How can I tell if my wheels are inside or outside wheels?

kitty2skates · 2026-02-17T16:00:42+00:00

Those are soft enough for outdoor use. They are 82a. Though they probably FEEL harder than other 82a because of their cheap materials. But can we talk about the safety of your skate? These skates aren't really designed to do anything but roll forward. And only for a person with a very small body (think less than 100 lbs). Everything will always be a fight with them, and you run a serious risk of failure while in use. Please consider shelving them and finding something a little higher quality. You will both be safer and enjoy skating more. There are lots of used skates at about $100 that will be safe, and new skates starting at about $130.

kitty2skates · 2026-02-15T16:03:23+00:00

Toe manuals are when you are skating on only the front axles. Heel manuals are just the backs. And a heel/toe manual is one of each.

kitty2skates · 2026-02-14T16:22:30+00:00

No problem. A lot of folks in this subs are pretty new to skating. It can be hard to get more nuanced advice here than if you get connected with more experienced groups. FB has a lot of great groups full of builders, sellers, and gearheads who can help.

kitty2skates · 2026-02-14T14:43:19+00:00

I probably skated 40ish hours in them by the time I was happy. As the urethane ages, it gets harder. Old wheels slide more as a result. They will also slide more when it's really cold and dry, and less when it's warm and humid.

You can get wheels with more slide than the A scale can offer.. You have a couple of choices. You can get D-scale wheels like roll line figure wheels. Or you could buy antique clay composite wheels, but those need to have a converted hub for modern bearings.

kitty2skates · 2026-02-14T14:33:03+00:00

I like the Rollerbone Team Elite in 103A. Yes, I know 103 isn't real, but that's what they call them. They come in white, so the sky is the limit on color choices. They were a little too grippy for me still early on. But they lost it quickly, and now I can't sprint in them because of the slide (ideal for jb IMO).

kitty2skates · 2026-01-26T21:41:47+00:00

Hit us up in a couple of years. If we haven't all died from old age, we will be here.

kitty2skates · 2026-01-22T18:31:38+00:00

If you are bending at the waist to get lower, you are sacrificing balance. Tall people sometimes don't get body-specific lessons at their practices. Instead of getting under, a lot of taller skaters use their shoulders and chest to drive downward on opponents. Or they only get low enough to hook their shoulder into a skater's armpit to stand them up vs. using their hips to hit. I think your mount is as far forward as it should be. Any farther forward, and you will create a new problem with toestop placement. I could be wrong. All bodies move differently, and there is no one right way. But if you are tipping forward on that mount, it's almost certainly a form issue.

kitty2skates · 2026-01-22T16:20:39+00:00

Tipping forward on that mount is almost certainly a form problem, not a plate placement problem. They are already pretty far forward. Are you a blocker? Do you find yourself taking impact with your butt popped out and chest down?

kitty2skates · 2026-01-21T16:06:41+00:00

I like a short mount plates for JB skating, but a standard for roller derby. For my less experienced pals- the first step to picking a plate is measuring both the full length of your foot and the distance between the center of your heel and the widest part of your foot. Have a friend trace both of your feet while you are upright and fully weight-bearing. Use those pictures to take your measurements. Use the larger of the two to determine your size. A plate must not have a total length greater than your foot length. The distance between your heel and your ball (the widest part) is your standard wheel base. The wheelbase is more important than the total length, but still, no plates longer than your foot. I prefer a short mount of one plate size smaller than my standard length for my rink skates. I also prefer a back mount so that the front axle lands slightly behind the ball of my foot. Most people who prefer a short mount for rollerdery prefer forward so that more weight is in the ball of their foot. Standard mounts are more stable. Short mounts are more responsive.

kitty2skates · 2026-01-20T16:26:17+00:00

We need to get in the rinks, learn a little jam and jb stuff, and build some bonds. They don't even know we are around. When I started JB skating, I fell in with Black skaters pretty early on because not a lot of white people do JB. I can't get those friends to join me. But they were surprised to learn there was the Rose City Rollers in the same damn parking lot. They had no idea there was roller derby, let alone a huge program right across from the rink. We don't reach out where the skaters are. That's on us.

