-
Very frustrated…….wil I ever be able to pole with out slipping???
I’ve been poling for about 8 months now and ONE day I’d love to compete. But I am at a loss of what I can do. I have the chrome xpole and I absolutely love it……but I’m starting to think between my apparently sweaty hands (that I did not know I had until I started poling lol) and the chrome pole….is it just a bad mix? I’ve literally tried EVERYTHING! I’ve tried Every kind of grip (but still wanting to try that gorilla grip and that bee one can’t remember the name lol) I’ve mixed different kinds together I’ve even tried shaving cream. my first swing on the pole will be great but anything after that……I’m falling.
Last night was very scary for me. Put it this way I almost fell right on my head/back. I was in the extended butterfly and I was like yay I’ve got a good grip…..then next thing I know my hand slipped right out and I was able to catch myself just in time. Ya pretty much said screw you pole and walked away angry for the 10th million time. My slipping alllllllll the time is holding me back….I know it is and it makes me so angry!
Is it just me or is the itac slippery for others. It’s super sticky….then Next thing I know I’m falling straight down!? Tight grip was my fav….but still just not enough grip for me and I feel like I have to keep applying it like every 5 mins lol. I’ve got the dirty girl poletice and yeah it dries my hands out but no grip for me at all. So then I’ll apply itac or tight grip and still itac I’m slipping crazy with and tight grip I’m constantly reapplying.
So I guess my question is should I get a different finished pole? Is that the problem? Or am I just one of those people no matter what I do I’ll never stick 🙁 ?
Thank you for your time girls! And hope you all have a wonderful day! -
30 Replies
-
iTac is incredibly slippy for me. I hate it.
Sometimes you can feel “slippy” and “sweaty” if you don’t have enough grip strength. Especially if NOTHING is working and you didn’t think you had sweaty hands to begin with. It was definitely the problem I had the first few years I poled! Then I started grip training and noticed I wasn’t slipping as much. I would give it a try 3 days a week for 2-3 weeks and see if you notice a difference…Not much to lose.
http://www.amazon.com/Grip-Pro-Trainer-Resistance-Strength/dp/B0043SGJHS/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1406221043&sr=8-10&keywords=grip+strength This is what I used.
-
Thank you very much I am 100% gonna try those 🙂
I will try anything to help my pole love lol 🙂 -
Is it just your hands? It is for me, mighty grip non-tack gloves work wonders
-
My chrome is slippy until it’s warm, and I mean WARM – I rest my cheek on it at start if practice and even in a warm room it’s cool. I climb up and down, hug my body to it, slide up and down in pole hold, for about ten mins, til it feels warm (and so am I). Then it is noticeably grippier. I can’t just get on and invert – I will fall. But putting the time in to warm it up pays off, no amount of grip aid or wiping can get round the need to do this.
-
AshleyS, I’ve had the same problem. I know for me, my hands get sweaty when I’m learning something new (nerves), or if I have been poling for an extended period of time. I think it has gotten better due to hand grip strength also.
-
This is my exact story. I really thought I was just never going to be good at pole dancing. The 1st time I used grip I had a bad allergic reaction. Tried a different one later and I magically could do all the spins I struggled with! I called everyone I knew to tell them “I don’t suck at pole I just sweat to much!” Well that only lasted 2 weeks. Haven’t found one yet to work and it makes me super discouraged. So I’m there with you. Have also fallen a few times and yes its scary and yes I walk away super aggravated. Hope we both find answers with this!!
-
You said that you’re applying Tite Grip every 5 minutes. Tite Grip is not a grip aid, it’s an anti perspirant. Try applying your Tite Grip 20 minutes up to an hour before you start poling. Then top it with Dry Hands as a grip aid as needed. This is my favorite combination.
-
Building forearm strength will help with grip immendsley. There was a discussion about Powerballs/Rollerballs and a review by Tigerschic041721 here:
https://www.studioveena.com/forums/view/53ac0521-5694-4f69-8752-7df60a9aa0eb#bottom -
itac becomes a greasy mess for me when it has warmed up, don’t bother with itac!!! Everyone has great options for you to try! As mentioned a warm pole is grippier then a cold pole, also hand strength will help.
-
I know how you feel! I had a chrome pole and it would take FOREVER to warm up that it really deterred me from practicing. As everyone says, a warm room does help and yes, there is hope. I love dirty girl poletice for my sweaty hands. That’s my main problem and it has helped so much! I still need to try different grip aids for my hands though as I don’t use any – just the dirty girl antiperspirant. Good luck!
