I do not coach a USARS team so obviously my point of view in this blog post is a bit skewed towards WFTDA game play style. In USARS wide open full speed skating for extended periods is far more common so one could argue speed is important but I am not looking at that iteration of roller derby.
So how is being explosive different from being fast? Simply put, acceleration. A good example is cars. Often times you will see a high performance car listed with its top speed as well as its 0-60 miles per hour time.
Example: 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 0-60 mph 5.6 seconds/top speed 118 mph
1981 Ford Escort 0-60 mph 14.6 seconds/(for the sake of my argument let's pretend this car also has a top speed of 118 mph even though it is closer to 65mph)
Now if both cars are started, as in Nascar, at the same pace (in car racing such as Nascar all racers follow a pace car at a set speed until they pass the green flag) and if that pace is their top speed neither car will have an advantage, they both are moving at the same rate. (Yes I understand that aerodynamics and other factors play into this, stop messing with my argument!) They will constantly post equal lap times.
Now let's take the same two cars, put them on a start line stationary with a giant I-beam hanging from a crane 100ft down the track. On green both cars accelerate from the standstill and try to pass underneath the I-beam before it is dropped. Which car would you rather be in? If you value your life and your means of transportation you chose the Mustang.
Explosiveness is the ability to stop and start quickly. It is the ability to go from both feet on the ground to as high as you can jump instantly. It is the ability to accelerate your body from a stationary position through another skater to deliver a crushing hit. Explosiveness is not measured in track lengths. Explosiveness is demonstrated in short bursts.
If I had to choose between a group of skaters that can do 4 laps in under 35 seconds and a skater that can go from not moving to full speed in under 10 feet I would choose the latter every time. The fastest skater in the world can't utilize their speed if they are stuck behind a wall and unable to shoot through the tiny crevices that the best defenses occasionally leave open.
Skaters who are explosive are also going to be your hardest hitters. Good quality controlled hits can be a blocker's best weapon at times (that is when they aren't focusing on containment which is way more important but that is a totally different blog altogether). Many skaters will use speed and the geometry of the track to achieve huge hits but those are the same skaters that whiff mightily more often than not and end up off the track and out of the play. Skaters that are explosive are able to hit hard without using momentum. Think a boxer's hand, stationary, then snapping forward in a compact motion. It returns to its initial position without putting the boxer in danger. Rarely do you ever see a boxer take huge wild swings because they will put them out of position.
So how do we develop explosive skaters? Three words FAST TWITCH MUSCLES.
#1 WEIGHTLIFTING
*Lifting more than just strictly body weight trains your muscles to be able to perform movements under more load than they generally have to. Simply put, if you can squat with 150 lbs on your shoulders your legs will absolutely explode upwards when you take the weight away. Crossfit has become increasingly popular in roller derby for cross training and for good reason. The combination of Olympic lifts like the snatch, power clean, etc. with interval training is perfect for building an athletic well rounded body.
*I strongly suggest that when it comes to weight training skaters focus on big muscle groups. Squats, snatch, bench press, dead lift, and seated rows, the list goes on. The thing all of these have in common is that they work multiple muscles at once. Bicep curls, tricep pulldowns, and leg extensions are all wastes of time because they focus on one specific muscle that can be worked out while doing other things. Bench press works the muscles of the chest and back while also utilizing the triceps for stabilization. Seated rows work the back and shoulders as well as the biceps.
*Movements like the snatch or the clean and jerk force your body to exert a great deal of force through quick powerful movements. They also require many portions of you body to work together to make them happen.
*Obviously skating requires your lower body to be strong but do not neglect your upper body. Your arms and legs work together during movements like skating and jumping. A strong upper body allows you to skate faster, accelerate more quickly, and jump higher. Another added feature of a strong solidly built upper body is that with more and more people skating and blocking backwards their chests and shoulders are taking a lot more contact. Strong muscles mean a much more solid surface to take those hits or even better give them out.
