Skating w/o toe-stops

[tessrobs]

So, Hazel at NPT Roller Derby was having some trouble with toe-stops and her new forward mounted skates. So, I was searching skatelogforum to see if I could find anything to help her and I came across this thread: http://www.skatelogforum.com/forums/arc ... 41464.html

It mentions skating without toe-stops all together and I found this one comment particularly interesting:

I've skated derby practice, reffed and bouted without toestops in the last 3 months (just with Reidell-brand jam plugs, which are rubbish).
Stuff thats not so hot without:
Toestop starts; I can duck walk off the line no problem, just the first two strides are not quite as fast.
Tomahawks (aka. derby stops); sure you can powerslide and spin back and on the track no problem, but it takes a lot more effort which would be better put into other things when coming back in play.
OPR without toestops makes my ankles hurt because of these two factors, and in a bout it takes the edge off me. It's also handy to have stops for scrum starts, regardless of where you are in them, and for blocking while skating in reverse.
So, short answer - practice without stops is excellent (improves your footwork like crazy) but do 'live' stuff with stops IMO everyone should skate without stops for at least a month twice a year!

What are everybody's thoughts on skating without toe-stops? I know that Hot Wheel roller derby do it and they recently took away Hellfire Harlots' undefeated title. Obviously it's not JUST because they skate without toe-stops but I'm interested to see how it would improve footwork and stuff! Anybody want to try it for a training session sometime?

[Mr Incredibrawl]

Funny you should mention this, because when we trundled up to Lincoln, one of their refs, Frank Spanx'er (who told me he's been reffing for 3 and a half years) said he doesn't use toe stops at all and watching him skate, he seemed to use hockey stops most of the time. He was jammer reffing and seemed to be doing a pretty good job at keeping up when the jammers started. He suggested to me not using toe stops for a couple of weeks to see how it goes. He also said his skating improved loads without the stops.

Not sure I'm confident enough to be without stops yet.

[Delta Strike]

Myself and Minxie went to a session run by Smartie Pants on skating without toe stops. Wasn't that bad actually. She played derby for six years without toe stops. Her main point was she wasn't saying don't have them but by practising without them you will stop using them as a crutch and instead use them as a tool.

Can speak to Minxie and try to dig up my notes from the session to see if we can put something together for a session.

xxx

[Lil]

That would be cool, I'd like to try it. I know I rely on mine a lot.

[White Riot]

I'd like to give this a go, bit worried I'm relying on mine too much so might force me to focus on technique! x

[Goldie Lookin Pain]

me too! think it would be well beneficial. x

[Mr Incredibrawl]

Just don't forget you haven't got your stops, try to 'mohawk and leave gouges in the hall floor from your plates scraping it!

[La Bicha]

I'd try this, sure! It sounds just nuts, which is always a good training starting point. Probably not straight after going back to skating, though, as I foresee quite a few hard knee falls and automatic transition "stops".
(nose stops, more like)

[tessrobs]

Woo - glad that this got a positive response! A non-toestop session sounds fun!

[Thundercat Ho!]

Would this mean you're all going 'stopless?'

[la calavera 420]

so why do people want to skate without toe stops anyway? is it considered bad technique to use them or rely on them? if so, why?

x

[Mr Incredibrawl]

so why do people want to skate without toe stops anyway? is it considered bad technique to use them or rely on them? if so, why?

x

I think it's just a way of improving balance and skating ability. By forcing yourself to not rely on your toestops, you're having to find otherways to stop fast, usually in the form of hockey stops and/or power slides and I don't know if you've tried to do those lately, but everytime I try them, I fall over. Also, without stops, you'd have to find another way of doing jammer starts, like duck walks.

I don't think it's considered bad thechnique to use your stops, but they can be a crutch for people like myself who may be a bit wary of trying other things and therefore may prevent these people from improving. If you can do transition/'mohawk stops, why would you want to do hockey stops? Not the way to think if you want to be an awesome derby machine!

[la calavera 420]

i get you, thanks for that!

[La Bicha]

Yes, I agree with Brawly. This may be also a good chance to develop that hockey-style technique that Kami taught us, so you try to rely more in keeping control with smaller "grips" in all directions, rather than relying on longer gliding movements or poorly controlled speed. It's probably also an amazing workout having to always restart skating using ducky step...

Scary, IMO, as well!