We have now played the first 3 games of the fall season (and won them all! Booyeah!). Overall, it has been a good experience learning the basics so far and getting a little more comfortable on the court. But I’ll be giving a breakdown of the second and third games in this entry.  

    I’ll start with game 2 (October 11): You Can’t Sit with Us vs You Go Glen Coco! For this game, we were missing a couple teammates, so we needed to recruit our first spare. As far as I could tell, this didn’t affect our team dynamic very much…mostly because there hadn’t been much time to establish one in the first place. This week, I was a bit under the weather during the game, so I did not retain my all-star status from first week. But my team still did alright. We had a good lead going into the second half but started losing it pretty quickly. We managed to hang on to the lead until the end, but it was getting a little concerning. There were some incredible dodgeball feats pulled off by the more experienced players when they were the last ones from my team on the court and it’s definitely thanks to them that we won. Not that anyone is really expecting the newbies to bust out some point saving moves when we end up in the same position, but a girl can dream!

    Working off of last week’s constructive feedback, I think I improved ever so slightly in the right guard position is where I feel most comfortable. The appeal for me comes mostly from fake throwing to deter the other team from attacking which goes to my head as a fun little power trip. I managed to stop a player on the other team from retrieving a ball before it rolled back onto our side, so I’d say I’m learning how to play this position better. I also still enjoy sprinting for the balls at the start of each round just to get energized and help me get my head in the game right away. I’m somewhat concerned I would just zone out and immediately take a ball to the head if I don’t get really into the game from the get-go.

Last week it was game 3 (October 18): You Can’t Sit with Us vs That’s So Fetch! This was the first week when everyone on my team was able to make it, so we actually had 2 spares for the whole game instead of just 1. The games aren’t so intense that 2 spares are strictly needed but it was nice to be on the bench for a few extra minutes in order to watch the game without worrying about what I was doing with my own body in the moment. The extra break allowed me to observe the game play a little more than usual and watch what the more experienced players were doing and really look at how they played the game and adapted to the loss of the players from certain positions.

There was also a referee in training, so I was watching him too and I learned what the rules are that determine which side has to throw ball. Up to this point, I was always looking to the ref to tell us which side had to throw but if I do that, I’m taking my eyes off the players on the other team and opening myself up to getting hit. With this new information, I should be better able to keep my eyes on the prize, so to speak. The rules are fairly straight forward, the team with advantage has 10 seconds to throw a ball. This 10 second count restarts any time a player on either team throws a ball. The team with more balls will always have advantage. If the balls are evenly distributed between the teams, then the team with more players on the court has advantage. If that is also equal between the teams, then the team that hasn’t thrown the most recent ball has advantage. And finally, if neither team has thrown yet, the team who won the last point has advantage. I’m still not sure how that works for the very first throw of the game, but it has yet to be an issue. If your team has advantage, and the ref counts down the 10 seconds without anyone throwing, then you have to give all your balls to the other team. This is something you definitely want to avoid because it gives the other team a huge advantage, when you have no balls for your guards and nothing to block with. This situation has also not happened in any games so far and I don’t expect it to although we have thrown at the last second several times.

    At the end of the second half, I was still on the court when we entered sudden death. My team was ahead by 2 points, so we would win despite the outcome of the sudden death round, but I was still determined to try my best. Unfortunately, that did not end with me being a hero for my team. Instead, it ended with me getting hit in the face while reaching for a ball. I could have actually caught the ball because my face deflected it straight up into the air, but I was too dazed from the unexpected blow to my head to think fast enough and realize that in the moment. It’s still a little tricky figuring out what to do and what to pay attention to and what the rules are with everything happening so fast, but it’s slowly coming easier.

After 3 games, we have now played every other team in the women’s league. We have won all 3 of our games and all of the other teams each have 1 win and 2 losses. So, we’re off to a strong start but there are still 6 games left in the season which means we’ll be playing each team two more times. Only time will tell how long we can keep up our winning streak! I feel like we’re working better as a team and the other new players and I have already learned a lot but that’s surely true for the other teams, so we’ll need to keep our heads in the game and give it our best shot every week!

Here’s to continuing the winning streak!

-Cat

Cat’s journey will continue in her fourth article.

