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Knee hold – help!
Ok this is driving me crazy.
The only bit of advice I’ve ever heard about the knee hold is that you need to find that sweet spot on your knee – but I can’t even get that far! I put my lower knee up on the pole and it just slides down before I can put enough weight on it to do anything. I keep trying and my arms get tired before I make any progress. I’ve tried using a chair or doing it from the floor, but I can’t get a good enough grip with the top knee and slide off even easier. *sigh*
Am I missing something? Is your weight being held more with the top leg and you just use your inner thigh muscles to keep that lower leg from sliding? Or am I right and your bottom knee holds a good chunk of your weight, and I just suck?
Maybe I’ll just keep at it and it’ll click someday…
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19 Replies
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Can you do a star (Jamilla calls it something else but it slips my mind)
It was not until I could get this no handed that I could get even the beginnings of a knee hold. For me the pole cannot be right it the pit of the knee…it has to be a little away and held more by the calf and hammie.
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Hi Foxy,
You need to have a really tight, solid grip with your top knee. Your bottom knee does take some weight, but it’s more bracing you away from the pole.
Hook your top knee first, so it’s got a really good grip, and then place your bottom knee against the pole. Make sure your knees aren’t too far apart, because you need to hook your feet together. As soon as you position your lower knee you need to push your hips right forward, so they are in line with the pole. This should help shift the weight onto your bottom knee, and stop it sliding out from under you. You’ll then be able to start looking for the sweet spot – I still haven’t found it… I’ve just grown used to the pain!
(Obviously, practice all this stuff with your hands on the pole.)Let the pain begin!
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Hi, Foxy,
I am by far no expert on knee hold. I’ve only gotten it 3 times and that was with boots on. I have the same problem with sticking, which is why I went to the boots so at least I could get an idea of how hard I had to tighten the grip with the upper leg. I have tried without the boots but the only times I get close is when I am warmed up and so is the pole and I put grip behind my upper knee and in the grove in front of the lower knee. I need all the help I can get. When you get it as I know you will soon because you won’t give up, please share what worked for you. Thanks!
Here is my best attempt so far:
1st Knee Hold.JPG
Please excuse the getup. I was working on my February Challenge at the time.
-Kim -
Thanks everyone! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif
Chem – I can’t remember about the star, I haven’t tried it since getting back on the pole… I think I did… https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_scratch.gif I’ll have to try it again and see.
Ritalin – thanks for the walk-through. I’ll have to try pushing my hips forward, but it’s pretty rare I get far enough to do that. I get stuck at the point where I have to hook my feet together because the bottom knee keeps sliding so my feet are too far apart! It sucks!
Khallstrom – your outfit looks cute https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif If I get it, I’ll let you know what I did.
I’ve been trying to get into this from both just standing and hooking my leg and from gemini – I think it was Roxy? that said she did it that way so she could get a secure grip with the top knee when she was learning it. I’ll give it another go when I practice tonight
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I got the knee hold months before I got the star. I’m weird. I feel as though the pole pops out of my backknee (is that a word?) in the star, but since my other foot is holding my leg in place, it doens;’t happen on the knee hold.
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The best way I can get a great knee grip is to invert into a gemini, use both arm to pull and hold yourself up while you place your lower leg on the pole. Remember to cross you ankle and push your hip forward while engaging your abs and leg muscles.The pushing of the hip forward is crutial to getting and holding this move. Trena https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_queen.gif was the one who taught me this mount into the knee hold in one of her vids. And its great because you get that hooking leg nice and high. Look into her profile and she has the knee hold vid there. The thigh high boots is a great way to train into this as it takes away 50% of the pain. I still have pain https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_mad.gif when I do this move but its quite tolerable now.
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Just wondering how you place your hands when you’re getting into it? I got some advice from someone to place the upper hand quite close to the upper leg when getting into it (although hook your upper knee quite high in the first place) and that works quite well for me. Also, I notice some people go into it with both hands starting above the upper knee – personally, I find having one hand placed above then one between where my knees are (or at least will be) gets my hips into a much better position for lining up than if they were close together, in which case the body is kinda bent inwards. That goes towards the slipping side of things anyway – the pain side gets lessened by lots of practice and finding the "sweet spot" below your knee cap….
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I teach this from a standing position.
The grip on the back of the knee is very important. Use some grip aid – even hair spray on the back of the knee. I usually advise against boots on this one unless you are using just ONE boot on the lower leg to pad the shin from the pain. You need to feel the skin of the back of your upper knee to learn how to grip and you can’t do that as well with boots.
You actually hook your ankles just before you place your knee or it’s harder to get your ankles to meet if you place that lower knee too far down. Once you hook your ankles, slide your lower knee down.
do NOT place it on the knee cap or the center of the shin-line but actually on the side of the tibial bone…the area that almost feels flat, just inside the front of the shin-line.
