Bobble Headed Jammer

Even the sneakiest of jammers sometimes finds themselves stuck behind a stellar blocker. This duking technique can introduce an element of confusion that the jammer can take advantage of to get around.

• Pair the skaters up anywhere on the floor, with one standing directly in front of the other
• The skater at the back is our jammer - they want to confuse the blocker to create an opportunity to get through
• The skater at the front is our blocker - they are watching the jammer closely, looking for an opportunity to strike
• The jammer pokes their head over the left shoulder of the blocker to get her attention
• As soon as the blocker looks, the jammer bobs down, then reappears over the right shoulder of the blocker
• As soon as the blocker looks, the jammer bobs down and moves back to the left
• After a few repetitions of this movement, the blocker will start to lose confidence and get disoriented
• While the jammer is moving left, down, up, down; they don't need to commit to a change in direction, and can use this time to look for opportunities to pass
• Make sure the skaters swap roles; then we are ready to take this on the track!
• In a pace line, have the rear skater move through, duking twice before moving on to the next skater
• Skaters in the pace line need to practice watching the jammer - make sure they are looking so the jammer has queues to respond to

The first time you introduce this technique, run through the stationary and then the pace line versions to help get the idea across. Once it is something your league is familiar with, you can just use the pace line variation.