Past articles:

Post 1

Post 2

*Webmaster was away so these are going to be posted a little later than they were submitted. Apologies to our resident blogger Cat!

The fall season has officially started for Dodgeball Winnipeg so this week I’ll be sharing with you the experience of my first game in the women’s league and some of the basics of dodgeball that I picked up. If I’m being totally honest with all of you out there in the abyss of the internet, I should tell you that I was a little nervous about this first game. I didn’t really know what to expect and despite having attended a couple Dodgeball Winnipeg events…or perhaps because of watching high level players doing their thing at those events, I was a little intimidated by the idea of showing up and ending up as a useless player on the court. As a person who tends to immediately be great at everything I do, that idea is horrifying. So, I had a bit of a hard time convincing myself that I just had to go to the gym and it would be a valuable experience even if I failed horribly and embarrassed myself and could never show my face again in the downward spiral that would surely follow because trying is the first step towards success failure. I’m glad I did end up going though because I had a blast! And now it will be much easier to get motivated to show up because I’ve met the other wonderful ladies on my team and we had a lot of fun playing dodgeball together.

But I digress, let me get back to the beginning of game 1 (October 4): You Can’t Sit with Us vs Wear Pink on Wednesdays. I got to the gym a little early so that I could watch the ends of the games happening before mine as a quick refresher on how the game is played. My brother happened to be there because he had a game earlier and he gave me some sage advice. He shared with me that the secret to doing well in this team-based sport is team work. I know! It’s shocking! But it’s true. After that last minute advice, it was time to enter the gym and meet my team. I had a vague idea of who everyone on my team was because we have a group chat going where we had previously introduced ourselves, shared our goals for the season and we also use it to keep everyone on the same page about details of the next game. But this was the first time I had met anyone in person except our team captain. Each team has 8 players and on mine, we have 5 players with previous dodgeball experience (some with a few years) and 3 newcomers, including myself. Which makes for a good mix on the court at the start with about a half the players not knowing what to do and the other half able to give us some advice as we went. It also helped that there was some excellent captaining happening on our side to keep everyone working as a team. The other newbies and I seemed to be catching on by the end of the first half. And I felt like I had a good grasp on what I was supposed to be doing by the end of the game (which we won 7-3! Yay!).

    I’m really happy with the team I ended up being placed on. Everyone is really nice, encouraging, and the experienced players provided very useful feedback on my throws and how to better play the positions. Positions, I should note, which I didn’t even realize existed a week ago. I think I have already developed a preference for right guard and runner which included running for the balls at the start of each round and pretty much constantly faking throws to keep the other team on their toes. But I’m going to try to play the other positions throughout the season too to get a better grasp on each part of the team. I want to be a well-rounded beginner by the end of this season.

After having figured out the positions in the first half, with my right guard preference, I started to grasp some of the strategy at play in the second half. I learned there’s actually a difference in the strategic position of the guards on the court either more defensive or offensive depending on which team has to throw next. I plan on figuring out the basics for the middle positions in the next couple weeks and then going on from there.

The other important thing I noted has to do with my dodgeball gear. I made sure to bring my knee pads and elbow sleeve for my throwing arm to help reduce the stress on my arm which led to the one-handed driving home from my last post (and it seems to have worked!). Also, as someone who is constantly cold, I wore leggings and a long sleeve shirt. I’m told the leggings are a good call but the long-sleeved shirt was not a wise choice. Most of the other players wore t-shirts and tank tops and I will be doing the same next week. I did a lot of sprinting and may have been overly enthusiastic in my guarding fake outs so I was uncomfortably warm. As a bonus, I have include a picture of me below in the previously mentioned too much clothing which I will be ditching to hopefully end up a little less hot and sweaty. Running out of water halfway through the second half of our game probably didn’t help with that. So, I’ll be bringing my largest water bottle next time and ideally won’t end up with a mouth drier than a failed attempt at the saltine challenge.  