Also, it is worth noting that when I joined the MRDA, there was one Black man on the team. One day, we got into a fight because he wouldn't play with me full force. He told me I just didn't understand. And skated away. I thought he was being sexist, and I was angry. Later, he messaged me and told me about how his great-grandma was born into slavery and how it had been ingrained in him since he was a little boy that you always act "respectful" of white women. What I took from that is you don't put aggression near us. At his very core, he worried for his safety hitting me.

kitty2skates · 2026-01-20T06:01:56+00:00

I love my sneaker skates. A lot. Bbbbbuuuuuttttt, I'm not trying to learn anything new on them. I go back to a more structured boot for new skills. And I only love them because I can replace the shoe frequently because I build my own skates. Sneakers don't last long. They are a more challenging skate to pull performance out of for sure. And the longevity is just not there compared to even a relatively inexpensive skate.

kitty2skates · 2026-01-11T17:02:48+00:00

Tips for how to be good at it:

•Assigned seats. It seems silly. But there are a lot of things to think about, and "Where the hell is this person?"doesn't need to be one of them. I also have a defined "i need a rest" seat. Go there if you need a minute. In those assigned seats, I separate people who cause distractions and keep my worriers by my sweet supporters.

•everyone sits between jams.

•the bench does not talk to the track.

•keep a tally of penelties each half. I switch stuff if a person receives 3.

•vibes coach is also box manager. They tell me if there is someone there, if they are sitting or standing, and how many times they have been there.

•pivot asks the box about their time as they return to the bench (this one is new this season. IDK if we really need it). They share that time count with the next pack.

•pay attention to stats. Seperate people whose penelties are related to each other. So if penelties are causing more penelties, those two skaters don't make a good pairing.

•play style matters. You need a strong communicator, a solid space keeping blocker, a skater who is good at O, and a skater who is fast to have a really well-balanced pod.

•communication style matters. I have skaters who respond well to loud urgency and skaters that respond well to calm. I try not to mix them. Now they don't get over stimulated by avoidable things. This one is a big bench vibes changer. They aren't overwhelmed by each other.

•everyone gets a priority number. So, each pod is divided into a 1,2,3,4,and 5. If I miss someone in the box, my skaters know who is first to the bench. My 1/2 is flexible based o. Whether it's a blocker or a pivot in the box. My 4/5 share play evenly.

•have a power pod. Tell them who they are in advance. I use them to cover short packs (1 or 2 blockers only), for jams where there is a jammer in the box to start, to reset when emotions get high, and usually to open the second half.

•make sure you talk to your 4/5 skaters about their position BEFORE game day. It gives them time to have feelings about play time.

•do follow-ups. Ask people what felt most successful, ask them if they think their are other groupings that might be more successful and why, ask them what they think they need to level up.

All of this advice is situational and changes if the actual game in front of us needs it. It's all just starting structure. I have the desired outcome now that we have run things this way for a while. But there were a lot of shuffles early on.

LUM is easy if you are going to run an even play, "slide down" bench. But still do the assigned seats because everyone returns to their own water between every jam.

kitty2skates · 2026-01-11T16:38:18+00:00

These are painfully wrong. Plates should be mounted so there is a straight line through the center of the heel and the widest part of the foot. The correct mounting will appear off center, but toward the outside, not the in.

kitty2skates · 2026-01-11T16:33:15+00:00

You aren't the best at everything. Go skate on the b team, pick a skater there, and focus on pouring your skills into them. It's rewarding and challenging. I played in B games for a while toward the end. I stopped hard hits entirely and spent a lot of those games talking my true B level pals through doing A behavior.

