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I’ve poled in some ridiculously small spaces, and my main advice is: start slow. Extend slowly into your moves, especially ones that have you extending your body farther away from the pole, and pay close attention to where your body is in the space around you so you don’t bump into anything. It’s likely that you’ll be able to fully extend into tricks only if you’re facing a certain direction, so make note of where that is. You might be able to speed up a bit over time as you get more used to the style of movement and the specific space around you, but don’t push yourself and don’t try speeding up a lot until you feel confident that you know your space – and where you can safely extend – very well. Even after you get used to your specific layout, keep starting slow for every new trick you do.

[kittyface]

Oh, this is especially bad in showclub-style strip clubs. The desire to race ahead of where you really should be is already there in a studio setting, but when you’re a dancer in a strip club who can’t do certain tricks, but you see the girls who CAN do those tricks getting more attention and better stage tips than you are because those tricks make them look more impressive on the pole – it makes you want to try EVERYTHING NOW, because you want to do it anyways but you also need the money, goddammit.

This is the urge that led me to try the Jade split when I had absolutely no business doing so – I did not have the flexibility and I barely had an aerial invert, but I saw other dancers doing it and figured I would go for it. Thank god I found Aerial Amy’s Jade tutorial and started taking classes, or else I fear what could have happened to me (and my ribs).

I try to be much more careful these days, and the studio I go to is good about providing a progression of tricks and skill levels, so that’s definitely helped me be much safer and stay within my skill level. The things I see other girls at the club do sometimes, though… Especially the Jade. I’ve seen some truly awful Jades from women who have no business trying it yet, and I really wonder if they’re going to break a rib soon. The other thing I see happening all the time is kicking into inverted tricks that they probably don’t have the strength for yet, as well as bad body placement in twisted grip.

And yes, drunk poling. Taking shots to get over fear of handsprings = worst idea ever, but I’ve heard girls say they did it.

[kittyface]

I do think I have short arms =/

I talked to my instructor about the Janeiro, and he went ahead and taught it in the class. It clarified so many things for me 🙂 I feel ridiculous now, because I realized I was trying to put my head where my legs were supposed to go and vice versa O.O God, no wonder I was getting nowhere with this move! I don’t even know how I got it in my head that that’s what I was supposed to do!

Also, in class I was able to almost get it 🙂 I just needed to let go with the one arm so my upper body can lift up and I don’t feel like I can’t breathe. Watching the video I took of myself, I can really see why I feel that way when I don’t let to with that arm. I just hope I have the strength to hold it that way, since all your weight is on one arm and I haven’t really done all that much in flag grip (though I can hold my weight in that grip, I haven’t been able to get into a flag/half-flag the one or two times I’ve really tried).

[kittyface]

The studio I go to charges $20 for a lesson that lasts an hour and fifteen minutes, $10 for an hour of open pole, and $50 for a private lesson. I currently have a package with them – $99 a month for unlimited lessons, though I think that’s a temporary deal they’re offering. They always have packages of a series of classes, usually a package for a level of difficulty (6 beginner classes, for example). I believe my studio is on the low end for what it charges, but it just depends on the studios in your area. If you do a search for studios near you, they’ll probably say on their website how much they charge, or you can call and ask.

[kittyface]

@Andrea Pole – WOW… New favorite pole dancer! She’s amazing!

I think it’s wonderful when kids pole! I wish I had been able to pole as a kid. I never really felt like I found my place or my passion until I found pole, and I could have had that a lot sooner had I been able to pole as a little girl.

My studio had a mother/daughter pole class at one point, and I thought that was the sweetest thing. I wish more studios would let children take classes, there really isn’t a reason they shouldn’t be able to if the classes aren’t sexual in nature.

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I have to wear platform heels at work, and I really dislike it. There’s so many moves (mostly the ones that involve having your legs far away from the pole or ones where you’re moving your legs through tight spaces, also foot and ankle holds) that they get in the way of. For a while I could only consistently shoulder mount in the studio because my heels weighed too much for me to do them at work =/ The higher platform you have, the more they weigh.

So I’m definitely part of the “no shoes” crowd, but when I need a new pair for work I typically stop at a Fascinations for a pair of Pleasers. They definitely have ones under $100 there, and I’ve always gotten a pair under $70.

[kittyface]

@AllysonKendal …*facepalm* Whoops. I feel silly now =P

Huh, the only thing I could think of is that maybe it was more or less humid on certain days. The usually slightly-slippery SS poles at my studio became ultra-sticky one day because of that. The floor was slippery as hell though O.O We were putting Dry Hands all over our feet that day.

[kittyface]

@Strawberrysmoothie That’s an awesome video!

Kirkthomas, I’ve found that most studios (in my area at least) will say somewhere on their site if they’re co-ed or women-only. It sucks that most of the pole places near you are women-only =/ If it makes you feel any better, even as a woman I am vastly more comfortable poling at a co-ed studio, and I don’t think I would go to a women-only studio at all.