    I would like to conclude this entry in the spirit of thanksgiving which most of us celebrated this past weekend and say I am thankful that I wasn’t as sore as previous post-dodgeball experiences. I still had full use of my arm after the game and only had a bit of minor DOMS in my upper throwing arm and back a couple days later. But overall, I learned a lot and had fun playing. After speaking with the other newbies on my team after the game, I was a little relieved to hear that they had also felt a bit apprehensive about the first game and were also a little hesitant to come to the first game (not that any of us considered not showing up very seriously). Although I suspect there was a little less existential spiralling for them. But we all enjoyed our first dodgeball experience and expect to be much more enthusiastic about showing up to our next game!

Here’s to making the second game as fun as the first! I’ll see some of you on the court!

-Cat

*Cat’s journey continues in her third article, which can be found here.

Past articles: Post 1

I’m excited that you’re here to learn about my dodgeball experience this fall! As the newbie blogger for Dodgeball Winnipeg, I’ll be writing a post every couple weeks to share my journey with you as the season progresses. To give this post some context, my name is Cat and I have joined the Women’s league of Dodgeball Winnipeg. I have high hopes for this season; I think it’ll be a great new experience and be a lot of fun even if I’ve never played in a league before.  I hope this will give some of you, who might be interested in joining, a better idea of what to expect and maybe convince some of you to join too!

My previous dodgeball experiences can be listed off very quickly. I have played dodgeball 3 times in my adult life: I attended a DW drop-in, I played in a mini (very amateur) tournament with friends at school, and more recently attended a DW throwing workshop where I got some excellent coaching and feedback from our awesome instructor, Kahleigh. That’s it. I’ve played 3 times. But I got enough of a taste for dodgeball that after some encouragement from my brother and his dodgeball friends, I have decided to give it a shot and join the women’s league. To give you a taste of what to expect from my Dodge Blog posts once the season starts, I’m going to share the story of my first experience with Dodgeball Winnipeg.

As I said before, my previous experience with dodgeball has been fairly limited. Earlier this year, I decided to join a Dodgeball Winnipeg drop-in event the day before a casual dodgeball tournament with some friends from school. As the (perhaps overly) competitive woman that I am, I wanted to give myself an advantage over the other newbies that had signed up for the tournament. I didn’t really know what to expect but I was hopeful this training would give me the advantage I needed to carry my team to victory the following day (high, high hopes). So, I dug my old knee pads from middle school volleyball out of my closet, got my workout clothes on and drove across the city to meet my brother at this drop-in event with his dodgeball friends. I arrived at the gym for the drop-in event and had a quick crash course on how to play dodgeball and the general rules, followed by a quick warm up that consisted mostly of trying to whip the ball as hard as I could at my brother and getting nailed by a lot of his much more accurate throws. Side note: I highly recommend this for all you siblings (or friends) out there as a fairly harmless way to relieve your stress or aggression, it feels great, very cathartic! Anyway, everyone was then split into teams and I proceeded to spend the next 1.5 hours doing my best to dodge, dip, duck, dive, and dodge while occasionally actually hitting my target as I tried to throw as many balls as I could get my hands on. This is not a strategy I would recommend…if you could even call it a strategy. And it didn’t really help my team at all. But to be fair, I could barely remember all the rules and no one was expecting me to know what I was doing or be a great team player. By the end of the games at drop-in, I had to drive home with only my left hand on the wheel because my right arm was so worn out from throwing balls around for a couple hours that I could not lift it up to the steering wheel. I left with a much better understanding of how dodgeball actually works, an appreciation for how fun it can be, and a fear that my arm would be too weak to use in the tournament the next day! I started to think that just maybe this brilliant idea was poorly timed and I had handicapped myself instead of getting an advantage. Luckily, I wasn’t too sore the next day and was ready to kick ass on the court. My team didn’t end up winning that day but it was still a lot of fun and I was a much more confident team player than I would have been without my limited 2-hour experience the night before.

So, I’m excited to be joining the women’s league this season and have just as much fun. Maybe learn to play as a team and make some new friends along the way. I’ll be kicking ass on the court by the end of it!

I’ll be back with my next update when the season starts!

 

-Cat Brandt

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I promised the community a playtest comparison of Lebron XIIIs vs Curry IIs. This will be a quick review because the decision was that easy to make.

Introduction: I have been wearing a set of Jordan Melo M9s since 2013. I loved those shoes, and love may not even be a strong enough word for how much I liked those shoes. I injured my feet by playing in improper footwear, so I invested in a good set of basketball shoes. Even with my toe injury which has not subsided 3 years later, the Jordans still kept my feet safe and pain free during games. The grip was great, the ankle support fantastic, and I played well over 500 games in those shoes. 3 years later, they finally started to squeak so I retired them.

