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Poling with Friends
My group of friends and I met at a pole studio a couple of years ago and hang out with each other outside pole quite regularly. We all stopped taking classes for a few reasons, the number one reason being that the studio doesn't offer lessons at our level on a consistent schedule. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif
Well, we love pole so much and we always say we'd get together and continue learning by ourselves. Now this sounds like a great idea especially since some of us have poles at home and we are all around the same level (intermediate/intermediate-advanced). However, whenever we get together, "pole practice" turns into "eating", "talking", "playing-with-the-pets" and "watching-videos-of-Youtube-superstars-we-all-wish-we-were". Haha!!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_flower.gif
It's difficult to keep our focus as we are friends outside of pole too. We're trying to be better at this though, and plan to schedule a consistent set time and structure for our practice sessions. Tonight is going to be the first time for our "serious" pole jam, and so far we've come up with a few strategies such as: one person being in charge of warm up, what to work on, staying focused, and snacks (because snacks = very important!). https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif We still aren't sure on how to divide our 2 hours with regards to warm up, conditioning and what to work on.
So for all of you out there who jam with your pole buddies regularly, what do you do to keep focused on learning with your friends? How do you structure your pole time together? How do you decide which moves to work on?
Any help appreciated, and thank you in advance! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_heart1.gif
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8 Replies
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I pole with one friend regularly (we're both advanced students at our studio). We practice at about the same time one day a week, every week. I always make a list of moves to work on. Usually I'll write down more than I expect to get to in case the ones I really want to practice don't work out. As far as warmup goes, we pretty much follow our studio warmup routine together since we know it by heart. Since we don't have to think much about the warmup (and cool down stretching), that's when we're probably the chattiest and talk about other stuff outside of pole – we're pretty good at focusing when we're doing actual pole stuff and the rest of our talking during practice ends up being about move mechanics if we're working on new/difficult stuff. We usually don't do a ton of conditioning because we both do other stuff during the week and it takes up a lot of time, but we at least do some push-ups, pole-ups, and a few crunches and leg raises on the pole. Our practices usually run about two hours long, but of course some days are awesome and some days we're really tired and only end up working for an hour.
I think it works so well because it's just the two of us and we're pretty much the exact same level and have practiced for so long together that we have a routine we're both used to, but I think it would be a lot harder if we tried practicing with other people. If Aerial Amy doesn't respond to this post try messaging her – she organizes pole "Flight Clubs" for a bunch of people and probably has a lot of great tips! 🙂
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Thanks Holly. Those are pretty good tips on saving time. We did ok last night, but maybe as we get better as poling as a group we can come up with a routine warmup that isn't too long. There are 5 of us (2 poles though), which is a lot, but we all do a lot of things throughout the week so it's a good idea not to spend too much time on conditioning. Ok I will message Amy if she doesn't get to reply https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_flower.gif
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I also have a friend that I have pole jams with on a weekly basis. We don't chit chat much unless we're both beat and we need to sit down for a bit. But then we're just back up on the pole working on different things. I think the only difference between you and Holly is that my friend and I both go to a different studio, so every time we get together we show each other what we've learnt in our class. Then we end up teaching each other the different things we've learnt. We also end up picking something new to learn together every time we get together to pole. This way we have each other to spot one another or have one of us instructor the other. It's much easier for us to learn new moves this way because then we're not so afraid of falling and injuring ourselves if we were learning by ourselves.
Another thing we like to do to keep us focused is take turns stringing combos together and having the other copy and do the combo. If one of us cannot complete the combo or if one of us just can't get into a certain move, then we take our time and teach each other how to get into this combo move. Hope this helps!
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hi gummy! that is so great that you have organized these pole jams! it sounds like SO much fun. i loved your idea of making each person in charge of something for the session. and i like holly's idea of chatting and catching up during the warm-up part, then getting started on the list of moves to work on. i admit, i'm jealous! i wish inter-island flights were cheaper!!!
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Ewa I really like your idea of working on combos instead of just straight up tricks. That's a really nice point. Thanks for the advice! We really need to cut down on our chit chat til we're done with working out!
Tara you are welcome to pole with us any time. We might make it out to Maui early next year so we'll be sure to come buy your studio for some lessons!!! We need fresh tricks 🙂
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i will definitely make it over there sometime. and i would LOVE to have a pole jam here. you are all invited! maybe we could have a party after. you ladies don't need lessons from me, we can just share tricks. i need to learn some new combos!
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Tara we are just beginning to teach ourselves spinny. We have no experience in it. So far so good, just have to get used to the motion of it. At least we are no longer flying off screaming like when we first tried it haha!!! We've all been doing a lot of other things like silks and stuff and no one really kicks our butts into gear in pole anymore, so we're just beginning to return to our first love again and getting our groove back. Trust me, we DO need lessons from you! I love all your videos! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_heart1.gif
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thank you so much, pia! i love spinny. i am just starting to get better at it. i would be happy to do some butt-kicking for you ladies! LOL!
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