Skaters are permitted to skate clockwise on the track provided they do not block, assist, or otherwise engage teammates or opponents.
A big, big concept that we (and most teams I am sure) are hammering home this year is "closing the door" on blockers who knock a jammer out and are coming back to attempt to pull a cut/re-engage. Essentially if you are skating or stepping in the clockwise direction, however slowly, and she is skating back, the consequences of contact between legal zones are entirely on her. So if she is effective (causing impact that meets the old minor definition), she is boxed, your jammer is free from her reign of terror, birds sing, etc. If she is ineffective, well, she doesn't get to pull that cut as much as she wants and is now hung up on your boobs. YAY!
Here is what happened twice in the last week though. The blocker f'ing motored back at me at a speed that was frankly somewhat terrifying. I was like "awww, hell no" and just let her go. For one thing, at the required reaction speed I could be considered the initiator of the block (which means that if she flattened me I just sort of would be flat). For another, not worth it for a scrimmage.
As far as I can tell, there is no rule explicitly governing reckless clockwise skating, only its impact and then only if the clockwise skater actually executes (meaning she initiates) a block. So is being just totally f'ing crazy the way to get your way here? Possibly, I guess, although it is also a way to get other teams to never want to play you again. I don't plan on finding out firsthand.
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