The choice came down to Lebron XIIIs or Curry IIs. All the reviews online said to go with the Currys, but I was skeptical based on the way both sets of shoes felt when I wore them, so here is the review:

Looks: The Currys are cool looking. A classic style, with a very interesting “Mothers day” design. I like them, they feel like one of those “Tough guys wear pink” shirts. The Lebrons are stunning though, and I love how futuristic they look. Even before you take colour schemes into account, they are just a much better looking shoe. They win the style contest hands down.

First impressions: I tried a set of Currys on at the store, and liked them. They felt like a thinner version of my Jordans. I tried the Lebrons on, and I could instantly feel the zoom sole. The extra cushioning was very apparent, and for someone with a bad toe this is important. I initially made the purchase of Lebrons based on this alone. I also find the Currys a little tighter to put on, and I feel like the back of the high-top will wear out as I have no choice but to fold it up a bit with my thumb to get my heel past it.

Game day (Lebrons): My first draft game I wore my Lebrons, and they served me well. The stiffness of the shoes was apparent, but didn’t really feel like it was hindering me. I play a very jumpy game – I’m up in the air, down on the ground, and moving in very short bursts. The shoes supported me well. They even saved me from a rolled ankle – I could feel the pressure on my ankle when I screwed up a dodge and jammed my foot into the wall, but the shoes saved me. All I felt was pressure on my ankle, but a lesser shoe (or even a regular low-top) would have left me with an injury and out of the game. I was very thankful they were so stiff after this.

The high top has the back cut out, and caused the sides to chafe against my leg, requiring me to wear long socks. This was not an issue I had with my jordans, where there was a little booty inside the high top holding my ankle, and I could wear ankle socks with them. I also have wider feet, and a bit of a bunion shape to them, and I could feel pressure against the side of my toes at the end of the match which is something I never experienced in my Jordans.

All in all, decent replacements for my Jordans, I could see myself wearing these for the next three years.

Game day (Currys): I put the shoes on for the first time, and they definitely are a snug fit. The whole shoe hugs my foot, and I like that. I don’t like that they take a bit of effort to get my heel into, but once they’re on they feel great. A bit thinner than the lebrons, and definitely more flexible. The grip wasn’t noticeably different, but that’s where the similarities end. Holy crap these shoes are great. They felt natural to play in, I was running, jumping, sliding with ease. They felt like the spiritual successors to the Jordans I loved so dearly. They may not be as pretty as the Lebrons, but they outshone them in just about every aspect – and they were half the price! I honestly cannot stop gushing about these shoes. They’re nimble, they don’t appear to scuff super easily as I definitely dragged them all over the floor during some of my slides, and they’re just great. I was playing against a hard team, and my shoes were definitely not a hindrance.

Results: After playing one game in my Curry IIs, I am digging up my receipt to return my Lebrons. They’re pretty shoes, and I might keep them to wear in daily life, but they are so damn expensive I think I might just rather have the cash. The Curry II is incredible value. It’s an objectively better shoe for court sports, and costs just over half what the Lebron XIIIs cost.

Side note: I’ve been asked why I didn’t buy another set of Jordans. The answer is I tried on the new Jordan Melos and they didn’t impress me. They didn’t feel right, the sole felt wrong, not as supportive – and frankly – they were ugly. In future I would still consider Jordans, but this generation just didn’t impress me.

Pairing an activity to the right pair of shoes is incredibly important. It is so important that I wish I had taken it more seriously when I first started playing dodgeball.

When you go to a shoe store and tell them you need shoes for dodgeball, they often recommend trainers, or tennis-style shoes. Depending on your type of play, I really do not recommend this. Don’t be an idiot (like I was) and wear skateboarding shoes, this will not end well – I now have a permanent injury on my right foot (big toe) from jumping in improper shoes.

