beginner advice

reddesire started this discussion · 1/22/2012

Noobie here, well somewhat :) I have been practicing a lot but still not as advance as I would like. Downloaded a app for andriod "pocket pole lite" and I can do 20 of the moves, but when it comes to moves where I have to climb and then do them I can only do the fireman. Any suggestions? I know my arms need to be stronger but I'm just doing the moves to get more muscle. Bought some glycrine lotions to help with grip, will have to see how that goes. I'm thinking to buy some gloves or mighty grip. What did you do in the beginning that helped you learn. Is there anything you do to keep up your moves or any suggestions at all to do the moves? I know the pain is very bad when I sit on the pole any help reducing it?

8 replies

Mary Ellyn · 1/22/2012
I started without the benefit of a live teacher and wish that I didn't have to do that but there was no place near us teaching when I started pole dancing. So...I learned over the internet but not simply by watching videos. Instead I signed up for instructional videos and learned by being coached by a very good friend online. There are too many nuances to learning new moves that simply watching is an extremely difficult, and often unsafe, way to learn. My advice is to take advantage of the good studios in the Boston area and if you can't afford that then you have a good resource in the online lessons here on Studio Veena.
PixiLouBell · 1/22/2012
just keep practicing your pole sit, and look up pole exercises to strenghen on youtube. i am completely self taught and i remember how bad the pole sit hurt at first, i thought there is no way im going to b able to do all those othet holds this hurts!!! lol but i didnt give up the more i did it the more comfortable it became as with all moves u learn. i wud advise veena lessons or a studio to learn, i just dont hve the extra money for veena lessons and there r no studios close to me, youtube helps alot! plus practice practice practice!! :)
PolefitFanatic · 1/22/2012
That's the thing with pole,; we love it because it's difficult and it challenges you - and that's the same reason we find it so frustrating! I can relate to where you're at. It always takes me ages to learn new moves and I feel so envious of those for whom it seems so effortless! When I first started pole we use to climb the pole and just practice hanging by our arms, with them bent at 90 degrees if you can. It does take a long time to build up strength and also to build grip strength. I used to feel that my grip went backward also when I was learning something difficult because I'd get nervous and my palms would start to sweat on the way to the studio while I was just thinking about the moves! Everyone has their own favourite grip aid, so it's a matter of trial and error a lot with them. Also Rixi's advice to keep up just practising your pole sit is good advice - unfortunately there is no easy way except to practice and the pain certainly diminishes with practice - usually about the same time as you develop inner thigh callouses (joking!). Veena has some wonderful lessons that will help you and also on my website www.polefitfanatics.com you will find under the Becoming Polefit category lots of posts relating to gym workouts that can help with strength and also that will help strengthen your grip. Don't give up - I look back every year to how far I've come and although week by week I feel like progress is slow - over a year I find I've usually come a long way! All the best..X
jade s · 1/22/2012
I'm not sure that any of us are as advanced as we'd like to be. I know that there are a TON of moves I can't do yet, and I've been plowing for about 2 years. Practice, practice, practice... As you get stronger, the moves will get easier. There have been tricks that I struggled with even just a few months ago, and never thought of again until recently, and I tried them again, and to my surprise, I was able to do them soooo much better. There are times we all struggle with a trick for days, weeks, months, even a year...sometimes we're just not ready yet. This forum is great for advise. Veena is wonderful about answering questions. If you aren't sure if you're ready to progress, or if you are struggling with a particular move, post it on here. Everyone is so helpful. If you love it, don't give up, we all can't be world champion pole dancers overnight.
hookedonpole · 1/22/2012
Great advice here. For me patience is the key and not comparing (which is difficult not to do). It is challenging, yet rewarding when something is accomplished. Pain when learning something new is a part of pole journey. Just as we accomplish something and the pain goes away, the next trick can start all over again with pain. Building strength for tricks is part of it also, it took me a while going in baby steps to develop strength for basic butterfly, I found a great tutorial to build strength for that on youtube, before I found this site. Don't feel the need to progress at sprint speed and enjoy each new accomplishment. Posting here helps, veena's lessons if you can get them, a studio if you can, if there's a studio for workshops once in a while. Welcome to studioveena and the pole journey!🌸
FuzzyNavel · 1/22/2012
I would also say don't rush it! Take your time polishing moves as you get them and don't forget to dance with what you've got--so many of my favorite dances aren't the tricked out ones, some are really simple and evocative. If I could go back I would have gotten down dance basics more and really focused on flow. I would have done spin mode, because so much of what is done on spin are simple holds and you gain a lot of strength doing those (as I am just finding out now)...I also would have focused on sretching more. Good luck and enjoy yourself! Also if you don't have Veena's lessons yet, they help me tremendously (the strength routine was huge for me).
ahlemh2001 · 1/23/2012
I know ur pain, I used to deal with the same problem. There is unfortunately no easy way out:PUSH UPS, and pole strenghth routine, u have those by veena or on youtuve, u'll find exercices, the good point is that u have ur own pole, I don't, so it was mostly push ups (argh), it was so frustrating to see girls coming and do the trick in one lesson while the teacher was looking at me with pity!lol and maybe u should try some lessons in a studio to get some "live" advise and then polish with ur internet/dvd and so on. best of luck :)
ShonaLancs · 1/23/2012
Hey! Congrats on starting the pole journey! I have been poling for only 4 months now. I go to a class once a week and have a pole at home to practice what we learn in class. I also have that app for my phone which is fantastic! I have found the warm up my instructor gives us is the best for getting pole limber. She makes us do push ups, squats, pull ups on the pole and crunches, all of which REALLY improve my strength. I try to do them at least every other day. At first I didn't think I was getting anywhere but a basic pull upon the pole before you start demonstrates how much your strength is improving week by week. I Defo get morefrom classes than online learning plus as mentioned earlier it's much safer. Just keep plugging away :-)