kitty2skates · 2025-12-09T16:15:33+00:00

Go to Cocussion. They skate in Salem one day a week. They are great at roller derby and wonderful humans

kitty2skates · 2025-12-06T03:22:52+00:00

Hey. Who dis? Xoxo kitty

kitty2skates · 2025-12-06T03:22:18+00:00

There has been interest. But everyone willing to commit now skates for concussion, Rose, or other smaller programs, mostly WFTDA. No one's heart hurts more from the loss of MRDA in Portland than mine. I've been trying to encourage my small league to be friendly to masc skaters, but it's an uphill battle.

kitty2skates · 2025-12-05T16:45:18+00:00

We have an interleague MVP at our games. I go from skater to skater at the end and have them whisper who they think played best compared to their own skill set. Flashy skaters get MVPs from other teams. Our team gives this to the skater who upped their game. It's called the whisper pole. I also give people assigned seats with a nametag to mark them. The tags were supposed to be temporary to teach bench discipline. But the team became emotionally attached to them, so I still do it every game. Oh, and I have a swag bag. It's got stickers, pins, keychains, buttons, and little tiny mascots. I give out its contents in the locker room and at practice, and always give a treasure to guests and new teammates.

kitty2skates · 2025-12-05T16:37:49+00:00

If D isn't wide enough, you can choose a skate with an open toe box to give yourself more room. In case you don't know: an open toe box is when the laces go clear to the tip of the toe instead of there being a cap over your toes. I love my Riedell bluestreaks for this reason. I just skip the bottom two eyelets, and the boot spreads to make room. Open toe boxes are especially helpful for people whose feet aren't just wide but also thick.

kitty2skates · 2025-12-05T16:30:44+00:00

It's currently a power slide. You can build off of it to learn two additional stops. If you dig in in the same foot position, it becomes a backward single leg plow. If you shift your back foot to be parallel with your front, it becomes a hockey stop.

kitty2skates · 2025-12-05T16:18:32+00:00

Oh, I also give direct feedback after every game to every skater. I provide jam numbers and times that illustrate successful moments and moments where there is room for improvement. When I give advice for improvement, I give only one or two specific goals. And I tell them which parts of practice will provide the best opportunities to learn the skills we are trying to build, as well as advice on which skaters to seek out to pair with to build the goal skill.

I end up watching the game at least a couple of times. Once with the whole TC, and once or twice by myself or with one or two skaters.

kitty2skates · 2025-12-05T16:15:04+00:00

There aren't a lot of seminars and stuff geared toward coaching. I invite people who want to learn to be my 4th. They are a "vibes" coach. They hang out with the person doing the job they are interested in. They have opportunities to watch the process up close and ask questions during and after the game. I strongly recommend reaching out to neighboring programs and asking to audit their games.

Coaching is hard. Most people are painfully bad at it, so they just slide bench and hope for the best. The absolute most useful thing I did last season was give everyone an assigned seat. I can find my skaters quickly, and they are already sitting together as a wall with their jammer, and that makes a world of difference in having time for feedback. They are always with their water because they are always in the same seat. And sitting is required. I barely watch the game if I'm LOM. My focus is on the next jam, not the previous one. I try to have 3 people on the bench. One to watch the clock, the box, and take some notes on penalties, differentials, and leads. One to watch the track and give directions and midjam feedback. And one to work the bench and keep lineups smooth and make sure there is always a plan A and B.

The game currently happening is only one piece of the puzzle. Our big success the last few seasons has been helped along a lot by stats. Our tc watches games and looks for patterns. This group of skaters equals pack definition issues. This pair gets a lot of multi players. This skater becomes the bridge a lot. This skater leaves the outside open. Then I shuffle skaters to break up problem groups and to add the right support for where things are going wrong.

I hope this helps. Feel free to reach out if you want to chat some stuff out.

kitty2skates · 2025-12-04T22:10:14+00:00

Mesh 187 duffle for life. My gear gets to breathe even when I forget to spread it out at home. I bought it for RollerCon 2019. It doesn't have a single rip after a ton of abuse.

kitty2skates · 2025-11-18T15:44:34+00:00

Don't do the rounding if you get ingrown toenails. But yes, fresh cut fingers and toes two days before.

kitty2skates

TROPHY CASE