The Roller Derby Blueprint

Finished up reading this, this morning. I've been involved with Roller Derby since 2012, having all the experiences, thoughts, ideas put into words that I can relate to, expanding my own insights and grounding them with different approaches and perspectives I have found very useful. It's got me excited about implementing some of the techniques, articulated ideas in ways I hadn't thought to, which I feel will up my coaching efforts.I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking to infuse their existing methods with new approaches and especially if you're newer to Roller Derby and perhaps don't have experience in your League to lean on, this covers everything.

FYI, I purchased the paperback and the binding is just fine.I've skated derby for almost ten years and coached the last three years. When I started derby, I read all the introductory books on derby, but conspicuously missing was discussion about tactics and strategy. Some argue that it's hard to create strategy in derby, because you have to play offense and defense simultaneously, but I would argue that in chess you play offense and defense simultaneously and chess has the most strategies of all games. This book finally fills in that gap. Every skater, every coach should read this book. And the author is none other than 5x MRDA champ, Magnum P.I.M.P. He just goes by Magnum for the book understandably.The beauty of modern derby is that it is a new sport which allows a creative mind to come up with all sorts of new ideas, tactics, and strategies. Someone came up with 'goating', passive defense, tripods, apex jumps, bridging, Jammers recycling Jammers, etc. And there will be many more innovations to come. This book does a great job offering both existing and new ideas, tactics, and strategies. Don't rush through the book. It takes a while to digest and visualize it all, and fortunately, there are many diagrams in this book (unlike the WFTDA Casebook, cough-cough). Read one chapter every day.Chapter 1, Coach’s Approach is pages 1 to 20Chapter 2, Player’s Approach is pages 21 to 28Chapter 3, Jamming is pages 29 to 51Chapter 4, Blocking is pages 52 to 77Chapter 5, Game Time is pages 78 to 88Chapter 6, Longevity is pages 89 to 100Glossary is pages 102 to 104Bonus (a jam algorithm) is pages 106 to 128Appendix has 42 pages of drillsHaving been in derby almost ten years, I come across veteran skaters who think they know it all. I suffered the same affliction about three years into derby until I attended a clinic by a champ level skater, and that was when I was truly humbled and realized I know s***. This book is a godsend to derby, and it should humble you too. No matter how long you've played or at what level or how many MVP awards you've received, there is always a lot of room for improvement. Derby is an analogy for battle, and if you're not constantly innovating and inventing new weapons and shields, you'll never be the best you can be, and no matter how physically talented you are, a smarter, harder-working player will trick you into failure. I've seen it many times. Do yourself a favor, if you're in derby, and read this book, implement it, and as the author astutely notes, put in the hard work consistently, and you'll beat and outlast a natural physical talent. As an older skater, I can no longer rely on my physical abilities and find myself increasingly relying on simple derby smarts, better tactics, and better strategies.The only major thing missing from the book is end game strategy and clock management so I'll give the advice here. Always keep one timeout and one OR for the last five minutes of a game. If you're behind in points, in the last five minutes, use up timeouts to keep stopping the clock and always hit it and quit it to stop the clock and seal in 4 points unless you know for sure the other Jammer is dying and your Blockers can contain them. If you're ahead, avoid timeouts and go long, which means the Jammer, if they are lead doesn't call it off so long as there's an even exchange of points, 4-4, 8-8, 12-12, 16-16. Essentially, you just killed two minutes and the score differential remains exactly the same. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a team down a few points and let the clock run out with timeouts and an OR remaining.

What Magnum has managed to put to paper here is truly extraordinary. WFTDA Roller Derby appears to be very simple on the surface, but it is a very complex game. Magnum distills the game down to the essentials and delivers it in a way that newcomers and verterans alike can digest easily. The sections on running a league are invaluable as well. Well worth a purchase.

Awesome book! Has great insight on strategy and player/coach mindset. Very detailed drills with images to assist in understanding.

Very good

One of the best books ive read concerning Roller Derby. The way its simple to read and understand. It also has coaching section which is awesome. I would recommend it to anyone starting out playing/coaching or being a ref in roller derby.