There is no glory in jamming. At least that's the way I see it. Yes, you might be the one scoring the points, but you could also be the one sitting in the penalty box, watching your team lose due to your mistake, while the opposing jammer skates away with the win. Ugh! Who needs that kind of pressure?! And there's lots of evidence to support my statement. Just watch at practice, how the starred panty lays alone on the dirty floor while everyone stands around looking at it, refusing to pick it up, like it's a heavily laden boogery Kleenex. "NOT IT!" everyone screams at the same time.
Yup, not many truly want to be a jammer, most of us just take on the job because somebody
has to do it!
Right from the start, which was 5 years ago, it’s been a rocky relationship for me with jamming, a true love/hate dysfunctional marriage. Before I was adopted by my now forever league I was not, shall we say "nurtured", in my jamming skills by former coaching staff. I was left to my own demise and if you didn't come by it naturally, well then you pretty much sucked. Thankfully, those days are over and through lots of patience and encouragement my silver-tongued coach has gotten me to pick up that dusty, starred panty again.
Now, I'm no rock star, don't profess to be and I know I never will be but I do happen to do a few things well. Possibly, you already know how to do all of these things and you don't need a thought process adjustment. If so, yahoo! Come join my team, we need ya!! Otherwise, if I can share what I have learned with even one person and it makes this terrifying job of jammer easier, then I am a success! Personally, all I've ever wanted was to be the best that my body and mind can attain,(well and maybe to inherit 2 billion from an auntie I never knew I had).If you’re reaching for your dreams then make your goals reflect the steps it takes to get there!
One of my main obstacles in jamming was that I whined a lot, sometimes out loud, sometimes just to myself. Ahhh man! How come every time I have to jam I get the squad with the weak link or when I jam we’re always down a blocker or 2! As if my jamming skills were directly proportionate with what blockers I had to work with, instead of my skills being a derivative of how good a skater I was, if I could juke or cut. When I faced the fact that my blockers job was to stop that jammer and to hold back my competition, I started to realize that I had no one to blame but myself for how good or bad my jam was. I started by accepting that it was me that had to prove that I could get thru the pack, not that if my blockers were good enough I could get thru the pack. When you acknowledge that your blockers are doing you a huge favor by stopping your competitor then it becomes only a task of you weaseling your way past 4 Neanderthals. And heck, I can do that!
An additional problem I faced in jamming is that I took on jamming from a blockers thought process. Push, shove, get them out of my way. When my teammates said, "make your own holes" I thought, What?! Now I have to block AND jam! Making a hole, meant to me, I was suppose to be hitting someone, moving them, leaning, pushing....exhausting! Thankfully, one night I had a visit from Mr. Obvious and I realized that a jammer would use their skill to create a hole, not necessarily their might. So, now when I jam I think about making my own hole by baiting a blocker into leaving their guard. Let that blocker try to take a bite on that shiny, sharp pointy star. Maybe dangle my body all the way to the line, no blocker in their right mind can resist leaving their wall and taking a swipe at that! Move, suck gut in, hop on toe stops, and they miss me!! Woo Hoo, nanny nanny boo boo and make a dash for the hole!
The last thing I can say is, don't over think it. Hesitation = annihilation. Keep your feet moving! Keep looking to where you want to be, not at the backside of where you're at. Don't over analyze every jam. Believe in your abilities. If you've spent the time training and you can move, juke and sprint, then know that you can do it. All you have to do is what you already know how to do!
I struggle everyday with self confidence, I can completely understand doubting in your ability to master the daunting task of jamming. BUT, you must believe! If you can’t convince yourself of your own skills how can you convince others?! What you tell yourself in the conversations in your mind will be reflected in the eyes of those around you. Stand proud and work with what you have. Sometimes, it will be sheer fortitude that gets you through. Fortitude might be the last weapon left in your arsenal. For myself, at those moments when I must surrender or succeed, I hear the heathen voices of my brothers taunting me,…….”you must say UNCLE!” and I scream,
Never! You hear me. NEVER!!
