butt Blocking

Tracking: knowing where the jammer is by sense of touch, her body on your back/butt/hips/side

• Faking out = pushing laterally on the blocker - faking out with full width of your body

• Real juke vs/ fake juke. Where they put pressure tells you if it's fake or not. Take off pressure = fake. Pressure on = real

• As soon as you lose the jammer with your hips you've lost them

• Don't override sense of touch with sense of vision. Don't use sight to track the jammer. Just use your body.

• Keep your hips in a powerful position. Flush towards the center of the track. Butt down, not out.

• Stabilize – Counter the jammer's push by using a hockey stop on the opposite side that she is pushing.

• Use lateral manoeuvres and move your feet quickly. Successful blockers always have their feet moving - where your feet are pointed is where you are going to go.

Summary

• Key objective is to block the jammer and stop them moving forward

• Using their momentum to move them across the track and not forward is more efficient for the blocker

• Catching them as much as possible with the side of your body and armpit

• Need to be low - the lower you are the more stable and the bigger the blocking zone

• Feet facing in the same direction

• Weight over center of gravity

Drill

On track in pairs - one jammer and one blocker. Start from the inside line. Jammer pushes the blocker from one side of the track to the other. When blocker gets to the edge they need to reset in the other direction.

Jammer facilitates to begin with by applying consistent pressure and driving in the direction the blocker is going. Start slow - this is about the technique - and then build up.

Switch up pairs and repeat - challenge your partner - if you can feel they still need to get the basics take it easy - if you know they can take a bit more pressure and speed pick it up.

Drill progression

Three skaters on track. Brace, butt/nook blocker and jammer. Nook blocker and jammer start 10-15 feet behind the brace. Jammer starts engaged and pushes nook blocker to the brace where the two blockers make a two wall.

This is a good opportunity for a reminder about how to be an effective brace - communication, mirror where the jammer is to be in a good position to support the blocker or catch the jammer if they get past the first blocker. Brace should support the blocker where the jammer is pushing.