Anyone here ever fell off ::grasp:: a pole??
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One of the first times I inverted (in class...), I got my legs switched (I'm a pole-leftie and that was on the right... BRAIN CONFUSION!!), and for some odd reason I tried to switch my legs to be correct, and down I went onto my left shoulder... no serious injury, but I was sore for weeks!! :P Learned my lesson from that!! Also did a classic comedy fly when I was practicing the V Carousel (AKA Ronde Jambe at S) and lost my grip... managed to do a soft landing on my back while still holding my arms in split grip and my legs splayed open... I was so proud of myself that I stood up and did a bow for my classmates who were all staring with jaws agape... :)
Hey, it's ok to fall if you get enough practice falling and learning to tuck your head in and stuff it all makes for safer poling in the long run. I fall off quite a bit, usually when it's something new, such as a little bit too much momentum during a spinning pole superman.... Kind of flew across the studio :)
My worst fall (so far) was while practicing Star. I tried it with my ballet slippers on and got up all right. One foot on pole, one hand on pole, starting to push hips forward and arching my back when my lower foot slid back. I still held on with my hand and knee so I banged my rips in the pole and lost my breath for a while. Lesson: do not do Star with ballet slippers. I also fell the first time I managed the Advanced plank but that was because I got so happy I got it that I forgot to hold on :)
Jenn ·
Yes I have fallen off the pole... Probably too many times to count, lol. Most of the time have been unharmed though. I did have had one incident that injured my neck and shoulder and kept me off the pole for two months, which totally sucked. I had just recently learned the CAR and was trying to do it with an arched back. I grabbed the pole behind my head and as I arched my back, I lost the grip inbetween my thighs and fell with my arm trapped under my head and onto my neck. It hurt for weeks and I couldn't even put on a shirt without my boyfriends help! Then it took several more months before I could practice that move again without trembling. Now, I make sure to throw a crashmat underneath when I'm trying new moves at home now.
I fell quite a few times in a haha not-at-all injured way, and once in a very painful way. Lesson I learned was to be tought stuff properly on a stable, non-slippery pole. Story was, it was after three months of pole dancing through a pole dance school I went to, the instructer in class mentioned in three weeks we'd start inverting. I was really excited to invert, and my friend and I got a very cheap, horrible pole from spencers (the kind that isn't sticky at all, collapses when you pull it to the left, and bearly stayed up sometimes). I watched videos on youtube of people inverting on the pole, and a few not so great instructional videos on how to invert, and tried it out. Well, I really should've waited, because I inverted, but I didn't know how to get down and I ended up falling hard on one of my legs and it popped my knee somehow. Ended up wearing a knee brace for 2 weeks and taking off pole class til we inverted, where I learned how to do it properly.
words of advice, never forget what's holding you up. I've slid out of drops before knocked the wind out of myself pretty bad. But the only bad fall i've had somehow it slipped my mind that i was only holding on with my legs and had the brilliant idea to try turning in a way that probably would have been cool had i been holding on but i wasn't, and bam damn gravity ruining everything cool, i hit the ground square on the back of my neck.
I've fallen a number of times. Early on I fell doing a crucifix....trying to do a sexy routine in front of my husband with my eyes closed I didnt realize I had loosened my leg grip and was sliding rapidly down until my face hit the floor! Bloody nose and two black eyes. Also early on, I never knew you were suppose to check pole placement regularly on removeable poles and I came down WITH the pole into the wall then the floor. That hurt like heck but didn't break anything. Since then over time I've fallen a few times, especially while learning/practicing (good to use crash mats!) My worst/funniets was doing a drop from superman to scorpio when I was being interviewd by a Tribue columnist. Missed the connection and instead of scorpio missed the pole and landed flat on my back on the floor from the drop! I got up and immediately said "So first we teach students to fall without hurting themselves and this is how that move is suppose to go" and did the move again - without falling this time of course! Thought my husband's eyes were about to pop out when I looked at him!
