[LatinPoler]

I bought a good quality clear roll (Duck tape) of approximately same width as the soles of the shoes. I just cut a strip and stick it to the sole. I do not customize anything, there are small parts of the rubber that are still exposed, but they don’t bother. The borders of the strips may peel a little but never too much, I change them from time to time for sanity.

[LatinPoler]

Make sure that your hooking knee is above your hands with and strong invert as Veena points out. It this doesn’t happen smoothly, you can lift your body a little with the hands still on the pole and adjust the knee. It doesn’t look too bad if you do it quickly. Do this by pulling the pole, so your weight is mainly on your hands and you are free to “fine-tune” the knee. Then release the body and hands. My studio instructor told me that I should hook the leg correctly at first try, because then it’s very difficult to re-adjust, but for me, the method I explain here works if I am not able to hook my knee cleanly. I know it’s not good technique though – use at are own risk 🙂

[LatinPoler]

I use clear duct tape on the rubber sole and works pretty well.

[LatinPoler]

Thank you ladies!! You really boosted my confidence to try this 🙂

[LatinPoler]

Thanks!

[LatinPoler]

Basic butterfly happened!!! After watching Veena’s video I told myself: you are hugging the pole, you have enough grip and are not relying on shoulders and wrists only. I dared to release the leg and TADAAA!! I felt pretty stable. I had been working on bats, caterpillars and reverse handstands as preparation. I felt pretty accomplished (and brave) by doing this ☺️☺️

[LatinPoler]

Really, really looking forward to the flow program! And also to shoulder mount, whenever you are ready. I hope you fully recover soon, Veena.

[LatinPoler]

Thank you ladies, you are the best! Veena, yes, I remember watching that Periscope and it did make a lot of sense to me, I will watch it again to get all the nuances.

I agree, practice makes perfect and allows you to gain confidence. Yesterday I practiced bat on my bad side and felt it slightly better.

Tropical, you are absolutely right! My approach is exactly like yours. I try to focus on what I like and can do and frankly, I am more into flow and dancing than into aerial tricks. But in addition to my home pole lessons with Veena, I take lessons at a studio and the studio has a syllabus. So you are supposed to do some tricks if you want to keep progressing. And I agree that things like bat are basic, building blocks, so you need to learn them. Maybe Ayesa is not that basic, I don’t know, I am not at that level yet.

I like learning at my own pace and I am very perfectionist. I don’t like to keep adding until I can do a move with good technique and looking pretty. But this doesn’t seem to be the trend for most of the other students, they like to learn fast and keep progressing, even though their tricks don’t look as good, as long as they can do them. Each pole journey is different, indeed.

Here’s my plan for the next few days: I will practice handtands/elbowstands, caterpillars and Veena’s basic butterfly at home, at my own pace, so maybe towards the end of the week I can go back to my studio ready to try the split grip butterfly.

I could quit the studio, but I don’t feel safe learning challenging or inverted moves alone, I feel better with a spotter. Then I use Veena’s lesson to perfect the move and practice at home at my own pace.

[LatinPoler]

I don’t have a mat at home, but we do have at the studio, that’s where I learn and try new stuff first. But when the teacher is spotting, we don’t use the mat. I guess she is the mat. And in any case, she doesn’t offer the mat very often, at least not to me. I know I look strong and I may be, but not for pole, that requires a different type of strength. In fact, I’ve discovered with pole that my upper back and shoulders are pretty weak, I’m doing conditioning to fix this. The “scape” plan sounds good, I think I am going to rehearse the wrapping move. Thanks ladies!

[LatinPoler]

Thank you! Yes, you are right, I was able to do bat when I did it several time in a row very low, with my hands reaching the floor, so I had a quick exit. That allowed me to gain confidence and trust myself 🙂 But then, I had a bad/weak day, didn’t feel very well in bat and the fear came back. I will keep at it.

[LatinPoler]

Don’t force it. Pole doesn’t have to be sexy for everybody. Some people take it as a workout, in a gymnastic or acrobatic style and there is nothing wrong with that. Over time, you may gain confidence and maybe feel up to adding some sexiness. Or not, if that is not your style. Some people are more into bodywaves and other more into cartwheels! Be yourself.

[LatinPoler]

I also have the 45mm chrome x-pole at home and at the studio, and I had that issue in the beginning. It turned out to be a cleaner thing. I was cleaning my pole with Windex, which was leaving the pole shining but maybe not removing all the oils, grip, etc. I changed to a mix of alcohol and water and the problem shorted out. This is the same mix that is used in my studio for pole cleaning. Also, make sure that you and the pole are warm.