-
Thank you everyone for the help and advise! It’s nice to know that I’m not alone lol but I’m so sorry it’s happening to you too! I do warm my pole up cause with our AC on my pole is freezing so not only do I warm it up with my warm ups (climbing up and down and so on) I take my blow drier to it for like 5 mins lol
That is one thing I don’t do…….I put my grip of then wait a min like it says and I hope on. Sooooooo I’m going to try and put it on half an hour before and see if that helps! I’m super excited to try that and and to work on my grip strength I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel! Lol
Thanx again and Happy Poling 🙂 -
I agree with Phoenix Kazree. But Phoenix is always awesome!!!! I use poletice then tite grip then reapply dry hands as needed. Sometimes I need to stop and wash my hands. I am getting ready for my first competition and the truth is that you can last 4 minutes in a program with that combo. I put a lot of body grip at the end and all my hand grip moves in the beginning. Maybe I will change that but this is my first time
I do hate itac and any other kind of body grip. I feel that they tend to melt and ruin my hand grip. Also when I am warm I don’t need them
-
I LOVE itac… but ONLY for my body. I even apply it using the back of my knuckles. If it gets on the palms of my hands at all then I’m screwed. It’s a beeswax based formula so when it gets too hot, it gets kind of melty (apparently my legs just don’t get hot enough for that).
I love tite grip for my hands though. I used to have to reapply constantly until I learned what Phoenix mentioned above – that it’s an antiperspirant meant to be applied in advance! Since then, much less reapplying! My grip also got better with more grip strength. I still struggle with it sometimes, but it’s much less of an issue now than it used to be. Falling has never been a concern for me because my legs are my safety net – I can always trust them to grip in a pinch. -
As said about use Tite Grip like an antiperspirant. I put it on 60 mins before and then rinse it off before I actually start poling. I use Might Grip while I am poling as it uses the moisture to create grip rather than trying to fight it. I don’t want dey hands, I want tacky hands! I am also blessed with dry skin on my legs so I use as it doesn’t interfere with my hand grip at all and I’ve also found that warming up in leg warmers helps a huge amount.
To give some background I’ve been polling for over 2 years and only recently got enough grip to do stuff like butterfly. I tried gloves but I really need thay skin contact with the pole to feel secure (although I know other who love their gloves!)
I had a chrome pole at home when I started and I knew I was battling back sweaty hands and lack of grip strength when I started. I pushed through but eventually moved cities and my new studio had brass instead oh stainless steel. Well! I could group better with my hands and my progress skyrocketed, even at home. I realised that when I couldn’t hold on at all I wasn’t progressing my grip strength (even though I trained it separately as well). I bought a TG pole for home and it was so much better. I felt more confident because do could actually do things, which meant I was progressing. I now feel confident that I could go back to chrome if I needed to and slip a lot less.
So my advice would be:
-Buy all the grip aids available and try every combo till you find a good one. I did. I have more grip aids then I don’t know to do with! You can check out websites for good comparisons, I like this table http://aerialamy.com/blog/grip-aids/
-If you can afford it buy a different finish pole. Try out brass or TG if you have a way to try any first. Brass is great for grippy sweaty skin but if it gets warm where you live it might get TOO grippy (it’ll take off my skin in summer if I’m not careful) so I went the TG.
-Train grip strength separately. -
I’m the same way, but strength training helps a lot.
-
I’ve been poling for a few months and played around with a few things like DryHands and MightyGrip. Not a fan of either… My biggest problem isn’t sweaty hands, it’s sweaty thighs. What do you guys do to keep thighs dry? Once I start sweating, which happens a few minutes after I start working out, I can’t get a decent hold on my pole. I’ll try a pole sit, plank, ckr or what not and I just find that my legs slip right down… I’ve tried anti perspirant, as well, but that doesn’t beat the heat…
Advice, please?! -
You don’t want to use anything “sticky” if you are sweaty. you need to use something “drying”.
For sweaty thighs, the best thing is a drying powder. I can highly recommend Metolius Eco-Ball! (Chalk is messy, and can end up pasty if it gets wet). I use it on my thighs, belly, neck/shoulders in the summer! -
Thank u ladies. And thank u author for this discussion. I have been having the same issue. I have been on and off the pole for a year. I get really frustrated and SCARED when my hand slips trying to do inverts. Really Im still doing the 30 day take off program. I have restarted about 5 times. Not complaining. I LOVE IT! It has all the basic moves, and great explanation of form of any videos u will find about pole. It challenges me. And it is helping loads with building strength.