I have to bring up Debbie Plowman here...for those who don't know Debbie is a British woman who fell off her pole while doing a cross ankle layback. She had done it many times and was just 12 inches above the floor when she lost her grip. She passed out and stopped breathing...was resucitated with CPR....but suffered a cervical fracture and is now paralyzed and on a ventilator. This is an unusual but not necessarily a freak accident. We must have "respect" for what we do...there ARE risks.
mizvix ·
Empy, i missed the superman - scorpio transition the other night, though i somehow managed to flip onto my feet! wished i'd caught it on camera as the girls i was with thought i had done it on purpose! lol! there are so many lessons to be learned from falls, mainly DON'T FALL, but i do think that they are part of the learning curve for many of us though freak accidents like Deddie Plowman do happen. we just have to accept the dangers of our sport; many sports are dangerous, but if we take care (crashmats, spotters, no alcohol etc) and have patience we can reduce the severe injuries. I add the patience bit as I know i try to run before i can walk A LOT and if i took things slower i wouldn't have so many near misses (i've got good at catching myself!)
It's pretty unlikely that you won't ever fall, especially as you start getting into more intermediate and advanced moves. Scary, but you just get back up and try again. As long as you are safe, i.e. using a spotter or some sort of crash mat or both with new moves until you are totally comfortable with them, you will minimalize injury. I've fallen several times--once out of a butterfly when I was first learning it, and to this day I'm still not sure what happened--I was on the pole and then suddenly on the ground. I think I stupidly let go with my leg or something, but it happened so quickly I really don't know. I had two falls recently within the past couple of weeks; one was from a shoulder mount (which I have done about 8 million times,) and jarred me but didn't really hurt anything, since I feel onto carpet and wasn't very far up. I always, always automatically just flip my hair out of the way, but for some reason I didn't do that this time, so when I pulled up into the SM, I had a slippery mass of hair instead of a nice grippy shoulder waiting, and needless to say I did a nice little drop right onto the floor. It was just one of those duh moments that happen sometimes. The other one happened yesterday night, from a superman; I had just scrubbed my pole down really good with alcohol, which makes it pretty grippy for a few moves, and when I tried to transfer over into a superman from a side v, my thigh skin stuck in placeand instead of slipping right into it like usual, I lost the hold and came down awkwardly, though on my feet luckily. The superman is a newer move for me, but I'm to the point where I'm perfectly comfortable performing it, I'm just polishing it a bit and trying to get my thighs used to the burn, so basically it was just another oopsie move. Don't stress too much about it--like I said just be safe, and if you do fall, just know that it happens to pretty much all of us, regardless of ability.
I think we will all fall at some point. It's just how it goes! I was feeling good about my caterpillar, so I thought I would try the climb. I guess I was not ready for that because I fell to the ground! It wasn't bad, but it was my fault because I was trying something I was not ready for!
The caterpillar and caterpillar climb are tricky moves--much harder than they seem to be, at least to me. When I first tried it I watched some online lessons on the move (not Veena's,) then started practicing and while I don't think I ever had any falls, it was very difficult and I had a lot of near misses. It was a move I shelved for a while because it just wasn't making any sense, and then I watched Veena's lesson, tacked it again, and all of a sudden within a few tries I could do it. Something she said in her video just really made everything come together for me.
I fell once while doing a basic inversion yearrrrssss ago. Thankfully, it was directly into the arms of a customer=p
My pole buddy once was doing a one handed fireman spin when she looked at her hand and noticed a nail (gel nail) was gone. She simply took her hand off the pole to look better! All we heard was a loud noise and... BANG!!! there she was, sitting on the floor, not injured, simply looking at her nail lying there!! AHAHAH She said: I'm alright, but my nail poped! We just had to laugh, although we were really worried with her. AHAHAH Still laughing remembering her surprised face!