#2 INTERVAL TRAINING
*Marathon runners have slow twitch muscles. You don't want those. Outside of building endurance being able to run or skate for hours on end at the same pace consistently will do absolutely nothing for you. You don't do this in roller derby so why would you train your body that way? Generally you are never going full speed for more than a lap or two , often times much less. You should train your body to work efficiently in the manner that derby requires it. In Andre Agassi's autobiography Open he talks about how he was always getting beaten in five set matches because of his training and conditioning. His first trainer had him running miles and miles a day and he never really saw improvement in his conditioning on the court. His career trajectory changed drastically when he met Gil, a trainer at UNLV that would eventually become his personal trainer and lifelong friend. Gil looked at his training and asked him how often in a tennis match he ran non-stop for miles. The answer of course was never. Gil put Andre on a training regimen that focused on interval training to prepare Andre for the stop and start movements that are characteristic of a tennis player. The thing that was his weakness, long matches, became his strength. Often times his strategy became tiring out the other player, as others once did to him. Eight grand slams tell us that Gil was on the right track. Roller derby is a lot like tennis in that stopping and starting and short bursts are common. We need to train in this manner as well.
*Interval training at its core is characterized by short bursts of high effort with small rests in between. One example of simple interval training from my youth that I still go back to is wind sprints. We would get on our outdoor track and start off by walking. At the straightaway we would sprint as hard as possible for 100 meters and then slow to a walk. At the next straightaway we would repeat. We would sometimes do 8 to 12 laps. This meant we were sprinting at full speed for a mile or more. This was far more effective in building endurance for the middle distance (400 and 800 meters) that I ran than running 3-5 miles ever would have been because during my races I never ran a pace, I was going full tilt. The key here is 100% exertion during the "on" times. For example if you were to do intervals jumping rope you might do 30 seconds as fast and as intensely as possible and then 10 seconds of rest. That 30 seconds of jump roping should be at 100% of your maximum output. If you only do 70% you are training your body to operate at 70% and it will be difficult on bout day to get it to perform up to its full potential.
#3 BODY WEIGHT TRAINING
*Never underestimate the things you can do with no equipment (or very little) at all. Burpees are a perfect example of an exercise that requires nothing but you and a floor that translates to roller derby incredibly well. We all get knocked to the ground in roller derby. Getting up quickly is key. Burpees train our bodies to spring up from the ground. They also provide a hell of a cardiovascular workout as well. They were initially developed as a way to test heart strength as the up and down motion causes the heart to have to work against the forces of gravity.
*Box jumps are very high on my list of body weight exercises as well. They pick up where the squat leaves off. Not only are your legs asked to press upward but they are also asked to explode away from the floor. If you don't have a box you can do squat jumps as well. Some dedicated souls even do weighted squat jumps! (Be careful though, can be hazardous to your knees if done improperly.)
#4 NUTRITION
*Fuel your body right. There are millions of diets out there that claim to be the best for athletes. Ultimately a balanced diet with adequate protein for muscle growth is ideal. Stay away from processed foods as much as possible and eat lots of little meals every day to keep your engine running at all times. (Funny how we both started and ended this blog with car examples!)
On skates I have numerous things that I have had my skaters do to build explosiveness. My tactics and drills evolve over time, as well they should and I definitely tweak and coop things I see other teams doing. Just a few of the things I have our skaters do:
*Suicides and Six Strides in Hell- I combined two of my favorite high intensity endurance drills into one awesomely sadistic drill. Skaters do suicides for two minutes, then we do what I like to call Six Strides of Hell (I am sure I ripped the name/idea for this off from somewhere but I can't recall where). In Six Strides of Hell I blow my whistle and skaters are to take six hard digging strides to get up to maximum speed. Then they coast until the next whistle. (Usually I space whistle blows about 5-7 seconds apart). We will do two minutes of each one of these rotating for 16-20 minutes depending on what my practice plans for the night are.
*Lateral Jumps-Skaters load up their muscles and jump laterally on the whistle (one footed, crossover, two footed). Legs should start down in a full squat position (on one leg if doing one footed jumps) before jumping.
*Straightaway Sprints-Skaters sprint (duck footed or on toe stops) the length of the straightaway. They then slow to a stop in the turn and sprint again at the straightaway.
All of these things build not only endurance but explosiveness/quickness. I want my skaters to be able to accelerate through an opening before it closes. I want them to be able to escape a blocker chasing them from behind at the front of a pack. Good roller derby teams contain their opponents. I want my skaters to be uncontainable. I could really care less if they would lose a race, this is roller derby, you can always win if you knock the other skater on their ass before they can leave the start line.
