That's it.  That's the whole blog.  - Move when I move.  I'm the blocker on the other team.  I'm the one causing trouble for your jammer. I'm the one that knocked you on your ass last jam.  I'm making you nervous.  I'm the other teams jammer, the one that's gotten through every last time she's jammed.  I'm too fast for you to chase.  So get over here in front of me and move when I move.

The heart of the matter is; you've got to work on lateral movements.  Just like your coaches have been telling you all along.  But I always thought it was more important to be fast.  The truth is you can stop the fastest skaters with a wide stance and quick lateral movement.  

Get very used to always looking behind you.  Before the whistle, check out their jammer -what's she look like, what is she wearing, etc.  If she's not wearing a mouthpiece you're the one who should notice first.  When the first whistle blows you have to get off the line, figure out what the pack is doing, wall up, and begin to control the pack.  Once that second whistle blows your eyes are constantly flashing back to their jammer.  You should gage her speed and prepare to give her position to the pack at all times.  She's the most important girl in your derby world for the next two minutes.  


So it's the moment of truth! She's right behind us and coming in fast.  We know she prefers the inside so we're trying to stay put to the left but she's riding the outside and we'll miss her if we don't go out and get her.  Our favorite teammate is close and hears us yelling, "Jammer on the outside- going out!" and they immediately bust ass to the front inside line while we go out to meet the jammer.  We keep our eyes on her and start to match her speed.  We juke out when she does but not as hard.  She knows the outside route is the longest and it's just a matter of time before she jukes back in.  We have to always be ready to beat her back to the line.  She's trying to pull us out far enough to pass us on the inside.   But we're not havin' it, we're ready.  We've been working on lateral movements.  We move when she moves.