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Letting go with your body
I am fairly new to pole dancing and sometimes I have trouble letting go of my body. Usually in spins such as the reverse grab. I have trouble trusting that my body will do what it should and I hesitate. Any tips for this?
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18 Replies
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I like doing one handed chair spins to prep for faster paced spins. Also when I’m getting used to something new I douse the pole with alcohol (and wipe it of off course!) Same for my hands and even put on some itac. Just a bit though so I can still spin.
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Melissa, you mention you’re fairly new to pole. How long have you been poling? Something to keep in mind is that one handed spins and things like reverse grabs are not beginner level spins. These require flexibility and strength that usually takes time to build up to so you do not hurt yourself. If you are new to pole you should not expect to have an easy time with spins like the reverse grab. Can you easily do a Chair spin?
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I sort of agree with Veena- one handed spins are NOT beginner spins! The reverse grab still is difficult for me… and I’ve been poling a long time.
My favourite spin for helping me “let go” is the front hook spin… but, again, it’s not a beginner one. You can do it two handed, though, so that’s helpful.
Best thing I could suggest is taking it slow. Even the fireman spin can test our trust! -
I go to a studio so I am under instruction. I just meant with any spin. I think too much and hesitate which stops the momentum. Even in a fireman spin. I go into the spin then stop myself because I don’t trust my body to do what it has to do. I have been poling since January. Yes, I can do a chair spin. I shall try one handed. Thanks 🙂
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Hey Melissa,
I feel your pain… I’ve been poling since January as well and at my studio, we can’t even move up to Level 2 until we can do 4 beginner spins one-handed. I’m 43 and have not been very active for over 3 years and I simply canNOT do the spins one-handed. It’s even deterred my confidence “letting go” to do two-handed spins. The last month or so, I’ve been so frustrated that I can do many of the Level 2 moves already, but I can’t even progress out of Level 1 that I’ve skipped a lot of classes and ignored my home pole out of sheer discouragement.
The ladies on here are really encouraging and offer great advice so hopefully we’ll find a way soon. 🙂
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I have been poling since jan too, we haven’t even started looking at one handed spins. I think you need to build strength and flexibility with lots of other things before I could imagine feeling ready to do spins one handed. For the moment I am happy trying to do them faster, stronger and just better with 2 hands before I try letting to with one hand.
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Haha thanks ladies but this wasn’t about the actual spins themselves. It was more about my head getting in the way of “falling into them” and creating momentum.
Some of you have kind of got it though 🙂 -
Hey Melissa,
I just started poling in January as well, but I haven’t had the problem letting go so much here as I did back when I polevaulted. It can be scary learning to trust your body but you know what you’re doing. You’re at a studio where people who want the best for you are there to make sure you are ok, and really, the floor isn’t so far (pre-climb, that is). It’s ok if it’s not pretty and it’s ok if you mess up. Just keep at it! The body is a self organizing entity. As long as you tell it what to do and practice, it’ll know even when you feel the need to think it through.
When I was polevaulting and would feel stuck and hesitate my coach would have me just do several test runs to go through the motions — nothing pretty, not trying to get any height, intentionally flopping onto the mat, just to remind the body of where we were going and to quiet the mind a bit. Maybe this sort of thing would help? Doing a bunch of front hooks or firemen in a row and focusing on what the body is doing, not necessarily making the body do any particular thing. Observing, you know? Maybe this will help to hesitate less because you are present in the moment and not outside of it second guessing it?
I don’t know. I hope that makes any sense. Best of luck!
Ariel
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Thanks Ariel 🙂 You nailed it! I will try your suggestions out and see how I go. Thanks so much!
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No problem, Melissa, I hope it helps. Best of luck and keep having fun! 🙂
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Don’t know if you have this problem solved now or not – but I’ll throw in my two cents. From reading your posts I was a little unsure if you were just having trouble with the reverse grab or if you’re having trouble with all your one handed spins. I’ll start with ideas for if you’re having difficulty with all your one handed spins. If it’s just the reverse grab – skip this part 🙂 One handed spins are fundamentally different than two handed spins because you need far stronger muscles in the shoulder and arm to do them. Think about it this way – you’re basically doing a one armed pole hang. It’s the full engagement of the muscles in the shoulder, arm, and back that allow you to do the spin with the maximum amount of momentum (and therefore revolutions around the pole). If you’re not engaging those muscles fully and you’re “dropping into” your shoulder then you’re probably squeezing your hand more tightly to compensate and keep you on the pole. This will drastically limit your momentum and force you into a scary “falling forward” position – which most people bodies respond to by clenching the hand tighter (completely involuntarily) and further stopping the spin. At this point I usually have my students start by holding onto the pole with one hand, thinking about engaging the muscles that they would be using if they were doing a pole hold and then allowing themselves to slide down till their knees are on the floor. Sometimes they get a rotation with that – sometimes they don’t. We then work up to where they can walk around the pole and allow themselves to “fall forward” (while keeping everything engaged) and work up to lifting their feet off the floor as they do this. It helps their brain learn that their body is going to catch them and it helps their body learn how to do this at the same time.
As far as the reverse grab goes – it’s actually not a spin you “fall into”. That’s the reason so many people consider it an advanced spin. You’re pushing your body out away from the pole and then your arm is pulling you back into the pole. Which is a really scary thing to ask your brain to do. So the ability to fully engage the arm, shoulder and back muscles are even more important. I let people start on this spin only once they can do all the basic spins one armed – just because I want them to be absolutely certain that their arm will hold them before they start flinging themselves away from the pole and then expecting their arm to bring them back in. To start with this spin I have them stand beside the pole with everything engaged, then step away from the pole and fall back in. This is the basic motion that happens in the spin and as they become more comfortable with it they start adding a push to the movement away from the pole – which creates the spin. Veena has an awesome lesson on the reverse grab – which will give you all the mechanics in way more detail too!
Hope maybe a little of that helps…. -
Wait, I’m confused. Wasn’t Cherished the one posting about one-handed spins, not Melissa?
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Yes, this post was not about one handed spins.
Thank you though Darcit! I’m sure those tips will help both me and others out 🙂 -
Sorry. You mentioned the reverse grab in your first post so I thought you were talking about one handed spins. For two handed spins a lot of it still applies. You can still do the hanging on to the pole, engaging the muscles and letting the feet slide down to the floor – just with two hands on the pole. 🙂 And trying the “pole hop” that Veena has on here and gradually letting it get bigger and bigger can help too!
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All good and thanks for the extra tips 🙂
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