If you can’t find a good co-ed studio, I wonder if you could find someone in your area who has a home pole and use that, either alone or with him/her as a pole buddy? You could even ask on here, I’ve seen people find pole buddies that way, so maybe it could work for finding a home pole. If not, I like Nina’s idea of getting an inexpensive quality pole and buying Veena’s lessons. It’s more expensive up front, but keep in mind it’s waaaay cheaper in the long run. You could save up for it, get it, and not have to spend another dime on pole for at least a year, as opposed to continually paying for lessons at a studio.

I would recommend Kenneth Kao’s videos for more male pole dancer inspiration. I can’t embed a video because my phone browser is crap, but search “Kenneth kao pole expo” or Kenneth kao pole jump” on YouTube if you want to see it.

Good luck, I hope you hear good things from the studio you emailed!

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@AllysonKendal Do you think maybe the poles were more narrow, like 40mm or 45 (if you don’t usually use a 45)? That could possibly explain why hand grippy moves like Ayesha and butterfly were easier, and that would also decrease the surface area on your shoulder and make shoulder mounts a bit more difficult.

I’m very comfortably situated with my studio at home, but my wife and I were considering taking a trip through the West coast this summer and I was recently looking for studios I could visit. It didn’t occur to me to ask about pole diameter/finish. I’m not sure what finish I prefer – brass seems to work a bit better than stainless steel for me, that’s about all I know, and the difference isn’t huge – I know I greatly prefer a 45 over a 50. Honestly, if a studio had 50s it would be a bit of a turn-off but not a dealbreaker, since I can still work with them and I wouldn’t be there for long anyways. I imagine it would be different if I were leaving my home studio and looking for a different one, but I feel like diameter would be more important than finish in that case (unless it was SO sticky that I couldn’t do drops, like powder coated or something).

[kittyface]

Club like strip club, or club like dance club? Or am I way off base here?

If you’re talking strip club, most clubs (from what I’ve seen, I’ve danced at three clubs so far) are pretty much constantly doing auditions for new dancers, if that’s what you have in mind. I can’t really tell you about waitressing/bartending/being a shot girl in a club, if that’s more what you had in mind, but I’ve seen quite a few girls start as dancers and become waitresses/bartenders, as well as vice versa.

I have more to say on this – as a current strip club dancer – but I want to make sure I understood you correctly before I make a fool of myself and answer a question you didn’t even ask =P

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I don’t think you’re ragging on anyone, I think we need to call out questionable stuff when we see it. We don’t need shady companies endangering pole fitness newbies and giving us a bad name.

And yeah, that looks horribly unsafe to me – the width of the base and the top, like you mentioned, but also – do you see how the pole narrows at the top and bottom, right before the base? That seriously looks about ready to snap O_O And they claim to have a spin option as well? Yikes! It would make me feel a bit better if they at least screwed it in, but the website says they don’t use screws. I can’t imagine how this could be safe at all.

[kittyface]

I know you feel frustrated with your current progression, but please please don’t feel like you *should* be at any given trick or lesson or level as defined by whatever lessons you’re using! I work at a strip club and I’m ALL about the pole and my stage show, I always have been, I’ve always worked at least three nights a week, so I get a hell of a lot of pole time – and it still took me a year to invert! And you bet that was a sh**ty invert, with me barely catching the pole with my leg and hauling my butt up =P

In pole dance you’re just working with your own body (and lifting/spinning/etc. your own body weight) and a pole – and everybody’s body weight is proportioned differently through various heights and shapes, varying ratios of fat to muscle, etc. Everyone’s body is SO different, and that affects each pole dancer’s strengths and weaknesses so much. There really is no saying where any given pole dancer *should* be in regards to what she/he is working on, as long as she/he isn’t pushing her/his body too hard. Also, it can take a while to really strengthen the muscles you’re using for any given spin or trick. Don’t be hard on yourself if you’re moving more slowly than you initially expected. This stuff takes a lot of strength and body awareness – including the beginner spins. Take a minute to think about and be proud of what you can do right now, because what you can do right now is amazing 🙂 You will get to where you want to be, but don’t let your focus on that frustrate you too much and take away from your joy in what you can do right now!

[kittyface]

Do you ever practice on static, or are you always practicing on spin mode? Because I have a really hard time doing any kind of ground spin in spin mode. When the pole is spinning, you have to exert more force to overcome the outward pull of the spin and stay on the pole. I’ve got quite a bit of strength but that’s still really challenging for me, maybe in part because I’m used to static.