I think my biggest weakness is grip also. Forearm strength and keeping my wrists neutral. DONT GIVE UP! -
Romo,
I have a similar problem. Even holding a basic plank can be a thigh grip issue for me when I get really warm. (I perspire a lot, seemingly everywhere, not just hands.) My best solution so far has been regular strength iTac on my inner thighs — which I put on before my pole session — and then applying DryHands on top of that when I start to get sweaty. It’s still a struggle but that has really helped me a ton. I hope it helps you but I’ve grown to understand that it all comes down to your own personal body chemistry. Even still, I’d love to hear any other solutions that other polers have found. That way I can try them too!Thank you for sharing your struggle, by the way. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only sweaty poler. I am definitely the sweatiest one at the studio I attend. In my first class, before I knew about grip aids, I asked my teacher to just tell me now if I’m never going to be able to do anything because I’m naturally just too damn sweaty. I couldn’t climb, spin, anything. Now a few months later I’m aerially inverting and can do handspring mounts, etc. I have the strength, am just continually struggling to refine my grip solutions. You will eventually find something too, just keep trying new things.
-
I have always had this problem to. I even bought a powder coated after T/G and I still have to use a lot of grip aid ,most of the time. I agree that a warm pole is a friendly pole lol. itac sucks. It works good for my legs and body but only when it is applied on the pole unless I’m sweaty. My new fave is firm grip spray on the pole then using dry hands to top it off. Still have issues sometimes but not near as much. At least with my body. Hands can be an issue still but the dry hands and firm grip spray is my new fave. I have tried mighty grip, ,shave gel,itac,alcohol,dry hands and firm grip. I have used stainless steal poles,chrome,titanium gold,powder coated and brass. I like powder coated and brass the best. Brass works really good with my body chemistry I think but haven’t used it enough to make a definite answer. Also if you use a fan, that helps. I have also taken my blow dryer to my pole to get it extra warm.
-
I have this problem too. After each individual move, the pole would be too slippery to continue, it’s very frustrating. I’ve been experimenting with some different grip aids lately. I was using Dry Hands for a long time, but I’ve found that it actually makes me MORE slippery when I apply it directly to my hands. I’ve had better luck when I tack the pole with it, and then wipe the rest off my hands, (although it doesn’t last long). I’ve also used the Tite Grip anti-persperant, which I find the most useful on my feet when practising moves such as Cupid. A lot of the girls at my studio like it a lot. Lately, I’ve found that just dry wiping the pole and not using anything else has given me the best grip. I could never get one-handed or reverse grab spins until I started using a completely dry rag, then suddenly I could fly around with one hand no problem. Sometimes I’ll tuck a dry rag under my bra strap so that if I climb up and hit a slippery spot I can give it a wipe before going into a move, lol.
-
Thanks for your recommendations! ! Good to know I’m not the only sweaty poler! I always feel like I’m the only one sweating in the class…
I’ll try to purchase a few of the products mentioned on the thread… My biggest problem is that I live in Israel and not all companies ship to here (I’ve actually had an order cancelled because the company didn’t want to ship to Israel “during these times…” as their email put it.)
I’ll update if I find a combination that I like and find effective…
-
I am also really sweaty, and I once took a workshop with a professional level pole dancer who had to deal with sweating problems too. It is very frustrating, but it helped me to learn that no one is immune and even the pros struggle to find the perfect cocktail of grip aids. As you get stronger over time, it will begin to matter less. Meaning, you still might slip when you are sweating hard, but only when you are pushing yourself to the limits of your strength and using your skin to stay up, not your muscles. Focus on conditioning your body and see if that helps.
-
We have just come into possession of 25 pieces of a product made expressly for hyperhydrosis; Perspiration problems on hands, feet, face, underarms etc.
We would like to have some volunteers try the product before we get involved and can recommend the product or even add the item to our inventory.
The first 25 ladies (or men) that are willing to send their name and address to: sales@mightygrip.com we will send out a sample for you for testing. Please following the directions closely. You must dab the liquid that is on the towelette on to the skin and not rub the towelette over the skin for best results.
Thank you,
Joel B. -
That sounds awesome – I’m guessing for US only though? I’m in Caribbean and have the same problem with sweat.
As a side note I find I stick better to my Chrome pole when it is freezing cold. Any ideas why?
Log in to reply.
