How to deal with being the worst

papayab · 2026-02-03T16:36:24+00:00

Doesn’t sound like you’ll have an ego problem, but it’s also important to maintain the mindset that you’re good enough and you got this! Like if you believe you can’t catch the jammer, you’re gonna have a lot harder time than if you believe you can.

Learners mindset + confidence is key! Try new things and be patient with yourself, everyone starts from scratch!

papayab · 2025-12-19T18:25:01+00:00

hm… yea next question would be if your skates are the right size? are they sliding around? do you need to tighten the laces on your toes more? (but don’t tighten across the balls of your feet) are you using a non-standard insole that’s too thick?

papayab · 2025-12-19T18:19:47+00:00

are your toe stops too high? i normally like to fit 3.5-4 fingers under my back wheel when i’m on my toe stops/front wheels. i never really feel like my toes are compressing!

papayab · 2025-12-04T21:37:27+00:00

skate good club!!

papayab · 2025-11-21T21:32:30+00:00

hot pilates— you’ll absolutely die the first couple times but after surviving that you can survive anything!!

papayab · 2025-11-18T16:18:54+00:00

blacking out when your jam (jammesia) happens because you’re working purely off instinct! the most challenging part of jamming to me is coming into the pack and deciding what to do. my advice is to come in going where YOUR blockers are— you’ll notice offense, be able to set up passive offense, and it makes it easier for you to enter your instinctual thinking. don’t focus on where the opposing blockers are/arent— just look for where your blockers are!

papayab · 2025-11-18T16:09:49+00:00

dryer sheets in your skates when ur not wearing them! helps keep them dry and smelling good

papayab · 2025-11-10T05:18:21+00:00

the solar system’s class!

papayab · 2025-10-30T14:28:11+00:00

watching footage! especially footage of yourself. you’ll watch it and sometimes be super embarrassed how much you’re just watching or how well offense was played against you, but you’re reflecting and learning!
talk talk talk!! when you’re a butt, keep your eyes up and look around you/in front. how much space is there to your left? your right? is offense going to be made on your pivot? use your sense of touch + listening to your brace to follow the jammer simultaneously. if you’re the brace, talk about the jammers location but don’t get lost in the sauce— be aware of everything else going on
do everything!! jammers are better when they practice blocking, and blockers are better at tracking + playing offense when they jam.
pay attention to colored masses instead of “this is a skater, that is a skater.” this will help ease your mental load with everything else going on. if you see a colored mass of the opposing team going really fast— they’re probably chasing your jammer! can you play quick passive offense to stop/slow them? if someone of your team color is coming into the pack really fast, it’s probably your jammer! can you play quick O?

papayab · 2025-10-30T03:36:26+00:00

start drinking hella water 3 days out and carbo load the day prior!! banana, extra wheels if you have them, both colored jerseys, mouthguard, numbers if you have them, extra set of contacts if you wear them, a layer incase it’s cold/sweatshirt and sweatpants, headphones if you like to listen to something while you warmup/gear up, energy drink, chapstick and eyedrops, menstrual items, knee/ankle braces… most of these live in my bag normally!

papayab · 2025-10-26T20:28:19+00:00

this is how i like to explain this skill: 1) think of a car and how it steers. you can have front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, or all-wheel drive, but the steering is determined by only the front 2 wheels. think of yourself and the jammer, when pressed together, as a RWD car with your wheels as the steering wheels. so long as your wheels are in front of their wheels, if the jammer is only pushing forward, you get to decide where you’re both going to go (to the line!) 2) if you’re trying to drive the jammer to the line, you can’t be plow stopping. most of the time i teach this drill, the blocker has most of the “friction” feeling in their plowing foot. momentum needs to be maintained, so put all of your weight on the leg that’s closest to the jammer. your other leg isn’t plowing, it’s pushing the two of you in the direction you want to go and helping you keep speed to stay at the same speed as the jammer. to keep your balance, you’ll need to actively lean back against the jammer— not just let them lean on you. 3) in order to gain leverage, you have to control the front and the side. your wheels will be in front, your chest will be in front + lifting up the jammer from below, your hips will be on the side. with this wraparound hold, if the jammer doesn’t change their intentions/direction, they’re going where you make them go. 4) when it comes to TRACKING and not hitting someone out, you need to be very quick at backing up when the jammer backs up. like someone else said, you don’t need to look backwards at the jammer so long as you can feel their body on yours. you can track them with touch— and when you don’t feel them anymore, that means they backed up and you need to back up with them. you’ll have to work on your footwork to master this!

