Home from practice. We worked on crossovers, juking and other fun jammer skills. My skills are finally getting to a point where I can use more of my height to my advantage. I have a long stride and I can get a lot of power, can being the operative word. I used to put down a bit of power and go faster than I could manage, but my control and agility are slowly getting better.

I haven’t been T-stopping much, I’ve wanted to focus on developing my plough stops. But my stopping inability was getting ridiculous so I decided to do more T-stops this practice. I must have grown more muscles and balance, because my T-stops feel more natural now. I love the squeaky sound they make as I come to a stop and I’m feeling a little bit more in control (harder wheels probably help too).

I use my hands a bit too much when I’m going through the pack. It’s hard to resist, especially if you’re going fast and someone moves to close a gap. I’d rather use my hands than cause a terrible pileup (and on the plus side I am falling less and tripping less), but it’s still not a good habit to develop… even though the land of no minors makes the use of forearms less punishable. It’ll be interesting to see how no minors influences new skater habits. In the meantime I’ll try to use my hands less and continue avoiding ramming into people’s backs.

I was exhausted before practice, editing a hundred pages by reading out loud does that to me. But practice perked me up. I even did half an hour of foam rolling, stretches and balancing when I got home. My hamstrings are so weak, but I can feel them improving fast. I like what increased blood flow and a little adrenal chasing folks is doing for my brain. Sharing the derby endeavor with a bunch of kick arse women helps too :-)