At scrimmage last night a rare unicorn was spotted. That is right, the knee start is back, baby. Or at least it made an appearance. Working a new strategy we have yet to even remotely get down, my line-up started on the pivot line (remember that?). When suddenly, both before and after the whistle blew, the opposing blockers slid to their knees around us. Um, okay.
The no pack was never called, perhaps because timing was off, plus immediate reformation means that the pack would be established before (both, by the way, making this "strategy" even more puzzling) jammers could reach the area, so this strategy had zero to negative success. However I need to wonder now if this might be deployed in a very, very limited way at the lower levels of play. Ugh.
Good news? A counter is easy. The only time this is even remotely anything that might work is in a power jam in the initiating team's favor, and then only at the jam line. Could the jammer pop through as her blockers are rising from their one knee (mandated by the rules, no initial jam start positions preventig immediate reformation are allowed)? Theoretically, yes.
However the counter is super easy and even sets the countering blockers up mentally for the correct strategy which is a bonus. Have one blocker stay back and the other 3 (hopefully 3) move forward, oh, about 7 feet. Pack will exist by the time the jammer gets through, bonus, you already have your first bridge mentally and physically prepared. Sweet. Heck, maybe even put a jammer killer back there while you are at it if you are feeling fancy. Which is why no decent team is using the knee starts. Plus we skate now and shit. Kuh-razy.
While I was puzzling through this mess I did see a potential loophole in the rules. Which I am keeping to my sweet self.
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