Self-congratulatory Scrim!

A friend of mine pointed out that I've been writing and drawing lately out of a place of frustration... and I realised that he was right.  So this post is going to be entirely filled with self-congratulatory things about me!

I am scrimming!

Tonight I went down to Northamptonshire Roller Derby to scrim with some other recently-mins-passed skaters.  It was a completely different experience from scrimming with my own team (which I did for the first time last week) and actually I had a really great time and came away feeling really good about myself.  Because we were roughly around the same level, play was a bit slower paced than I'm used to, and it was easier to see where I'm at relative to other Mins-passed skaters.

1. I learned from my last scrim!

I made some mistakes in my first scrim (one of them rather large) that I felt really bad about.  But I went home, thought about what had gone wrong and why, and set myself some things to work on.  Today I implemented them!  When I was lapping the track while jamming I was looking ahead, thinking about my speed and trajectory as I came up to the pack, and slowing down a little in order to be more jukey, which isn't my natural forte.  It worked really well and I felt like I was playing smart and safe.

2. I communicated well!

I was always talking, sounding off where the jammer was, saying if I was reforming or bridging, calling my team mates to get together or get into a wall, or that the jammer was coming.  If we were together I'd often turn backwards, partly because I like to block that way but also so I could see where the jammer was and tell everyone else.  When I was jamming I even tried a few hand signals.

3) I am disciplined!

It was interesting to see the Pavlovian responses I've picked up from training with the Dollies.  When the jammer is coming I wall up, look for braces, and hunker down.  When the jammer is gone I look for a team mate to get with, ready to help our jammer or prepare for the next lap.

4) I'm smart and rules aware!

The officials team were great but a little short-handed, and I found myself internally calling no packs, narrating to myself if I or someone else got a penalty, even if it wasn't called by the refs.  If I got knocked out I knew where to re-enter the track.  When I fore-armsed someone but didn't knock them down I knew not to take advantage of the opening I'd made.

I also kept my head enough to think about how I was jamming.  I naturally want to barge through everyone, which I did get to do, but after a few jams of getting to know people I started to figure out different ways to tackle them.  One of them likes to face you and psyche you out: I got lower to keep my balance and started to fake and dodge away from her rather than going for the direct hit.  Two blockers liked to chase me out of the pack, but I realised I could dart about and put them out of play.  I remembered I could side-surf round people while using them as a support, I could rebound off them and pinball through the pack, I could dig in my edges and let a hit push me out the front of the pack.

5)  I am a good jammer!

After my first go at jamming in a scrim was a bit hit and miss, I was nervous to do it again, but by the end of it I was feeling really good about it.  A lot of the time I got lead jammer!  Playing against people of a similar level to myself, all the challenges felt like things I could tackle.  I watched the box and listened to my team mates for advice to see when it was a good time to call off the jam.

6) I don't give up!

It was a fairly casual scrim, but I was pleased with my fitness, stamina and attitude all the way through.  I'm a Badass Dolly!