Peter ·
Does this count? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqSgeJ5r5pc ; 🙂
Legend ·
LOL Actually something like that happened to me when i used iTac2.... one moment was on the pole, the next was on the ground.... obviously the stuff does not work on my skin... still funny though :)
RoseMay ·
Usually I don't "fall" ... I just bring my legs more or less elegant back to the ground 😉 Just one time I was in free fall. I was attempting a butterfly from an outside leg hang. Though I didn't pay attention to how secure the leg was hooked ... and while I turned my body around in the butterfly position hanging only from that leg I lost grip and was in a free fall headfirst 😲 Luckily my hands were close to the ground, so I just caught myself in a handstand and didn't get injured ... except for a pole burn on my leg. Now I always double check my legs before letting go with the hands 😀
Hazi411 ·
Hi, I'v just had my first "bad" fall from a pole....knocked myself unconscious. Was in a pole class and just slipped and landed on my head - ouch! My memory of the event is a bit shaky, but I think I was doing the move where you are facing the pole, one hand above your torso, and the other directly under your "booty" with thumb facing upwards, and legs spread out in a "V", with your tush/things up against the pole. I suspect that I had the wrong kind of shorts on, which didn't allow proper skin contact, which is probably why I slipped. The studio called my husband who collected me & took me to accident & emergency at the hospital to get myself checked over, but I wasn't admitted to hospital, just got checked out by a doctor. Turns out my husband doesn't like me doing pole ('cos it can be dangerous and I could hurt myself) but I've told him it's non-negotiable. Now I'm not sure what to do...should I go back to beginner lessons and start again, or just "get back on the horse" so to speak, and carry on from where I am? Advice, please.....
RoseMay ·
Good that you didn't get injured badly 😲 About the going back to the pole thing ... that depends. Did your doctor say it's okay to exercise again? Do you have any injuries that need to heal first? If everything's fine I'd start slowly with beginner stuff and then check whether you're afraid of inversions or not. If you're scared to fall again it's better to wait a bit and build up your confidence first. And if you start to invert again maybe avoid the trick you fell out of for a while 😉 It sounds like you don't have a pole at home, so the "try how it feels" - part might be difficult. Can you just get on a pole at your studio without regular lessons?
Hazi411 ·
Not sure if the hospital Doctor knew I was doing pole when I fell. I have a slight headache and a stiff neck, but am OK apart from that. I have a pole at home but it's not in a place where I can use it at the moment. My husband and my Mother want me to give up pole, but I don't want to - I love it too much and I can't face having to give it up. I think maybe I will go back and re-do the beginner moves etc. and try to build up some more strength, and get my confidence back. I want to go back to classes (I'm currently doing Intermediate 1 and 2, so maybe I will finish this term of Intermediate 2, then go back to Intermediate 1 and stay with that for a while.
RoseMay ·
The headache might be from a concussion. It might be better to wait with exercising until it's gone. And with the stiff neck I wouldn't do anything that's strenuous for the upper back and neck (e.g. inverts) as it might make it worse. Heat and massages should help though 🙂 Have you tried explaining your husband and mother how it happened? My family is also kinda scared of my hobby and I'm explaining them the "system" behind it and how different tricks work. Just so that they know that falls are not random but always happen for a reason and that you know about them and try to avoid it (in the future 😉)
Katrae ·
I've fallen twice now from a caterpillar going into a brass monkey.. Both times I straightened my legs off and then when I hooked my legs back into the monkey I somehow missed the pole entirely in my excitement of pulling it off.. I can't say I landed gracefully..managed to twist my body to avoid my head and land right on my hip.. About a 5ft drop.. Was dizzy for a couple minutes but it was my own fault for not making sure I was 100% stable and rushing into it!
The first bad fall i had was when I was learning the holly drop. Landed on my head!! Scared me but I tried it straight away and got it! Having said this I haven't poled for 1 year & 9 months- I'm starting again on wed- bet I'll be scared to attempt the holly drop again for a while !
Elbie84 ·
I fell off trying to handstand out of a fallen angel (cross leg/knee release). I had a mat down but it's quite squisshy. Think it was a combination of my arms being too far from the pole and the squisshy mat my arms just buckled when I released a leg to push off and handstand. Slithered to the floor but got really bent up as my head was by the pole and still had the pole between my legs! Could've been worse, just bashed my shoulder. I would recommend using a mat for when you're learning to invert, just until you have the confidence in your legs.
Mechie ·
I slipped off my pole last night when I was doing a thigh rest....I used Tite Grip then iTac2. I thought I had a good grip, when I extend my legs, I suddenly fell down. It was a beginner move but it was soooo scary (It was a loud THUG followed by tons of curses...lol I scared my bf too...lol) I think My hands sweat through the Tite Grip and the iTac2. I only had Tite Grip on for about 20min...I wonder if that has anythin to do with it?? Does anyone have any other recommendation??