Once I recovered from the initial injury where I had a toe severely bruised and wrecked tendon on the top of my big toe, I went to a friend who is a sneaker-head and asked for his advice. He said I should be wearing basketball shoes. They have grip, ankle support for lateral movements, and cushioning for jumps. Despite their high cost (~$160 CAD in 2013) I bought my first pair of Jordans. I got the melo M9 edition, and they have been the best shoes I have ever owned.

These shoes have stood up to nearly 500 games of dodgeball (3 games/week for 2 years and 5 games/week for a year) and are only just starting to show wear 3 years of abuse later. They’re the only shoes I can wear that do not hurt my toe, and they allow me to play aggressively and pain-free.

I’ve started considering replacing my M9s, and it struck me – I have a bond with these shoes. They picked me up off the bench of injuries and allowed me to play harder, longer, and more times per week. They have seen me progress from having the weakest throw on my team to the strongest. They were there with me even before I started my dodgeball league! Now that they squeak, are scuffed, and have a deep groove in the sole from where my toes dig in, it is time to look at finding their successors.

It is hard to replace such a great pair of shoes, but it is important too that I keep my feet in prime shape so I can continue to play and grow as an athlete. I went to do some preliminary scouting, tried on some lebrons, and Jordan Meo M11s and M12s, but none of them felt quite right. I see a lot of people complaining about going through shoes at an astounding rate (~50 games per pair) but their shoes were <$50. You really do get what you pay for with shoes, and I cannot stress enough that you get proper footwear.

In my opinion, you should be buying the best quality basketball shoes you can afford. The cost per game is dramatically lower and your body will thank you.

Here are my shoes after ~500 games of wear. Aside from scuffs on the toe of the right shoe, and grooves on the insoles from my toes digging in, they still look great. They have started squeaking which makes me think the grip may be fading and it is time to consider new shoes.

I have always been curious about what dodgeball players do for fitness outside of the game. What I really want to know is how it improved their game play.

I went on a short mission talking to various people about their fitness programs and if they are helping them on the court.

What I’ve found among a majority of the players is weight training. Clarence and Denham, national competitive dodgeball players from Manitoba Triumphs, have said weight training has been beneficial to their game and overall shoulder health. Denham mentions “Weight training: shoulder exercises – shoulder press, lateral raise, front raise, bench press, and cable cross with free weights to increase stability muscles and range of motion”

We sometimes forget how much strain we put on our shoulders playing dodgeball. When you first start playing dodgeball no one mentions the importance of shoulder health and how to prevent common injuries . “Know your body is the big thing. There’s a big difference between hurt and sore. You have to be able to distinguish that and you have to leave your ego at the door. When your body needs rest, it does” says Clarence.

If you’re interested in maintaining shoulder health I suggest checking out Amelie’s blog – she has great tips on maintaining and getting your shoulders in top shape. Amelie played on the 2014 & 2015 Women’s dodgeball team and has had her share of dodgeball injuries.

Shoulders are not the only thing we don’t consider while playing dodgeball. Michael from Divide by 2+7 (WRL) has mentioned since starting Crossfit, his core strength is stronger. “I noticed a significant change in my throwing. I’m able to engage my body into the throw, instead of just using my arm”. When you think about it a strong core enhances balance and stability,it can help prevent falls and injuries during games. Weak, tight, or unbalanced core muscles can undermine you in game play and while it’s important to build a strong core it’s also important to take things slow when getting into new workout routines.

Competitive dodgeball is exhausting due to its quick movements. Ashley from TC Boosh (MN) plays competitive dodgeball and told me cardio has really helped her game. “Sprinting drills has really helped my stamina and speed. When I first started out, I didn’t do much cardio and I thought everybody was crazy for being able to play for long durations of time. I’m now able to play two 20 minute halves and only sub out about once”

Training is key but you don’t need a very intense workout regime. It depends on what your goals are. Ashley mentioned her main focus is consistency, “Playing as often as possible really helps your body adjust to playing the sport”.

If  you’re wanting to take dodgeball serious and be competitive  you’ll want to train, play and train some more.

FOR SCIENCE:  I’ll be training for the next six months to see what works for myself. I’ll be working with some local dodgeballers, fitness enthusiasts and local sport therapists to figure out  what workout routines may benefit my game. If you have suggestions or want to share your dodgeball journey, message me on Facebook, I love dodgeball, fitness and want to hear your journey.

See you on the court 🙂