid off! The only thing I struggled with was the press ups; I have “IT arms”.
The rest of the session was, unsurprisingly, contact stuff. I sat out, as did Brian – both of us injured. The focus this week was jammer assists. The team practised giving and receiving whips and a couple of plays. These were then put into practice with a scrimmage.
When playing it can be difficult to observe what is going on around you. You’re concentrating on the game, the opposition and listening out for referee calls. It was interesting to observe from the middle of the track. There were techniques used that I hadn’t seen before, especially when a team had blockers in the box.
Avoiding contact was undoubtedly the right thing to do. My back was uncomfortable by the end of the session. I’m hoping to be back on it by next week!