Top 5 Jammer Tips

In my time playing roller derby, I’ve had some excellent pieces of advice from teammates and players from other teams.

Here are the top 5 pieces of advice I’ve received, that have lead to the biggest improvements in my game.

I hope you can get some benefit from them too.

1. Don’t give up

When I started out playing against walls who were as new as me, I could often skip past an entire wall in one move. As I started playing against more experienced players, I got despondent and frustrated that it wasn’t as easy.

But it’s not supposed to be easy! Even the best jammers in the world are having to battle and fight and put in all their effort to get through very good walls. It’s never going to be a walk in the park.

So it’s important to keep going and not get disheartened. You might end up getting recycled behind the whole pack (which is really frustrating), or blockers you’ve already beaten might end up reforming in front of you (which is also really frustrating). These things are all normal, and all part of the process. If blockers are recycling or having to reform, it means you’re making them move, which is progress.

One caveat: it’s important to vary your intensity. Don’t give up doesn’t mean go 100% full beans for 2 minutes. No-one can do that and you’re bound to tire yourself out. Don’t be afraid to drop a gear for a few seconds to recover, then go again.

2. You’re in charge

It’s quite intimidating being a jammer - it can feel a bit like you’re on your own, and the whole team is relying on you to get points. Plus, you’ve got 4 full-sized humans against just one of you. How are you ever going to get past them all?

It took me a long time to realise this, but as a jammer you are the one in the position of power, not the blockers. The blockers have to follow you. If they don’t, you’re instantly through.

You must use this power to your advantage. Don’t be tentative and “ask permission” for the blockers to let you through. Move them! They have to follow you!

What this means in practice is that you should always be moving, always be faking/juking, and generally keeping the blockers confused and busy.

It also really helps with keeping a positive state of mind, knowing that the blockers are worried about what I’m going to do, not the other way around.

3. Stay on track

This is probably the number 1 tip I’ve been given, and I’ve lost count of how many times it’s been said to me.

It can be really tempting, especially when you’re tired and going up against really solid walls, to dive for an edge out of exasperation. You might get lucky, but chances are you will get knocked off and recycled.

It’s super tiring being recycled all the time. And each time it happens, you erase all the progress you’ve made so far.

This is especially important when you’re out at the front of the pack, say you’ve beaten two blockers and just have a final blocker to get past. At this point, it’s really important to stay on track, so I try to stay as central to the track as I can. Yes, this means it will be harder to get past, but it reduces the risk of getting hit off and having to start from square one. You can still move the single blocker laterally, just don’t dive for an edge unless you’re sure you’ve made enough space.

4. Use your offence

You’re eventually going to come up against a wall which is just too good for you to beat by yourself - you’re going to need offensive help.

Typically the jammer will try to move the wall to one side of the track, then attack so the wall is forced to bed in. Then the offence can enter on the other side of the track, hopefully making a nice big space for the jammer.

You’re likely not going to get past in a single move though, so you’ll need to keep looking for your offence as you move through the wall, and seeking opportunities to make use of them. I’m a big fan of hip or shirt whips, which can help me change direction and speed really quickly.

5. Relax

It’s a cliché, but the more relaxed you are, the better you’re going to play.

Jamming is a creative process, it requires quick thought and reaction to unexpected circumstances. If you’re stuck in your head worrying about getting lead, or how many points you need to score, or anything else, your creative brain is not going to be working at full capacity.

This is obviously easier said than done, so you need to think about what relaxes you and how to get in the mindset of “this is just a hobby, it doesn’t matter”. I’m going to write a future post about my personal game day preparation, so keep your eyes peeled for that. But for now, some things that help me are:

• Relaxing music
• Trying to remember that this is a hobby that I enjoy and is not supposed to be stressful
• Doing some silly warm ups on track to get my body nice and loose
• Clearing my mind and not thinking about the game or the score