The Circle of Derby Life, Part 3

Everyone in PRG has some way of keeping themselves psychologically motivated to push their physical limits at every practice and every game. Goldy in particular loves to share motivational quotes she comes across, and a number of our skaters have been passing around books about the mental game that applies to any sport. The next few items in my list are my personal mottoes that have kept me going through all the challenges of PRG training.


3) PAIN IS IRRELEVANT

You're going to find yourself in pain as a derby skater, in a couple of different ways. Fatigue will have your muscles burning during endurance, strength training, and scrimmage. Your quads will beg you to stop skating, or at least stand up straight a little instead of squatting so low. Don't listen to them! Ask yourself, are my quads really out of juice? Or are they just complaining 'cause they're in pain? The answer is B: They're just complaining 'cause they're in pain. And guess what. PAIN IS IRRELEVANT.

I chant that phrase in my head every practice. In fact, I used to yell out loud at my legs during endurance when they really really wanted to quit. "You're not done yet, fuckers! Keep skating, goddammit! Left... Right... Left... Right..." It seriously got me through by focusing my willpower. Your body can do more than it wants to admit, but you've got to play the mental game to make it obey.

The other kind of pain you'll face all the time is the kind that leaves bruises: Getting hit by other skaters, or by the floor, or possibly by the wall on an unlucky day. Now broken bones, sprains, and concussions are very possible, and if something bad like that happens you're probably going to know about it via pain signals. But 99% of the time, when you feel pain from getting knocked to the ground, no permanent damage has befallen you. It's just your body going "WAAAH! Mom, she hit me!" And what does that mean? It means your body's a weenie and you need to tell it to shut up!

When you hit the floor and end up with a nice bump to your butt cheek or shoulder or something, but no real damage, it's often a natural reaction to take a second to be like "Aaahh, that smarts!" before getting up again. But that accomplishes nothing apart from wasting time. It's just pain. Pain is irrelevant. As soon as you hit the floor, you need to get back on your feet. No getting up to one knee and taking a second to pause. Up to your feet. You're a machine. A terminator. You're here to win a bout, and and your teammates are counting on you. There's not a second to waste on acknowledging meaningless pain.

Having a motto to chant in moments like that can really help focus you and get you up quickly. I like "Pain is irrelevant!", but if that doesn't work for you, find something that does.


4) FEAR IS IRRELEVANT

As a newbie derby skater, fear can come into the equation pretty often. And by fear, I mean that little twinge of hesitation, worry, or self-consciousness. Can I do this maneuver? Could I end up hurting myself in this drill? Will I be the worst one out there? What if I fall on my butt and look like a total n00b?

Guess what. You ARE a total n00b! And none of these questions are productive. It might take some time to really sink in, but no one out there is judging you. It's hard to learn this stuff, and we've all been there and know exactly what it feels like.

When you're asked to do a skill you've never done before, just do it! Don't think, "Okay, I'm gonna try to do this..." Just freaking do it! Yes, technically you ARE *trying* to do it, and there's a good chance you won't accomplish it the first several times. But telling yourself that doesn't help you. The only way you learn is by doing. You can't think your way through a skill right off the bat. You need to just go for it and see what it feels like. If you mess it up, you'll see what it feels like to mess it up, and that will help you learn. Once you've jumped in and tried it a few times, you'll have some experience to work with and you can start thinking about what went wrong and get some feedback from other skaters. But that twinge of fear at the outset is... you guessed it: totally irrelevant!

Fear of hurting yourself? This is totally understandable. It's possible you might get injured in the process of derby training. It happens. We take steps to mitigate the possibility of injury: Pads, helmets, and mouthguards; proper falling technique; strength training helps support bones; skill training that works you up gradually from the basics. But this is a full-contact sport, and there's always the possibility of injury. One question generally clears up any hesitation in this department: Would I rather eliminate the possibility of injury, or play roller derby? It's pretty simple. Yeah, there's a chance you'll get hurt. But FEAR of that possibility is irrelevant. The chance is there whether you're afraid of it or not. If you find yourself a little nervous, chant that motto in your head and remind yourself.

Will I be the worst one out there? What if I fall on my butt and look like a total n00b? Don't worry. At some point, in some exercise, you WILL be the worst one out there. It's not a question. And even more often than that, you WILL fall on your butt and look like a total n00b. Get over it early, 'cause it's gonna happen. There's nothing you can do about it. Get out there, fuck up, and own it. Be proud of it. You're learning, and there's no shame in any of this.


5) KEEP GOING UNTIL YOUR LEGS LITERALLY GIVE OUT OR YOU PUKE (or practice ends)

This is akin to "You can rest when you're dead". Except sometimes these consequences actually happen.

This is mostly about endurance training, at least for me. In "Pain is Irrelevant" I talked about how your legs are just complaining because they're in pain, not because they're actually out of juice. Well, once you've pushed through the pain and made your legs keep going, there is an eventual physical limit on how far they can go. The problem is, you don't *really* know what that limit is. It's much, much further than you think. So, just keep going until you hit it. Never admit that you're about to hit it, 'cause you're probably wrong. You've got more left than you think. Just keep going. If you hit that limit before practice ends, what's the worst thing that happens? You fall over. "Oh no! I fell down in roller derby!" Yeah, it's not a very big deal. Just try not to fall in front of anyone.

Once you've been in the program for a month or so, you're not really likely to hit that hard limit anymore. Endurance will end long before your legs give out. But the motto helps remind me that *I* don't really know my own limits, and I need to keep pushing.

As for puking... well, it's not glamorous, but it happens. I've only puked once, and it was right after a round of endurance assessments (which you will learn to both dread and love. If you're a masochist.) I'm certainly not the only skater in the league who's puked after pushing myself really hard. Lots of the vets have puked, or still do on rare occasion. You pretty much know something's awry. Get off the track, find a trash can, do your thing. Then get some water, take a minute if you need to, and get back out on the track.

Nobody likes to puke. But there's a risk of it happening when you push your physical endurance limits. And you've got to push those limits if you want to get better. Anyway, it's not like it happens all the time. Like I said, I've only puked once in derby.