Hi Folks, I’m Ali. I’ve been skating for 16 years and I’m one of the New Intake Coaches for Nottingham Roller Derby!

So you’re thinking of attending your first Roller derby session – you’ve reserved your skates, found your old bike helmet out of the cupboard and chosen your favourite pair of leggings (if you don’t have one you will soon!) but now what…?

Structure of your first session

1) Meet the coaches

You’ll meet one of our New Skater Coaches (me, and Steph):

2) Get padded up

Whether you’ve brought your own pads or are borrowing some of ours, you’ll need to get your pads on before we do anything else. If you have any difficulties or need any further explanation, any one of our coaches will be happy to give you a hand!

3) Falling Safely

You will start off skates, even if you have ramp skated or skated at the local roller disco we need to make sure that you know how to fall safely before you put wheels on your feet! We will take you through a series of simple falls to teach you the basics of hitting the floor.

4) Get your skates on!

Next up, we will then get you kitted up in skates! Don’t be shy if you asked for skates of one size and they don’t fit, tell us and we will try and find some other ones that fit better.

5) Start Moving…

Everyone has to start somewhere – some people come to sessions having never put skates on before others come from other skating disciplines. We start with the basics of moving forwards, backwards and turning around.

6) …and Stop!

Once you are comfortable moving, next up we teach you how to stop.

7) Off -skates roller derby basics

Otherwise known as ‘Sock Derby’! This is where we’ll teach you the basics of roller derby, but without your skates on. You’ll get to learn some body checks and how to form a ‘wall’.

8) End of the session

We all have a stretch and notice which muscles haven’t been used in a while.

Frequently asked questions:

How long will it take to get better?

The simple answer is how long is a piece of string!!! Keep coming and you’ll make progress but don’t compare yourself with anyone else, everyone learns at different speeds and progress is not linear.

Why do my legs hurt?

Even if you are generally fit and active you are using muscles in a different way to what you are used to and it takes time for you body to get used to that.

Why is one side easier than the other?

I wish I knew! But this is something most of us have found, skills tend to be easier on one side. All I can say is keep practicing both sides and it will come!

I hope to see you at one of our new Skater Sessions soon!

Take a look at the join us page to find when our next intake starts.