The Simple Explanation – Two teams, consisting of 5 hot chicks in sexy costumes, skating around an oval track while trying to score & beat the crap out of each other.
The Full Explanation -
Each team consists of 5 girls per jam. A jam is a round. Each jam can last up to 1 ½ minutes.
The team consists of a Pivot, 3 Blockers & A Jammer.
The Pivot – The leader of the pack of blockers. She is identifiable by the stripe on her helmet. Her job is to control the pace of the skaters. The tighter the pack, the harder it is for the Jammer to get through.
The Blockers – Their job is to do everything (legal) to stop the other team’s Jammer from getting through while helping their Jammer get trough. The Pivot & Blockers all start at the 1st whistle.
The Jammer – She’s the one that scores points. She starts 20 feet behind the pack & takes off at the second whistle, usually 30 seconds after the 1st whistle. The Jammer scores a point for every girl she passes on the opposing team the second time around. In other words, she has to fight through the group, skate her butt off to catch up to the pack again and then when she passes the other team’s girls she starts to get points.
The Lead Jammer – The lead Jammer is the one who is the first Jammer out of the pack on the first pass without stepping out bounds. Lead Jammers have the power to end a jam early by putting their hands on their hips… usually they have to “slap” their hips. This is an important tactical advantage since a lead jammer can rack up points then call an end to the jam if the other team’s Jammer looks like she’s going to break out of the pack & get points. If neither girl is lead Jammer, then the Jam goes for the full 1 ½ minutes.
The Jam – When the Jammers reach the back of the pack after their whistle blows, the Jam is officially on. Most games have 2 periods, but there can be any number of Jams.
What’s Legal & What Isn’t – A skater can hit or lean into the side of her opponent’s body using either her own body from shoulder to elbow, a bent arm or the torso down to the hip. They can also use their entire bodies to stop skaters by stepping in their way.
However, they can’t touch the opponents with their hands, but they can touch their teammates. Teammates can push each other into an opponent’s path, shove a teammate into an opponent & push or “whip” their Jammer through the pack.
Absolutely not allowed is tripping, grabbing, hitting (from the front or behind), elbow strikes and fighting. These are all illegal and carry a penalty.
Each player is allowed 4 major penalties & is ejected from the jam & red-carded on the 5th. Major penalties are punished at the ref’s discretion… BUT…
What the ref’s don’t see doesn’t count!
Is it real? Nothing about Roller Derby is fake. The Arizona Derby Dames put in may hours practicing and working out. Roller Derby is 100% real and the outcome is NOT predetermined. As for the fights, to ensure the safety of the girls, they do practice how to safely initiate a fight and what parts of the bodies are acceptable targets… but they are not “scripted”.
If you have any questions, leave me a comment & If I don’t know the answer, I’ll find out.