Side Climb Tips

Forever Young started this discussion · 11/20/2012

Hi Ladies, I am trying to work on my side climb at the moment and so far it is not going well. I think I am strong enough to do it - I can scissor climb up the pole - but for some reason this climb just eludes me. It is not simply that I cannot do it as I can, BUT it looks terrible. I hook my knee, tuck my other foot behind the pole and push up into position (all good) but as soon as it comes to moving my knee up the pole for the second climb, it all falls apart. I can move my knee, but there is nothing graceful about it AT ALL. I was wondering if there are some tips that you can give me about arm placement, or hand placement body placement etc. Although I can get to the top of my pole, I don't think I will ever use this climb for anything as it looks as though I am struggling and no matter what I try I can't seem to make it look any better!😈 Any advice and tips would be most welcome. ❤️

10 replies

Krista Bocko · 11/20/2012
Yeah...I think for this climb you have to experiment with different variations and see what clicks. And it will just take repetition and practice. I think there are basically 2 side climbs: one where you move both legs up at once and legs move as one, and one where you hook the bottom foot (once on the pole) and use it as an anchor to push your top leg up and hook at the knee. I prefer that one (I did it here at 3:00 if you need a visual :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sam4uWLNlEE). Also...be sure you try it on both sides. I definitely can side climb better on one side than the other. GL!!
chemgoddess1 · 11/20/2012
You need a really good knee pit grip to do this. It really is not so much about strength as it is about being secure in that grip. Try to work on apprentice/advanced star and even the one that is similar to this but the foot is behind the pole and you are leaning back. A strong aerial hold is essential too.
Black Orchid · 11/20/2012
One of my holiday goals is to clean up my side climb. I like the one where you are hauling both legs up in one go. I think my main problem is that while I feel pretty secure with my leg grip there is something inefficient about my arm placement that's causing me to not get up higher. Any words of wisdom or photos or something for that?
chemgoddess1 · 11/20/2012
Seriously...work on side holds. You should be able to hold that pole with arms bent in baseball grip. I don't think I ever have my hands higher than my head at any point in the side climb. Try looking and working on it this way: once you have straightened your legs try releasing them totally from the pole and going into a side hold. From there push the forearm of the inner arm into the pole to give you some room and then use your obliques to side crunch your legs onto the pole again. Straighten, reposition your hands into baseball grip, release legs from the pole into side hold, repeat. That little forearm push (I am not really sure what to call it) is key (at least for me).
amy · 11/20/2012
If you set the bottom foot and then stand up so high that your inside thigh is trapped against the pole, side climbing will be super tough because then you can't pull the thigh out to move the knee up :) does that make sense?
Forever Young · 11/20/2012
Thanks Amy I am sure that is what I am doing wrong. Its like I can push up, reset my hands but then I can't move that inside knee any higher without a whole lot of effort! And Chem - I think I will also try the way you mentioned - I am sure it. Will be great prep for a strong and clean side climb. Thanks again ladies - will let you know if I find it any easier. Here's holding thumbs ...
polergirl · 11/20/2012
I side climb both ways mentioned (my most recent vid has the both-legs-at-once side climb in it, about halfway-ish through), and prefer the one where both legs come up at once. As chemgoddess and amy said, you need to be able to do a side hold PLUS keep your body away from the pole so your legs have freedom of movement. And ditto on the strong kneepit grip, you need for that to be secure in order to have the pushing power with that leg. A one-legged side climb (using only bottom foot to push) would be a true toughie. ;)
jkpolegirl · 11/20/2012
A lot of the time with side climbs your hand positioning can change everything........ I was working on side climb forever until someone told me to fix my arms So for your hands.... make sure ur inside hand is the lower hand.. also a forearm grip is going to help keep ur body further away from the pole so u can actually move your legs up the pole..... also definately agree with amy.. u can't stand up all the way.. u need a little space there I always got stuck moving my legs until that little tip
CarissaRose21 · 11/20/2012
I have always side climbed with BOTH legs up at once....I don't know why, I just think it looks prettier and more graceful (that is if you do it right!). I took a workshop with Jenyne Butterfly a few months ago and she made a point about hand grip that made a lot of sense to me. She said that the way she does it is she uses the same hand positioning as the chair spin. That is, the arm that is farther away from the pole is going to be the arm that PUSHES away from the pole while the inside arm helps to PULL both your legs up the pole high enough to regrip and keep going. The most challenging thing about doing it this way is the need to keep your toes pointed since the grip behind the knee will be less since your bringing both legs up together at once, your bottom foot will want to flex against the pole to sustain that grip.
Sassafrassle · 11/21/2012
I think for the one leg at a time version, you need to have your hips away from the pole a bit, to give you that kind of room like Amy talks about. I side climb that way on one side and side climb the two legs at once way on my other side because each works best on the respective sides, I don't know why. For the two legs at once, I brace my inside/lower arm grip against my forearm and use it to help push out, which seems to work quite well.