knee slides, taps

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I have just started in fresh meat and I am struggling with the the falls. I have no problem getting down but I struggle with getting back up without putting my hands on the ground. I don't know if it is a mental block because of where I have been so big all of my lift and have never been able to get up off of the ground without using my hands to get back up or if it weak thigh muscles. Does anyone else struggle with this or did you struggle with it in the beginning and how did you overcome it? I seem to be doing pretty well with everything else except for this one thing and I want to be able to do this well to.

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  • BreakingBackSunday
    BreakingBackSunday Posts: 15 Member
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    I still struggle with it after 2 years, haha. Maybe there is some sort of mental block there, but the muscles are probably a huge part as well. I definitely recommend doing squats and lunges off-skates to strengthen your thighs. A trick I was taught was that while you're getting up, put your hands in the air so you can't use them. It might take you a little longer to get up, but you'll be strengthening those muscles as well, which is so important.

    xoxo,

    Sunday
  • landslde
    landslde Posts: 7 Member
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    I would recommend doing squats, lunges and wall sits to help really build your leg muscles. When I started derby (over 6 years ago) our coach recommended doing squats or lunges while brushing your teeth every morning just to get used to doing them. It really just is a matter of building up the muscles and it will help build muscle memory, so when you do start to fall you naturally take a knee and pop back up.
  • twilightlvr79
    twilightlvr79 Posts: 130 Member
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    Are you able to put your hands on your other knee to stand up or do you have to be able to get assistance free to pass the minimum skills test?
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
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    Are you able to put your hands on your other knee to stand up or do you have to be able to get assistance free to pass the minimum skills test?
    Our league is strict about this...no touching the floor and no touching your knees to help yourself up.

    Echoing the others' advice, squats and wall sits and even planks (since you want to strengthen your core) plus derby sit ups (think baseball slide form, getting up from that, back down, rinse and repeat like eleventy million times)
  • IrateBeth
    IrateBeth Posts: 42 Member
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    One of the gals on my league struggled with this too. What she did was she would do "knee falls" at home. No skates or anything, but down to one knee and back up. She would do 15-20 a day on each leg.
    She rocks them now.
  • stephaniemacphee1019
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    i struggled with this when i first started aswell. Its mostly muscle, but its a little intimidating too!. I know that at first I thought my wheels would come out from under me if i didnt have my hands for support. So i started getting back on on a single toe stop, but thats hard on the leg muscles cause you are putting all your weight one side. so i did what the other girls said on the forum, to workout off skates doing lunges and squats. im a radio dj, so i started doing squats during songs. it really does help, and im sure in no time you will be popin back up! eveything takes time to learn and master :)
  • twilightlvr79
    twilightlvr79 Posts: 130 Member
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    I have noticed that when I go to get up I push my legs really far apart and I think that has a lot to do with it too. I work on it at home and without the skates I have no problem at all its just when I put that skates on that I struggle with it.
  • cstalwick
    cstalwick Posts: 15 Member
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    Knee pad up at home and do them :) Muscle Memory
  • twilightlvr79
    twilightlvr79 Posts: 130 Member
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    One of the vets worked with me and two other girls last night on the side and we lowered my toe stops. The skates that I am borrowing until I can get my own the toe stops were so far back that I was for the most part trying to stand up on the tip of the boot. Once we lowered the toe stop it gave me the toe and the front part of the wheels to stand up on and after some practice I was finally able to get up into a squat and once I was in a squat I could stand right up. So I think I am finally getting there but I still have a long way to go. I am going to start working on them at home some more. I usually do them in tennis shoes at home which I have no problem with but I couldn't do them once I put my skates on so I am going to start doing them with my skates on just start building that muscle memory.
  • twilightlvr79
    twilightlvr79 Posts: 130 Member
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    I finally mastered my knee tap on the left knee. I still couldn't do it on the right knee but I am hoping that it was just because of where I have a pulled groin from a really bad fall on Sunday. Somehow I just had an aha moment at practice Monday night and it just came to me. We figured out that when I was dropping down in to my knee taps that I was dropping all the way down and actually sitting down on my heel which was bringing me to a complete stop and making it impossible to get back up and once I realized that was what I was doing an consciously keeping myself from doing that I could pop right back up everytime. I tried once on the right knee but because of the pulled groin it shot a pain from my knee all the way up to waist when I tried so I had to give up and just keep working on my left side. Hopefully, it will be healed by Sunday so I can work on the right side next time. Now I have to figure out rockstars.