The Pedagogical Link: WFTDA Blocking as a World Skate Foundation

The key to effective World Skate blocking lies in body mastery and stability. The Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby (WFTDA) ‘stop-block’ is the most efficient way to teach and isolate these crucial skills.

1. The Core Training Goal: Isolating Body Mechanics

When training new blockers, we need them to focus solely on achieving maximum stability and lateral power without the added complexity of maintaining forward motion.

• The World Skate Difficulty: A legal World Skate block requires two difficult things at once:
  1. Maintaining powerful lateral engagement (the hard part).
  2. Executing minimal, controlled forward movement (the penalty-avoidance part).
• The WFTDA Solution (The Foundation): The stop-block removes the forward movement requirement, allowing the skater to dedicate all their focus to the single hardest skill: lateral stability and bracing.

Analogy for Understanding:

“Think of this like teaching a basketball player to shoot. You don’t start them with running and jumping. You start them stationary to master the proper form, grip, and arc. The WFTDA stop-block is our ‘stationary drill’ for core stability. They must master the ‘form’ of the block before we ask them to perform it while moving.”

2. Why “Stopping” Creates Advanced Skaters

The WFTDA-style ‘stop-block’ is the ultimate test of an advanced blocker’s strength.

• Mastering Stability (The “Zero Movement” Goal):
  • To truly hold their ground (not move forward) under heavy impact, the skater is forced to find their absolute strongest, most anchored position: low hips, engaged core, and perfect edge work.
  • If a beginner is told to block and move forward, they often just lean or slide—they never learn true bracing.
• Developing Lateral Power:
  • Drilling the stop-block forces the skater to use their hips and muscles for pure, directed lateral push and impact absorption.
  • This is the exact same lateral power and body engagement required to successfully block a fast Jammer in World Skate.
• The Beginner Reality: As you noted, when a beginner is hit, their natural reaction is to be pushed forward. They are not yet in control of their movement.
  • If a skater can actually hold their position without being pushed (the Stop-Block goal), they are already an advanced skater. They are now stable enough to control adding that tiny, legal forward step.

3. The Clear Skill Progression

We are using the WFTDA rule set as a training tool, not the final objective. The training is a simple two-part progression:

1. Phase 1: Master the Anchor (WFTDA Training Mindset)
   • Goal: Don’t move forward at all. Focus on bracing, edge work, and pure lateral power.
   • Outcome: The skater learns what maximum power and stability feels like.
2. Phase 2: Add the Control Step (World Skate Application)
   • Goal: Maintain the stability from Phase 1, but now intentionally add the minimal forward motion required for World Skate legality.
   • Outcome: The skater uses their foundation of strength to control their forward momentum—they move just enough to be legal, rather than being pushed too much by the hit.

Final Takeaway for Trainers:

“By starting with the goal of not moving, we are isolating and strengthening the hardest, most crucial mechanics. This gives the skaters the body control and power they need to efficiently and legally execute the minimal steps required under World Skate rules at high speed.”

Here are some drills and mantras for mastering the stop block to mastering the stepping block
https://www.southsiderollerderby.com/drills-for-mastering-the-anchor-the-stop-block-to-the-stepping-block/