Bringing my best to my Allstar Debut!

Only three more sleeps until the triple header in Nelson.  I figured this was a good time to pull together some sports psychology tips on being at your best for the big game.
Most of it is just good old common sense.  Look after yourself.  Eat well and sleep well. You can't ask your body to perform awesomely on the day if you haven't been treating it awesomely during the buildup.  
Take care of as many details as possible before the day arrives.  Know where the game is and how you will get there.  Make sure your gear and boutfit are all ready to go.  The less energy you have to spend on these things on the day of the bout the more energy you will have to put towards playing.  It also reduces the chances of a last minute crisis happening, leaving you feeling drained and stressed out.
A lot of people I have talked to have prebout rituals that they use to help get them in the right frame of mind to play.  Music, makeup, movies, there are many ways to do this.  
Because I am not a naturally aggressive or competitive person I have decided that I need to get my Bee-arch on before the game.  I will put my 'warpaint' and boutfit on and visualise landing great hits, stopping the opposition's jammer and fiercely protecting our jammer and helping her through.  

Two surprising 'don'ts' came up again and again in my reading though - and they are certainly mistakes I would have made before my research into it.
Don't focus on winning or losing.  If you worry about how the game will end you won't be focusing on the moment at hand.  You actually have very little control over what the scoreboard will read at the final whistle.  If you focus on that you run the risk of panicking if you get behind or getting too cocky if you get ahead.  And you stop paying attention to what you do have control over...how you play this jam NOW!
Don't focus on your opponent.  It doesn't matter how awesome the other team looks, how big their blockers are or how fast they skate in the warm-up.  None of these factors will change what YOU have to do to play YOUR best game.
Stay positive, focus on you strengths and what you have to do to play your best.
Most importantly, focus on being a part of an awesome team, and smile!  

ROLLER DERBY WITH OUR FRIENDS!!!

More Boosting from Bonnie

The confidence boosting statements are working, well some of them anyway.  

The short and specific ones have been the most useful, these are the ones that pop into my head right when they are needed and change my usual response.

Like 'I recover so quickly' jumping into my head as soon as I hit the floor, rather than the old disempowering thoughts of being annoyed at myself for being down again.

And suddenly remembering 'I can take big hits' when I see that scary blocker headed my way and knowing that I'm up for the challenge.  

My other statements just weren't catching on in the same way though. Some of them were too broad...like 'I can improve my jamming' and 'you shall not pass'. There was no specific skill for me to focus on and do differently.  

Especially the jammer one - I just couldn't find a way to put any confidence into my jamming attempts.  It was like I was trying to convince myself of something but I had already decided it wasn't true.  Clearly, I needed a different approach for this one.  

Then I watched a story on Sarah Walker, NZ's world champion BMX rider. 

Sarah Walker Interview

She starts talking about working with a sports psychologist at about the 7 min mark on the video but it's just after the 12:45 mark that really hit a note with me.  

I knew I needed to do this for when I was jamming.  Some steps to check through - a thought process to focus on that would get my head in the right, confident space for taking on the pack.  

I watched this a few weeks ago now and I've just been waiting - waiting for the right info to fill in the blanks.

Cue weekend of derby awesomeness with the legendary Bonnie D. Stroir. Motivation and confidence boosting are a big part if her bootcamp teaching so of course I soaked that all up as much as I could.  

It was also incredibly encouraging to me how much I had improved since my last bootcamp experience...Derby firsts...and just spending that much time on skates in one go hugely accelerates your usual learning curve.  

But the best part was that I came away with a thought process for jamming. This is what I came up with from Bonnie's awesome teaching on jamming -

1. I am Hunting   2. Find the blindspot  3. Move my feet  4. Stay shallow  5. Keep moving

My phrases will probably be different than what you would use, and they will probably be different than what I will use in a year's time.

I haven't had the chance to try them yet in scrimmage but for the first time ever I am looking forward a little to giving jamming a go!

Birthday Time!!

Today is my Derby Birthday.
One year ago today I finally got the guts to put my 80's skates in the car and drive down to Hagley Park netball courts.  I wandered through the netball girls trying to find a group of strangers on skates and finally found them putting layers of protective gear on.  Warbow gave up her pads and helmet for me (she's generous like that) so that I could join in with the others in some basic drills.
I could skate a little already (although it had been years since I'd done any skating) but I was so embarrassingly unfit that I had to stop often to catch my breath.  No one seemed to care about that though...they only encouraged me when I would join back in again.  We had birthday cake (it was Shiner's birthday) afterwards and Crash drunk her water out of a wine bottle because she couldn't find anything else to put it in at home.  And just like that I was hooked.
And changed.
Boy how I've changed.
People often ask me how Iain feels about the amount of time derby takes up.  He is an awesome and generous man who knows how important it has become to me (I need to constantly make sure I don't take that for granted and that my family still comes first).  He knows the difference it has made and, I hope, is enjoying the benefits of a wife who can cope a lot better with everyday life and with being a Mum.
366 days ago I was on the highest dose possible of my anti-depressant medication, and even that only kept it at bay most of the time.    Since my first child had been born 6 years earlier, I'd needed regular therapeutic massage to keep the tension headaches away.  I saw my massage therapist again last week when I treated myself to a leg massage (I thought I'd asked a lot of them over the last year and they were probably overdue for a little TLC).  She was blown away by the difference in me, she even said I had the legs of an athlete.....oh yes she did!!
366 days ago I had never been called Buzz,  had no idea how hard 25 in 5 would be to crack, didn't know what a low block was, had never known the joy of a league meeting.....
366 days ago I had no idea that I would feel so proud pulling on my own printed Allstars uniform last night for the first time. Or that I would be so determined to work hard enough to deserve it and keep wearing it.
But the thing that blows me away the most is that 366 days ago I had never even met Daroll, Hammer, Legs, Unit, Knox, Warbow, Terror, Shiner, Tease, Crash, Karnage, Dizzy, Aggro, Str8e, Bone, Slaughter, Spunky, Munter, Meanie, Fury, Tia, Hoff, Gigawatts, Burger, Slam and Baddy - my derby family that just keeps growing.  Each one of you have inspired me, in words and example and I can't imagine not having you all as a part of my life now.
So Thank You - you have all made my life richer.
And let's have another Awesome Derby Year!!!