Newbie training: Week 7

So, I've reached week seven (Seven?  Eight?  Who knows any more) of roller derby newbie training.  I feel like it's worth doing a little check-in of what's been going on, the joys and trials of taking up a new hobby/sport/activity/thing, what I've learned, and what I want to work on next.

The scenario
Right now my skate-life (such as it is) seems to be a bundle of problems and solutions, some of them more solid than others:

I skate for two hours every Sunday, using kit I've borrowed from the DollyRockits.  There's supposed to be some off-skates teaching for an hour after that, but I still have church on Sundays which is obviously going to take priority.  I've discussed my solution to this in a pervious post.

• Problem - There's a 40min drive between the sports hall we practise in and home.  But... 
• Solution - Fortunately my church meets at 4.30pm during university term times (it gives the students time to roll out of bed!) so unless I'm helping out with the kids earlier in the day, I can get back from training, shower, eat, and cycle there just in time.  I miss the final hour of training, it's a tight squeeze for time, I can't lift-share, and I'm pretty tired afterwards, but it's doable.  Sweet.

There also ought to be another opportunity to skate, on Mondays at Free Skate.  This is un-scheduled time to work on anything you want to.

• Problem - I can't go to this one either.  My Big Year course includes a session on Monday evenings, so I won't be able to attend the majority of Free Skates until it ends in June.  This is the problem I'm currently finding most frustrating, and currently have no solution for.  Part of the angst is just because skating is fun!  I'm learning new things every week and I want to practise them, or spend more time figuring out techniques I didn't quite grasp during training.  I'm also the kind of person who is concerned about improving at the same rate as the rest of my group, so the fact that someone else can skate during the week while I have to wait is tiresome to me.  
• Solution?  Honestly, I'm just going to have to accept the fact that we'll all improve at different rates.  It's to be expected, it's okay, and it's no reflection on me.  When we're in practise together it's easy to forget that we've all come from different lifestyles and routines that we're all trying to fit skating into.  Some of us simply have more time than others, and I know some of the newbies could skate well before they arrived.  Others can go to Free Skate.  Others already have their own skates and can practise during the week.  Of course those people are going to progress faster than the rest of us!  Duh.  It doesn't mean anybody's better or worse, just that they have more time.  When I've clocked the same number of hours, I'll be that good too!   I've just got to be patient until the Big Year ends.  When I eventually get that extra time on wheels I'll appreciate it that much more.

Skills list

What the newbies been working on so far, including things we've covered but I can't do yet:

Basics:

- Derby stance

- Derby Stride

- One-footed glides* (see previous post, entitled 'My gimpy foot and me')

- Dynamic stretches

Stops and falls:

- Knee tap

- Double knee tap

- Baseball slide

- Four point slide

- Plough stop

- 'T' stop

Other nifty things:

- Grapevine (I hate this one. Probably means I should do it more)

- The sideways crab shuffle

- Steppy-stepping

- Waterfalling

- Laterals

- Skull-crushers

- Jumping over things, to a height of 6 inches

Crazy insane moves we just tried last week:

- Crossovers

- Transitions
- Skating backwards

Lap Count: 16 laps in 5 mins

In summary

Time is probably the thing most on my mind at the moment.  There's always a transition period whenever you take up something new, where you have to crowbar it into your life, figure out how much time and money you can realistically put into it, and get used to your new routine.  Roller Derby is one of those things that can eat up your time pretty quickly (skaters will talking about having a 'Real' life and a 'Derby' life) with multiple practises each week.  The DollyRockits are really enthusiastic about welcoming their newbies, and helping them get stuck into both the training and the social side of things (and they're all lovely people) but I'm the kind of person that tentatively edges my way into any new hobby and holds off committing for a bit to make sure that I can and want to sustain that initial rush of excitement at the cool new thing.  That said, I'm really enjoying myself and I want to keep going and improving.

In light of this I've just made a financial commitment to this sport - I have purchased a pair of roller skates.  They're second hand and come with a pretty garish hot-rod flame design on them, but they'll do fine for learning.  I'm coming to the point now where I can skate well enough for it to be worth owning my own kit.  It will also mean that I'm not restricted to Sunday-only skating while I'm waiting for my schedule to open up a bit.  There are free-skates and roller discos not too far from here that run on other days of the week, and if I can get hold of some outdoor wheels I can even take myself over to the park across the road and practise on the basketball court.  Hopefully this will help me put a few extra hours in while I wait for my course to end.