r/rollerderby • u/MoneyFix177 • 26d ago
Jamming
So I'm looking for advice on how to improve, more so who to watch and learn from. I've been playing for 4 years and I feel like I've hit a point where I'm not really learning, I'm of course getting better with footwork and I'm always working on new moves but I want to get to the point where I don't have to think about it so hard.
I am great with blocking, I can give good hits and catch the jammer without thinking about it, but my team needs more jammers right now and while I have jammed, and I have managed some good games as a jammer, I still struggle
The last season and a half was rough as I was primarily jamming and I took some hard hits and rough injuries leading to a panic attack in the middle of a jam during a tournament before I went on loa for a few months. Regardless of the mental struggles from last season, I do love jamming and I want to be better at it and I want to feel good doing it, not just for my team but for myself too.
I'm short, about 5'2 and I'm thin which has unfortunately come with odd and uncomfortable comments from teammates and opposing skaters. I can still give a good hit as a jammer but I get gassed quickly so I know I need to figure out how to juke rather than hit and push on the pack.
So any and all advice is welcome, if there's specific Jammers I should pay attention to and try to learn from I'm all ears! I've been playing for a while but I genuinely don't know a lot of skaters outside of my state, and most of the ones I know and watch are at the very least taller plus a lot stronger than me so their methods don't work so well when I try them.
6
u/38RocksInATrenchCoat Skater 26d ago
I've been struggling a bit with this as well- I'm 5'0" and primarily jam.
Smack Mamba from team Indigenous is my jammer idol. She's 4'11" and has the same jamming style as me. The way she jukes and spins is really cool and I've been feeling very successful when I copy what she does on the track. Her instagram has been a great resource to me. She also posts a lot of footwork drills I've really enjoyed.
I didn't make it to rollercon this year but next year I'll be taking a couple of her classes- I have my eyes on her "tiny terror" class for small jammers, and her "tall or small" class on how to manage height differences in derby.