Alternatively, do you have sweaty hands? That could make hand grips quite a bit more difficult and make you slip. I use Dry Hands when I start to sweat, but there’s a variety of other grip products that could help if that’s your problem win hand grips 🙂

[kittyface]

I just started to get a really consistent shoulder mount, and I got a bunch of no-hands brass monkeys this last weekend 😀 Can’t wait to show my instructors!

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@dizzykitty19951263 – Hey, I used to ride horses too! I just fell a lot, and I could never quite get over my fear, I think. That’s why I rode for 4-5 years and never really jumped much =P I do miss horses, though, even if I don’t really want to ride them anymore.

Okay, I totally just realized there was a question about pole-life balance in your original post. I feel super silly and unobservant now. =P

I feel super lucky in this regard because, even though my wife and I met before I started pole dancing, she’s always been super supportive and proud of me. I’m always the one worrying that I’m talking about pole too much, and she’s always the one reassuring me that I’m not 🙂 I’ve mainly been meeting people through pole lately, so they obviously don’t mind either. As for school, well… I dropped out of college and started working as a strip club dancer =P I’m afraid I can’t help you much unless you’re planning on doing that, hehe xD

Oh, and I have the problem of thinking about combos when I really should be asleep.

@Casi – Ugh, that really sucks! I hope that injury heals faster than expected and you can get back on the pole soon 🙂

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Hello, and welcome to StudioVeena – and to pole dancing! 🙂

I don’t have a pole at home, and I’ve never tried a 38 or a 40mm pole, but I do work with two different diameters of pole like you do (45mm in the studio and 50mm in the club I work at). It sucks because I work with a 50 the vast majority of the time, but EVERYTHING is easier on a 45 for me =/ Hand grips especially are terrible on a 50, especially with my baby hands, so I understand your pain!

Kudos on getting a Cupid, BTW – I’ve gotten that a grand total of one time in 1.5 years of poling, hehe. You’re doing really well 🙂

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Hehe, I love this question 🙂 My response is probably way longer than you expected, sorry if it’s a bit of a novel o.o

I’ve been poling for about 1 1/2 years, a bit longer. I always really liked it, but my real pole frenzy – like, think-about-it-all-the-time frenzy – didn’t really start until about a year in, when I got my basic invert/outside leg hang. That was a big win for me because I came into the sport with NO upper body strength, and once I got that I started to feel like I could really work on what I wanted to do. I had felt really stuck and kind of hopeless up to that point, which did ruin some of my enthusiasm, but after that I really took off and started *getting* things. That was the point when I really knew this was my passion.

One thing I can say for sure is that I’ve dabbled in so many different things throughout my life – fitness-related and otherwise – but absolutely none of them has stuck the way pole dancing has. I tried some dance classes (as well as music, science, art, etc.) when I was younger, but everything felt way too strict and structured for me and any real joy I got out of it was sucked out by the strictness of it. Zumba/biking on my own wasn’t super structured, but I never felt like I was building towards anything I could identify. Pole dancing, on the other hand, is the perfect balance of structured teaching and self-guided play. I never feel like the structure of learning sucks the joy out like it did for everything else, but I have enough guidance so I can learn safely and feel the difference in my own body every day. I am stronger, more flexible, and more body-aware than I ever dreamed I could be. I can do things with my body that I never thought possible for me. I never thought I would end up realizing that my big passion in life is the wonderful mix of dance and acrobatics that is pole, but I did, and it’s *awesome*.

That’s why I definitely see this being a lifelong passion and not a fleeting interest for me. Hopefully that made some sense, and perhaps some of that resonates with you 🙂

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I don’t have thin legs, but I have tiny little baby hands, and I empathize SO MUCH with grip issues on a 50. My hands don’t even go all the way around a 50 -.- I haaaaate using a 50 for anything with my hands especially, but I’ve also found everything else – body holds included – easier on a 45. I’m not sure why, but that diameter just agrees with me all around. I’ve never tried a 40 (I imagine that would be too small for me for body holds to be comfortable), but I love the 45 way better than the 50.

Have you tried a 45, and compared how the 45 feels compared to a 40? 50 to 40 just seems like a huge jump especially considering how much of a difference just 5mm can make. If you’re a small person then I imagine a 40 will work for you, but I’d definitely find a way to try both diameters before buying.

[kittyface]

I got my EG ayesha bout a year and a half from since I started pole, maybe slightly more, but I was a slow learner. It took me a year to get my basic invert, so it was about six months after that point that I got my EG ayesha. I honestly wasn’t focusing on it at all – I had set it to the side, sure that I didn’t have the strength to do it, but one day I was doing a bunch of really solid caterpillar climbs and just decided to try it, and it worked.

I got my shoulder V and my Ayesha at about the same time, so if you can hold a shoulder V + have a solid caterpillar climb I’m inclined to say it’s not a strength issue. Honestly, my biggest barrier to the caterpillar climb and the ayesha on my weak side is the pain of the elbow grip, since I haven’t conditioned my left elbow as much. I know I have the strength, it just hurts the skin of my inner elbow too much to hold it long enough even for a caterpillar climb. Could that be part of the issue?

