Always play as a team unless that option isn't there.

All of my skaters will tell you that if there is one way to describe my philosophy as coach, it is that no one individual can win a game. I heavily preach the idea that players make highlights, teams win games. This isn't a revolutionary concept. Gotham has been touting their "Hive Mind" for years now. When it comes down to most sports, having individually talented players is very important but without a solid overall team those individuals cannot win games consistently in the long run.

A great example of this was the Chicago Bulls teams that featured Michael Jordan and that won six championships in the 1990's. Michael Jordan was the best player in all of basketball at this time but to assume they won just because he was on the team is ignorant of the facts. All of those teams featured talented players who had their roles and performed them incredibly well. Michael Jordan might get all the publicity but guys like Steve Kerr, Luc Longely, Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman, and of course Scottie Pippen all were huge parts in many wins for those teams. Without those guys Jordan may have never won a ring.

On the opposite side of the coin I look at a guy like Dan Marino. He may have been the best quarterback the NFL has ever seen but he never won a Super Bowl. He didn't win because he never had the team around him to. He never had a running game to support him and he never had hall of fame receivers to throw to. He could win, but could never take it all the way because his team wasn't good enough. Underscoring this was John Elway. Elway had a nearly identical career to Marino up until the final two years where the Denver Broncos surrounded him with a stout defense and solid running game. Elway finished his career with two Super Bowl victories, not surprisingly.

I am a team guy. I have always respected sport organizations that put building a team over paying for stars. As an athlete myself I was always the role player. Never one to make a big splash but just always consistently doing my job so the team could win. I didn't worry about accolades, only W's.

Based on all of this, my skaters might wonder, why in the heck have we spent the last week working on one on one blocking skills? My answer to this is simple. Sometimes you have to admit to yourself that you don't know everything and it is time to step outside your box.

I came to an epiphany last weekend watching the Men's World Cup. The best teams were able to not only employ absolutely insane team blocking but then when jammers exited the front of the pack they showed incredible one on one blocking skills. Here is where I found my epiphany. This one on one blocking wasn't to show off how great they were or to show up the other team, it was a part of their overall team strategy. Time and time again I watched Team USA almost lose a jammer and then one of their blockers would all but stop them from moving forward on the track. This allowed the pack to swallow that jammer back up and suddenly that one on one block became an incredible four wall, swarm, or whatever blocking scheme the team was employing. Here you had a complete who's who of men's derby playing together as a team. It was tough to pick out the "stars" because they had such great team strategy going on.

If you have read my previous blogs you know that as far as I am concerned anybody can learn to do anything if they give it a chance so as far as I am concerned I am going to build a team of great one on one blockers. I will keep reiterating that team comes first but these individual abilities will make us better as a team. One on one blocking can buy your teammates time to come help you and sometimes those extra precious seconds can mean the difference between the other team getting lead or you holding their jammer for the entire two minutes.

The point I am trying to make here is that even though every great team plays as a team sometimes you need people to step out and make great plays. Jordan needed to hit a clutch shot once in a while. Elway needed to take the team on his back for the last two minutes from time to time. I have realized that if I don't give my skaters the skills to perform in these situations they won't be able to make the play. As I said in a previous blog, sometimes you have to learn and practice things you might never have to use, but when the time comes it is good to know them.

For all the coaches out there, take this as a lesson. No matter how much you think you know, you will never know enough. You can always learn something new and you should always be evaluating your strategies and philosophies. You never know when you might suddenly realize that everything you have ever done is not quite as good as you always thought it was. I always try to stay humble and reflective in my coaching. While I never want to drastically change things we do so as not to confuse our team I still will always be willing to add, take away, or morph our strategies. The game of roller derby is changing every day. If we aren't willing to adjust it will leave us behind. I have spent the last year getting my league caught up to the game, I am not willing to let them fall behind it again.

I don't care if you don't think you can do this. Building the skater Toolbox.

This is an open letter to roller derby skaters.

Dear skater (fresh meat, vet, or otherwise),

I don't care if you think you can do *insert skill/drill/edurance insanity here*. Your opinion on this subject doesn't matter to me in the least. As your coach it is my job to give you an opinion on your talent level, not listen to yours.

Sincerely,
Trucker


Man, that sure was harsh! Gees Trucker, you can be such a jerk sometimes.

In all seriousness though if there is one place that I feel as though I have succeeded as a coach it has been in quieting that little voice that says "I can't" in every skater's head.

Before I get into all that let me explain my Toolbox theory. It is my belief that everyone has a bag of tricks and skills that I like to term their toolbox. These are things that their bodies instinctively use in the heat of the jam without their brains necessarily "thinking" of doing them first. They are reactionary. Often times skaters will say afterward that they didn't realize they did them.

To build our toolbox we learn new and different skills all the time. Some of them are transition maneuvers. Others are different styles of stops like hockey stops or single leg plows. Often times I will throw these types of things in at the end of practice or after a tough endurance drill to break things up. We won't spend a ton of time on them because many of them are not vital skills that are necessary for playing the game effectively but many of them sure do not hurt. I give skaters the basics of these skills and enough coaching to send them on their way and then ask them to work on them during warm ups or our "Work on anything you suck at" times.

Back to quieting that little voice.

Many of these skills we work on are more advanced skills. Some of them, sit down if you aren't already, are way above the ability level of some of my skaters. Guess what, I still teach them to do it! I bet you are thinking to yourself right now that if skater A can barely do a two footed plow, why would I teach them to do a one footed plow? Heck, why would I teach them to do a hockey stop?! My answer, who in the heck are you to tell me that they can't do that. For that matter that skater isn't allowed to tell me that either!

My point here is that if we determine that skater A is incapable of performing some skill then the outcome is always going to be failure. Then again, if we never let them try they can't fail anyways.

We learn from failing. If we only ever perform tasks that are completely within our ability levels we will never improve. I can guarantee that every coach has had skaters that hit walls in their skill levels. This is exactly the time to push them way outside of their comfort zones. Sometimes trying to learn one thing teaches us to do something completely different and unrelated. We don't intend it but we also  do not complain when it happens.

You want to build a new skaters confidence? Show her something that no one thinks she can do and then praise her when she can do 1/8 of it correctly. If she can do 1/8 of that uber complicated fancy transition blocking maneuver today, in a week she might be able to do 1/4 of it. In a month 1/2. Maybe after two months she is using it, not effectively, but trying it in scrimmage. After three she busts it out in a scrimmage and everyone goes "ooooohhhh" and suddenly she is a rock star. All because her coach dared to teach her something she, or anyone else for that matter, didn't think she could do.

As blocking facing backwards has become a legitimate, reliable strategy we in our league have worked hard to develop this skill. If I had a dollar for the number of girls that told me they would never use it in a game and now have at some point, I would be like $12 richer. Some of them have even found that they love to block that way. Some are even really effective when doing it. Same can be said for the "creepy octopus" that we learned from the Windy City Rollers. (Basically transitioning around a blocker while in contact with them.) Everyone thought it was scary as heck at first and now I have girls that do it without even realizing it.

All of this because once in a while at practice I say, "We are  going to learn this new skill. It is pretty advanced and some of you might not be able to pull it off today, or tomorrow, or even this month but we are going to try it. ALL of us."

Don't tell me you can't do it. You are wrong, you can. Just not yet.