Hips MUST push forward so your torso is in a straight line. If you bend at the hips you will not be able to hold the position.
More weight is taken by the top leg to lessen the pressure on the bottom shin but it’s pretty equal. Also, if you try to hold your torso UP higher than the hips, it’s going to put more pressure on that painful section of the lower shin so try to not let go until your body is more parallel with the floor.
This doesn’t have any sound but it may be helfpul:
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Yeah, I just recently started getting this one. I practiced with one hand on the pole and one on a sturdy chair so figure out bottom leg placement then both hands on pole. I can only do it with warmed up body and warmed up pole. Unless I’m really grippy, I’m afraid I’ll slip down. It did help to put mighty grip on the back of my knee! Most of my weight is on the top knee and the bottom knee just kinda keeps me from flopping down.
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Hiya from San Francisco https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif
Got it a bit backwards I am afraid, but an easy fix https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif … Your "weight" should be held with your top leg and the bottom leg (actually the shin of your bottom leg is used for bracing to put your body "outward" from the pole, or you can extend your bottom leg straight down for a pretty half split move.
A good way to practice finding the "sweet spot" behind your knee is to stand very close to the pole, with the pole on your right or left side depending on which leg you feel comfortable with,
1) hook your "inside leg" on the pole at about hip height
2) grab and gently pull the top of your foot to really smoosh the pole into the "crook" of your bent leg (your calf will feel a little uncomfortable for the first few tries but dont ever pull so hard that your knee hurts!)… pulling your foot it the direction of your bum.
3) the outside is straight and your foot pushed against the base of the pole and your body is reaching away from the pole in the opposite direction of the bent leg, to simulate a good strong hold.** When you do this from a position of height on the pole and if you where heels, one trick instead of grabbing the top of the foot (which is uncomfortable and awkward to do in the middle of the move, is to grab the stiletto heel of the leg that you are hooking) sounds crazy but it makes that grab and hold soooooo much easier and takes the pressure off your knee and calf being smooshed into the pole! It also allows you to control the tension of the hold much easier https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif
From there you would use the heel of your bottom leg to push your top leg in the direction of your bum, taking over the role of your hand pulling the top of your foot to your bum, and "smooshing" the crook of your leg around the pole https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif
Hope this helps!
send me a message if you need anything else!
Good luck and happy poling! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif
Leah
Pole SF -
Okay I am actually working on this right now.( this very minute, like I’m typing this on my couch still in my drawers lol) I JUST got it for a sec. What I learned about my body position is that I have to really lean far away from the pole before I lift the lower leg. If I elongate my torso away from the pole then I have anough tension on the top leg to lift the bottom and lean away. I didn’t know just how important it is to lean far away first…meaning I was like totally stretched away and my belly fat wat taught (lol) before I lifted the bottom leg. Like veena teaches, I kept a chair in case I needed to lean on it but I didn’t need it until I tried to get down. I actaully let go of BOTH hands…very happy. Now I gotta train my muscles to remember this. Hope this helps! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif
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i actually just got this a few weeks ago and can do it comfortably now
what helped me was to let first make sure that you have a secure grip with the top knee
then i hooked my feet before getting the bottom knee in the right spotas far as the sliding of the bottom knee. i actually let mine slide down a little bit so that more of my leg is in contact with the pole.
i had a much harder time when i didn’t let it slide down and when i tried to keep my knees closer together.
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Hi Foxy glad to know you are progressed with your knee hold https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif …I’m posting for any other girls working on this at the moment
The knee hold is one of my favorite pole moves. Getting it at first if very painful and tricky.
The KEY to the knee hold in my case was DRIVING MY HIPS FORWARD!!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif Leg placement must be correct and secure as well obliviously….
1.I start from the ground with my inside arm higher up on the pole than my outside…
2.then I hook my inside leg HIGH up on the pole ***where your legs bends opposite of the knee***…
3..from there bring your outside leg up to the pole & lock your feet together (you want to rest the pole right where the lowest part of the knee and the upper chin meet (if you feel your leg there is your knee cap, the bottom bone of your knee, then your chin begins).
4.from here your body is "in place" but you must push your hips forward and squeeze your butt cheeks together, sounds funny but it helps everything. (this increases the pain even more so be ready)
you should feel pretty stable here with your hands still on the pole. try taking your outside hand off and start to lean away slightly, keeping your hips engaged. if you feel your self slipping squeeze your legs more and drive your hips again. you may have to come off and reposition a few times before you feel comfortable. If you are sweaty put grip on the back on your top knee and on your lower leg as well.
I hope this helps you!
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wow LV pole that was a really awesome explanation…I’m gonna try it again yay!
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Thanks PennyGirl!!
I also teach yoga and I really thinks it helps me explain pole moves because I’m always examining the body! Let me know how it works and if you need help with anything! xoxo
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