I learnt this from Just Jess of Brawling and Brawl Saints. LRG have been told have been practising a form of this for a while to help them move quickly but whilst retaining stable, between lanes. Glide is possibly the wrong word to use here as it could imply a slow movement, where as in reality this ‘glide’ is fast paced.


A breakdown of this move:

1. Start with both feet facing forwards.
   
2. Pick up the foot nearer to the direction you intend to go.
   
3. Turn that foot 90 degrees, with toes pointing in the direction you want to go.
   
4. Push off whilst gliding on that foot.
   

*There are two ways of stopping at this point*

• Easy version (which is essentially stepping out of it): Place the trailing foot down facing forwards, transferring your weight onto that foot, lift your gliding foot up returning it to a forwards facing position.
  

Now this is fine, but it is far clunker as there are more steps, stopping is less instantaneous, which means that changing direction is also slower.

• Harder version: For this, you will need to have an understanding of how to do hockey stops (more specifically one footed hockey stops). Ok, so here with your gliding foot you do a one footed hockey stop to get your foot to snap into the forwards facing position, then place the trailing foot parallel.
  

So in either version you should finish in your derby stance, strong and stable. The key thing to keep in mind is that you are finishing with your hips facing forward.

This move overall is quicker than side stepping and more efficient to do as a pack (when practised).

Drill (Part 1):

Groups of 1
Send people out in a space. I’d judge which version to teach based on the competency of the skaters you have to do hockey stops myself. Get people to practice the above chosen version. Encourage them to move back and forth across one lane. After a while get them covering more than one lane with the movement.

Part 2:

Groups of 2.
Send skaters to practice moving across the track as a pair using the London lane gliding. Get them to focus on staying together; communicating which lane they are stopping in, which direction they are going in.

Part 3:

Groups of 3/4.
Have a jammer behind the wall that the blockers can track across the track at 50%. The jammer would be enabling the drill – i.e. not attacking the wall.

Part 4:

Groups of 3/4.
Again, have a jammer behind the wall. This time the jammer is attacking the wall, but not challenging the wall above 50% as they are still enabling the blockers.

Aim: to practice digging in in your lanes

Part 1: Plow stopping in lanes

Group of 1.
Get skaters to practice plowing alone encouraging them to try to take up as little a space as possible. Some people, usually those with longer legs have a habit of spider-legging – plowing whilst covering many lanes – this drill should encourage them to consider the space they are taking up.

Get the skaters to find a set of parallel lines on the court you train on that are about the width of a lane on a derby track – preferably a little smaller to get skaters used to training in a smaller space, as inevitably they will take up more space under pressure (whether that is in full paced drills, scrimmage or bouts). Alternatively you could mark out lines with cones/tape.

Groups of 2
Send skaters to practice plowing in between the lines whilst someone is applying pressure to them. Get pairs to communicate more or less pressure from the jammer to challenge the blocker. Skaters should focus on maintaining their skates within the lines, whilst digging in and reducing how far forward the jammer can push them.

Part 2: Hockey stopping in lanes – while plowing is useful for continual movement, hockey stops can be useful to take a jammers speed off them.

Group of 1.
Send skaters out in their own space to practice hockey stopping, advanced skaters should be trying to keep their stop in a space as small as possible.

Groups of 2.
Get the skaters out to practice hockey stopping between the lines, the ones marked out as in part one, whilst someone is applying pressure to them. Get the pairs to communicate more or less pressure from the jammer to challenge the blocker. Skaters should focus on maintaining their skates within the lines, whilst digging in and reducing how far forward the jammer can push them.