The ninth circle of hell…..also known as backwards skating

Backwards skating. These two words became the bane of my life for more weeks than I care to mention.
Returning to the track after having a baby, I was keen to get back up to full strength and finally join my awesome team mates and bout.
But then I was told about backwards skating.
This torture on eight wheels had been added to the list of minimum skills needed before I could compete. Fair enough, I thought, how hard can it be? Oh how naïve I was.
Let me take you back a few years…maybe a few more…..yep keep going back…… to explain just why this was such a problem for me.
When I was a little girl, I didn’t spend my time whizzing around on Minnie Mouse roller skates. I hung out with smelly boys, rolled around in mud and played with Hulk Hogan toys instead of Barbie dolls.
The first time I strapped on skates was in my 20s when I had lost my youthful ability to bounce whenever I fell over. To give you an example of just how appalling bad I was when I first started out, I could only do eight laps of a roller derby track in five minutes. Yep, I had some skating issues to work on.
But I tried really hard and got better. Except at going backwards. It was never part of the minimum skills before I got pregnant so it was never anything I had to work on.
Until now.
I tried everything from wiggling my wobbly bum in all directions to doing backwards lemons (snomel) but all to no avail.

The whole backwards saga really started to get me down and I wondered if I would ever get over this milestone.
Then, for no reason at all, something finally clicked. I began skating backwards and I got faster and faster and that was it, my hatred of backwards disappeared and I was off.

backwards weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I guess there is a mental block for everyone when it comes to sport, especially a sport like roller derby. So mine was backwards, but yours may be ploughs or hockey stops.
My only advice is to keep going, simple eh? But yes, sometimes the most simple advice is the best. If stop trying you will never nail that move but if you keep moving forward you’ll get it eventually.
You’ll see that mental wall that you’ve banging your heard against for weeks and you’ll strap on your skates, race towards it and slam it to the ground with a swift can opener.
So get to it!