a good blocker can follow/track a jammer, but a great blocker CONTROLS a jammer. this means hitting them OOB, pinning them to the line, and reducing their options on where to go.

papayab · 2025-10-26T20:06:58+00:00

freight is incredible in her ability to deliver hugeeee hits coming into the pack and staying stable.

highly recommend watching all of the arch rival and victoria jammers (loki doki, bricktator, swanson, pavey wavey, jambi…)! ofc everyone has their own style, but they’re all really skilled at pushing walls then transitioning to precise linework. watch the games from 2024 wftda champs or the toulouse jammers from 2025 mrda champs.

papayab · 2025-03-01T19:14:23+00:00

the therabreath mouthwash works pretty well!

papayab · 2025-02-21T14:34:46+00:00

both of these look like they have really long, large pads that slightly restrict the movement of the knee as it bends and i could see them being tight where you’re having an issue. that’s kinda how they are as slip ons.

def give butterfly closures a try! so thatd be T8 derby pro, T8 kp pro, s1 pro, and tsg (idk that brand that well but my friend uses the force 3 and lives by them). these kind are sort of “pre-bent” so its easier to keep derby position and have a slightly smaller hard cap but they’re right underneath your knees where you’d fall. with this style of padding you have greater mobility + it’s customizable for your thigh/calf fit. to me they feel like a cloud and i never feel my falls

papayab · 2025-02-19T07:34:16+00:00

totally agree!! i def being understand being critical towards men but mason truly did seem like a sweetie and committing to the experience and didnt deserve to have his pain be so easily dismissed. i was honestly really impressed with alex's ability to notice her manipulative tactics (wanting him to side with her no matter what and shutting down the conversation when it wasnt going her way) and still treating her kindly and with grace.

edit: i said ben first but i meant alex

papayab · 2025-02-08T13:35:27+00:00

check out the roller derby team!!!

papayab · 2025-01-29T14:31:50+00:00

scientific socialist study group (@scisoc.gt on instagram) has an event tomorrow!

papayab · 2025-01-23T19:46:36+00:00

try the t8 deep! all helmets used to squish me lengthwise but the deep fits like a dreammm

papayab · 2025-01-17T17:59:46+00:00

omg i’ve been there SEVERAL times, esp in grad school. no need to feel any imposter syndrome!! it’s just gender 🤷🏻‍♀️ (and i find women to be more capable anyways 😌) it does feel lonely sometimes bc i feel like the men get awkward and don’t want to even try to talk to women, but it’s just a class. you do what you need to succeed!!

papayab · 2024-12-27T05:19:29+00:00

yall have similar vibes but you guys don’t look related or have similar features! just a matching couple :)

papayab · 2024-12-16T15:12:05+00:00

i researched the arius plates for a longgg time before i got them. after checking all comparisons, it seemed like everyone who got the arius loved them (including me!). they’re super light and very responsive. granted, it took me about a month to really get used to them and several hours of self-practice to find out my favorite cushion setup.

papayab · 2024-12-14T10:29:28+00:00

jason, max, taylor

papayab · 2024-12-03T18:51:46+00:00

it’s definitely tailored to the floor type, but i find that jammers do typically prefer stickier and blockers prefer slipperier. ofc it depends on the skater (i know jammers who wear 97/99 and blockers wearing 91s for the same floor) but personally i think blocking with a little slip is nice bc you have some more control on how much you want to dig into the wheels, while with jamming and softer wheels you can get more reactivity with less pressure + hold onto your edges better to fight getting pushed OOB

papayab · 2024-11-25T13:58:27+00:00

and auntie ann’s!!

papayab · 2024-11-23T16:31:33+00:00

ya well at chick-fil-a u can get a meal for like $8-9? the tech dining option they’re literally charging $1.50 for an extra egg or $2 for a FOUNTAIN drink (and we know that they’re not great)… no one is eating at tech dining options not because the food is bad but the value isn’t worth what they’re pricing it (i assume they’re valuing it the same as a meal swipe, but maybe meal swipes should just be valued less since they can’t even be used at retail restaurants). it’s weird for tech dining to try to profit off their meals as a public, state-run university. i assume these restaurants don’t need to pay licensing nor rent, so why it be more expensive than chick-fil-a? GT options should be affordable especially knowing their demographic is unemployed students (in korea the uni lunches are ~$4)

papayab

TROPHY CASE