If you're Fresh Meat and look at those Travel Teamers of your league and think they've always been like that... and that you'll never be that cool... look what I found. I look very cute. Here is my hint for Fresh Meat: dig your league archives and find some photos and video what your league star skaters used to look like. Scroll down to the bottom for some LRG gems. You won't believe what a couple of years of derby does to you! Gives you a kick to keep going!
I started roller derby in May 2010. I had the advantage that I could already skate - I am from Finland after all so winters were spent on ice skates and I had inlines too. Although I had the foundations, I was totally a piece of Fresh Meat. I remember trying to backwards skate. I did not move an inch... Plough stops were my enemy. My knees were pointing inwards. I bite my lip every time I need to go in. I think I skate low.
Fresh meat knees
Concentration!
Denim shorts were the thing in 2010! My first wrist guards served me for a long time, they were great - mum had bought the from a charity shop in Poland whilst on a road trip in Europe. My first skates were Sure-Grip Rock Flames with Twister wheels.They were too big and I even wore woolly socks and two insoles in them.
Look at those skinny legs
I did not like my superskinny ankles. I am so glad what roller derby has done to my legs. They desperately needed some muscle!
Derby stance?
More concentration
PS. What do you think London Roller Girls might have looked like? Check it out:
Summer's round the corner and the skatepark bug has bitten me again. I will attempt to build skates for skatepark/ramps. So how are they different from the derby skate? If you go vert all the way, your skates will start looking more like two mini skateboards!
Boot
Depends what you like. I will use my old Riedell She Devil leather boot as it fits well and is made of sturdy leather. I'm used to having my ankles exposed and like the extra agility that gives.
Wheels For vertical skating ('quad vert'/ramps) most go for skateboard wheels; smaller and harder. You don't want to stick to the ramp with sticky wheels. For general outdoor skating larger and softer are recommended for shock absorption and smoother roll over bumps. For general skatepark stuff something in between these two might be good.
Plates and trucks
Wider trucks and longer plate for extra stability. You are not looking for quick turning like with derby plates. I'll start with my old Triton plate and see what happens as it's quite long. Many build their own ramp skates using skateboard trucks which make them extra wide.
Cushions
Again, go harder. You're looking for stability here. I'll use my old standard cushions from the Triton plates.
Now I'm upset that I cannot speak...or read... French. They appear to be quad gods there. I found this great looking site but it's all French to me. Perhaps Google translator will help. I am planning to build some skates and this place provides some awesome pictorial inspiration!
I started a Youtube channel back in 2011 for fun, to track my progress and to show off some moves of course! It's here: http://www.youtube.com/user/54TheBlizzard
During the Cup I started getting really comfortable blocking whilst facing the 'wrong' way. I could see what was going on and turn around if needed and apparently somebody facing you can be quite intimidating for the jammer.