[LatinPoler]

I have background in dancing, not much, but yes, I did ballet and other types of dance and gymnastics when I was a child and a teenager. Not much as an adult. I’m 43 now. I think my flexibility is average, I’m not super bendy but not too stiff either. I almost have my splits, I have been stretching more or less consistently 3-4 times a week since November (8 months). I agree with Colleen, when I started I stretched every day and my muscles became stiffer and I didn’t see much progress. Then I relaxed my schedule and things improved. I have even taken a couple of 1-2 week breaks due to travel and life matters, and I don’t think those breaks had a detrimental effect. Recently I have been doing the Get Bend DVD (from Fit and Bendy) 3 times a week and I have seen the best improvement. The DVD is expensive ($25) but I do recommend it, it is a good investment. In 1 hour, you will train your front and side splits and your back flexibility.
Good luck!

[LatinPoler]

I have ordered clothes and DVDs and everything arrived fast. I don’t remember the exact days, but faster than I expected. They ship from California and I live in Ohio, so a pretty long trip. If you live closer to California, it may be faster. I haven’t ordered shoes from them though, it may take longer because they are not the manufacturers. Unless they have stock, it makes sense to me that it would take longer. Amazon is a good option, I purchased all my shoes there.

[LatinPoler]

Good choice. It works wonders for me.

[LatinPoler]

Thanks for all the advice! I made some progress today in class. I went as low as possible in basic invert before releasing the hands, sliding down while still in the basic invert position. When I was at arm reach to the floor and feeling my legs with good grip, I released one hand, then the other and got it! Not very fluid and definitively not high, but at least something. I also used a mat and I guess this helped me mentally 🙂

[LatinPoler]

I like the sensual style of Alethea Austin and Doris Arnold.

[LatinPoler]

Yes, let a professional have a look. You might want to avoid partner stretches in the future, unless the partner is an instructor. The other person doesn’t know how you are feeling so you cannot fully control what’s going on…

[LatinPoler]

I agree with Phoenix, I have Alethea DVDs and don’t like them. Some sections are really advanced and she uses some techniques that are very risky (ballistic for example). And I dislike the music. Cleo’s Rocking Leg and Abs is OK, at least it’s more fun, even though there is risky business there too. I like her Back is the New Black much better, it’s the best from what I know. Besides back and shoulders, this one has a good section for hip flexors, so if you add hamstring stretching, you’ll have side splits as well. In my opinion, most programs neither warm you up enough nor hold the stretches long enough.

[LatinPoler]

Thank you Alice, good point, I will try what you suggest. I need to gain confidence in the position and the exit. Girl, bat is also foundation move in my studio, so I cannot avoid it totally 🙁

[LatinPoler]

Thanks Runemist! You are right, some days are better than others (or should I say worse!). It depends on my mood, but also if I’m going to class after work and I’ve had a hard day, my mind does not cooperate at all with more hard things like this. I’m also afraid of spiders BTW, and I’ve never had a bad experience with them. I will keep trying and pushing a tad outside of my comfort zone. I’m confident that whenever I get to let one hand go in my handstand position, I will start gaining confidence and it will start working…

[LatinPoler]

I also vote for beginner to intermediate quick lessons/combos. Also, more “sexy pole”, I mean, body waves, figure eights and that kind of stuff. It’s good for everybody: beginners can do it, and more advanced polers can add it to their flows to add variety.

[LatinPoler]

I can relate! Currently I was feeling always exhausted, and for a reason. I was very busy at work, just progressed to an higher pole level class and started to invert, was training for a half marathon and working on back and leg flexibility. It turned out that I was feeling so weak that I was afraid to hold pole tricks like the Figure 4, which I had nailed before. I was not enjoying my pole practice anymore and I was scare of falling. I talked to my instructor and she recommended exactly the same as Runnemist, to stick to floorwork, flow and lower level pole classes for a while, at least until I ran my half marathon. I’ve been off the pole for 3 days now and feel much better, I am planning to take one flow class tomorrow. Bottom line, we are not machines. I also love this quote: the man who chases two rabbits won’t catch any. I have to remind this myself all the time.

[LatinPoler]

Quick lessons and combos are key to me. If you want to dance, you cannot learn only tricks! You need to know the tricks of course, but if you don’t know how to chain them, it won’t look that good. Both tricks and flow are important and complement each other.

[LatinPoler]

I also have dry skin and I keep moisturizing my skin as I used to do before I started dancing: when I take a shower, in the morning and before going to bed. The only caution is not to put too much if I’m taking a pole lesson in a few hours. Right now I’m using Nivea Essentially Enriched and it works well, it doesn’t make me slippery. It’s not very natural though, it has mineral oil.
For something more natural, I like Trader Joe’s Midsummer night’s cream. It does have petrolatum, but overall, I think it’s not that bad.