[kittyface]

With my instructor’s help, I finally got over my nerves/lack of confidence and got a shoulder V 🙂 One of these days I’ll get his crazy shoulder-hop-up-the-pole trick =P

In general, I’m really starting to feel confident in my own strength, and capable of seeing myself learning the advanced tricks that I want to learn. Even if it is in months or years for a lot of them, it’s not a generic, vaguely hopeless “someday” anymore 🙂

I love all of these!

[kittyface]

Jenyne Butterfly was the first pole dancer whose style I really connected with, so she’s definitely up there, as is Veena (hi Veena 😀 ). At the very top of the list for me is a Japanese pole dancer named Haruna Matsunami – I can’t find as much about her as the other pole dancers I really like, but I absolutely LOVE everything I’ve seen of her. She competed in Miss Pole Dance Japan 2012 as well as the World Pole Dance competitions (not sure which years, I’d have to look it up). She’s energetic and graceful and weaves advanced techniques and gymnastic floor work in with music beautifully without being sexy per se (I’m not a fan of overtly sexual styles myself), and I connect more with her style than anyone else I’ve seen so far.

Also, Kenneth Kao – I’m lucky enough to get to take classes with him. I’ve seen him freestyle a bit, and I’m always blown away by the effortless way he does moves that require so much strength. And he always looks like he’s having so much fun – I love the combination of youthful enthusiasm with mind-blowing strength and technical skill.

[kittyface]

I love drops! They can be a challenge to get at first, but they’re so fun and exhilarating once you do. I’d say it’s more psychologically than technically challenging, because I’ve found that you can do a drop in pretty much any move that you know how to tighten and loosen the hold of, but the biggest difficulty is getting over the fear element. I’d say start with a position that you’re really comfortable in, experiment with loosening the hold and tightening it again. Work on shorter distances first and build your way to bigger ones as you get used to the feel of a drop. Maybe this is just me, but I’ve also found it easier to do on a pole with better grip, since I feel more confident doing a drop if I feel really confident that I can catch myself.

The main drop that I do is in a Jade split, but I had to get realy comfortable and familiar with the basic Jade before I could even think about doing a drop in it. I’ll also go into split grip up on the pole and drop into splits (or, well, nearly-splits) on the ground or land on my feet. I haven’t tried any drops in a transition from one move to another, but I’d really like to try one like that.

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OMG, congrats on getting the spatchcock! 😀 That’s a “someday” move for me for sure. Good thing you have the grip now too, since that would be a bad move to fall during o.o

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Every time I try to do a short Scorpio (on static) my body somehow rotates and I end up in a long Scorpio =P I should really look into why that’s happening so I can do both…

I definitely aesthetically prefer the long Scorpio, and because of the rotating issue I haven’t really gotten a short one. In any case it seems to be easier for me to hold a long Scorpio. I haven’t yet done combos or transitions that require the short, but I feel like I should work on it so I can do those.

[kittyface]

Your thought of “I get objectified anyway, might as well get paid for it” makes complete sense to me and is actually a part of why I work as a stripper myself. I second the warnings about alcohol and other substances – I can confidently say I’m one of the only dancers at my club who doesn’t drink on the job, and I get offered drinks all the time, telling them I’m underage doesn’t deter them from offering to slip me a shot or part of their beer. Whatever your boundaries are, you have to keep them rock-solid, with substances and touch alike, because people will push them.

I feel like you know all that, though, so I would rather warn you about other dancers. As PolieOlie mentioned, there are so many horrible two-faced women that you will be working with. I have been sexually assaulted by other dancers multiple times throughout my time as a stripper. I received a rape threat from another dancer at the first club I worked at. The woman then followed me to the next club I worked at, and there she would do creepy shit like follow me into the dressing room when it was likely to be empty. I left that club because of her, and I am *extremely* lucky to know at least one manager at my current club who actually takes dancer-dancer assault seriously, but I know not every manager does, because I know one other manager who basically gave me a blank stare when I tried to report a dancer who just approached me and grabbed my breasts.

I’m focusing on sexual assault here because that is NEVER talked about, I am literally the only person I know who has ever discussed this issue. I’ve also heard screaming matches in the dressing room, but I feel like that kind of thing is talked about at least a little bit. I know your biggest problem so far has been unwanted touch from men, and I empathize with that very strongly. If you do decide to try working as a stripper, don’t expect the women at the club to be any different (including customers, female customers are often worse than the men when it comes to unwanted touch).

I would also reccomend working at a big club in a big city if that’s possible for you. That way you can utilize your pole skills, get good stage money for that, and therefore spend less time one-on-one with customers, which puts you at greater risk of being touched/grabbed/assaulted.