A question for the pros. . .

polergirl started this discussion · 2/28/2010

I see vids of the Karols and Rileys and Fleurs and Veenas and Jenynes, etc. of the world, and I have to (HAVE to!) ask two questions: 1) do you still ever slip or even crash? 😲 everything looks so very secure and 100% got-it-every-single-time, even your practice vids and the one I really, really want to know the answer to 2) what do you do when you're having a "blah" day on the pole, one of those days where nothing seems to go right. I dunno, maybe you don't even have those days, lol. But most of us struggle with days where we have too much grip...not enough grip/slippery pole...less flexibility than most days...etc. Example: I was trying to go from side climb to superman yesterday. This is a move I did more than once just last week, but yesterday I could NOT get my hip flipped over. It was extra super duper frustrating. After a few failed attempts I switched gears, and mentally I needed that so it was good for me and I had a good practice in general, but it stayed with me (obviously). Any words of wisdom?

12 replies

amy · 2/28/2010
i'm DEFINITELY not a pro, but i totally feel your pain! one of my teachers has competed in USPDF a couple times, and she's a beautiful dancer. the other day she was demo-ing a rockstar spin into butterfly-- which is SO PRETTY and SO HARD (none of us could do it) and she was telling us about how she had tried like a maniac to get that combo down after seeing it on youtube... and it just wasn't happening. so, she shelved it for 4 or 5 months and tried it again one day-- and she nailed it! if she sees us struggling with something often she will give us pointers and if it doesn't get better, she tells us to try something else for the day. my cartwheel handspring was like that- tried it hard for a little while, got nowhere, tried it again a week later and BAM!
chemgoddess1 · 2/28/2010
Did you ever see Felix's video where she slipped out of spatchcock and fell to the floor? It was her California Pole Dance performance (it is all over youtube). I honestly don't know how she recovered from that! I have seen pretty much everyone slip during a performance....it is how well they cover it.
amcut · 2/28/2010
Hahah When pros fall, they make it look cute. I still remember Karol like.. falling on her butt near her little fluffy chair, her calling it a fall, and me calling it absurd cuteness. Her legs went up in cuteness. Felix's little slip was the worst, but the potential comfort you COULD have had was dashed because she was being alien-like in her flexibility. It's not like she fell doing something we all could fall doing. No, most of us will never drop into a spatchcock and have the opportunity to fall and then recover gracefully. We'll probably get stuck trying and have to have our significant others pry us off the pole.
polergirl · 2/28/2010
Yannow, I actually did see that video of Felix falling and had completely forgotten. So. Apparently I just need to learn to cover mine better--rather than my OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG face? Just what I need....something else to work on! 😂
luvlee · 2/28/2010
I agree. When they fall, if it is not to bad, they do quick cover up. You can hardly tell. Does anyone have links to those two videos? Karols cute fall by her chair and Felix?
chemgoddess1 · 2/28/2010
Here is Felix's. I do not have Karol's, but I do know in one of her latest videos she was in a backbend and her shoes started slipping from under her. She totally covered it. In Alethea's performance at LA pole show she was twirling in an office chair and got herself totally dizzy. Most non-pole people would never notice these but for those of us who are "stalkers" we see when our favorites are not their norm.
SissyBuns · 2/28/2010
They mess up all the time and have bad days just like us, the only difference is that they're so danm awesome that even their bad days are awesome. LOL
Veena · 2/28/2010
There are always a few moments now and then where you think OMG and you catch yourself 🐱 I When I have a bad pole work out....and I do! Its still frustrating, but I have learned that if I'm working on a move I just can't get..... move on, and come back to it later in the week. I no longer have grip issues now that I always warm up well, (unless I'm trying to dance on a crappy pole in a dirty bar) 😂 but if I have had time off the pole, the first day back is usually CRAP! The next pole session is almost always better. 🥂
Foxy_Rei · 2/28/2010
I'm most definitely not a pro and I'm in a rut, myself. I just started back on the pole last month, was all crap, then a couple weeks ago I started getting back in the swing of things. But my practice last night was awful - I couldn't even invert properly and I had no grip. But dancey-wise, I was doing pretty good. So I spent my practice twirling instead of inverting and such, lol. I did see the video where Felix fell - I actually had to watch it twice, and 2 different people's videos to be sure she actually fell and that it wasn't on purpose. I think her boots may have screwed her up or something, but she finished just as if she nailed it with no problem. Plus, we all know she can do it - she doesn't have to prove herself anymore, lol. And I also saw Karol's video where her feet were slipping in the bridge position - honestly, if she hadn't left the comment to Alethea about it, I wouldn't have noticed.
moonflower · 2/28/2010
I saw felix's video before and thought she did it on purpose! I thought "OMG, she's trying to do a spatchcock DROP!!!!" 😂
amcut · 3/1/2010
http://www.youtube.com/user/redke71?blend=1&ob=4#p/search/1/t6DQnfFD_Xc Karol. Falling cute.
polergirl · 3/1/2010
Yeah, see, that's still graceful and she has those mile-long legs. No fair, I say, no fair!! 😂