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Left or Weak Side
Yes, your always suppossed to work your other side, but of course, in my excitement to progess, I ignored my poor left arm and left side as a whole. So, now I am backtracking and trying to work my measly left side so that it equates to my right.
Frustrating for sure – but I am wondering if some moves are just not possible on the left side?! For example, chopper or inverted V – just doesn' seem to work on the left? Is this is an issue of gaining strength and mastery or are some moves just going to be a little "off" when done from your weak side?
I also have an issue with crookedness to begin with – long story short, I had a stroke and one half of my body is shorter than the other (used to wear a lift in my shoe as a kid and even before pole, I've always had one leg and arm noticibly bigger in muscle tone than the other just because of the misalightment of my back and limbs). This also flows into my back as well – the whole body is slightly shorter on the left side and I wonder if this is going to prevent me from working my left side as fully and completely as my right since I kinda lean left?
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6 Replies
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I think rule of thumb is to work everything lefty. Often a lefty invert or chopper will feel weird bc even though you don’t think u are– you are using a little momentum when you step up into it, to bring ur body into te pole. Personally I think that at the least, being able to climb,invert, chopper, and do leg hangs equally well on both sides is critical to intermediate/advanced pole work.
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Momma…I never knew that about you and it is in no way noticable. My bad side inverts are not as pretty and I really need to work on some other moves opposite. It's kinda like learning all over again, and also gives you a little humility if pole came easy.
P.S. I miss you!!!!
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Amy, thanks for the bad news LOL, but I know it's 100% right (although it feels sooo wrong).
The leg hangs are probably the worst – hanging with my shorter, weaker leg feels so unsecure and it's hard to adjust my torso in the right position cause the whole body alignment is different for that side – the whole thing is just an akward mess – and all the points of contact get screwy too. Climbing left – it feels like there are weights strapped to my butt – that one makes me sweat (woo-hoo cardio!).
Chem – yup, I'm a goofy mess LOL It's not noticible unless you really stand there and look and compare – probably the most noticible in my legs (and of course I always failed those scolosis screenings in school). Pole . . easy . . . hah!! I miss you too girl!!
Good to know left side isn't unobtainable, just a pain in the butt.
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Uch the left side, I am an awkward mess. I started going to a beginner pole class (because I don't practice left at home) once a week and I only work on my left side…it's like my brain doesn't compute left so learning everything from scratch seems to be helping. But agreed both sides have to be balanced for intermediate/advanced pole. Good luck, MB you sound far more disciplined then I am. I look forward to a lefty video!https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_porc.gif PJ
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I sometimes think that too about no being able to do some moves on my left, I just can't seem to grip properly with my left hand!
As for the leg length, my boyfriend has one leg a good inch or two shorter than the other and he has a definate limp, but his physio says to take up yoga, flexibility training, and strength training for his off leg, and things will improve… If its a similar thing then pole on your off side will actually help realign everything! It probably will be really difficult, but if you keep in mind how much it'll help with not just pole, but other aspects of your life, I'm sure it'll get easier 🙂 Its good that your starting from scratch just on your left side, I'm sure you'll progress in no time! -
I really agree with what Amy says and to be honest it took me a long time to be able to make my weaker side look half way decent – especially with inverts and often times they do still feel awkward although I'm finding just the sheer determination and practice is helping a lot. I think it's good to train your weak side simulataneously with your strong side. For example, in classes, once we feel we mastered something, I make students do it for equal time on their bad side, sometimes people find certain things easier on the weaker side. I always ask students to experiment with leg and hand positions because you never which side a move is going to like.
Another exercise you can do is set yourself to up to dance to a song and so all of your spins on your weak side and bigger harder moves on your strong side. Just getting good at your basics on your weak side will really increase your strength – think about it, it's the same way we trained our strong side. Plus, it generally doesn't take as long to get comfortable with the basics on the weak side because you already know the form and the technique.
Once you get to where you're inverting on your weak side, train it the same way you did your strong side, over and over until it feels okay.
Hope that helps.
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