[StrangeFox]

Hey there, and welcome! The pole finish you get will depend on your preferences and your skin chemistry. My skin is super dry and I find chrome stickier than brass (with brass, my skin just gets ashy and I slide off). But I know other polers with dry skin that hate chrome. If there is a studio nearby, you could go try out their poles to see what you like best… if you’re lucky they may have more than 1 type of finish! Unfortunately, other than trying out the finish there’s no real way of knowing what will work best for you.

You tend to adjust to whatever finish you use the most. I’ve found although I prefer chrome, I can do all right on brass if I need to use it simply because I’m used to it. Remember you can always get grip aids to help, too! The absolute best thing for sweaty hands, though, is building grip strength! 🙂

For the silks attachment – I was looking into that at one point, too, and I think you need to have either a stage pole, or a semi-permanent/permanent mount (not pressure mounted – check with X-Pole, though). Also, make sure you’ve got enough height to use the pole silks.

[StrangeFox]

Veena advises that you “listen to your body” and this is excellent advice. Some days or weeks you may be able to stretch more than others. Sometimes you may have a lot of other things going on that impact your flexibility training. That could be physical stress or mental stress.

Usually, if I’m still sore even after a good warm-up, I take that as a cue to slow down and be gentle. Dustbunny gives awesome advice – definitely start slow and gradually build up. Regardless of whether you are a beginner or advanced student, what works for someone else may not work for you and if you’re going slow you’ll be able to pinpoint that a little easier.

I’m still learning and I wasted a lot of time doing things that didn’t work for me when I started out. If you’re near a dance studio (any type of dance studio) that does flexibility training and has certified instructors, I would highly recommend signing up for a few classes. A teacher who has been properly trained can tell you how to reach your goals safely, and can correct your form and tell you what you should be feeling.

If you haven’t already checked out Veena’s 30 day flexibility program, I recommend you do so. There is lots of great information in there. 😊

Best of luck and happy stretching!

[StrangeFox]

Seconding what tielz says – it’s all about what works with your skin! I would love it if someone did a scientific study on this…

I actually find I stick better to chrome. Brass is always a little slick for me. The first studio I went to only had brass and I had so much trouble with grip I didn’t want to try chrome because I’d heard it was much more slippery. I even bought a brass pole. I was convinced to buy a chrome pole and was shocked at how freaking grippy it was for me. For grip aids, sometimes I use a bit of dry hands, or I’ll use shaving cream and hair spray, or glycerin right after I shower if I’m really dry (I have super dry skin). The body grips I’ve tried just don’t work.

Looking back I’ve wasted so much money on grips that I just can’t use, and now I have a pole I barely use anymore because the metal just doesn’t like my skin. It really sucks that we have to spend so much money trying all of this stuff out just to find what works for us. Let us know how those grips work out for you!

[StrangeFox]

Another thing you can try is strength building exercises. They won’t work right away but over time they’ll help you grip the pole even when you’re having a sweaty day.

I usually do an exercise called “stop lights” or “fist flashes.” It’s basically squeezing your hands into fists and then opening your hand really quickly. I usually do 2 sets of this exercises for 45 seconds per set. If you’re doing it right your hands will stiffen/stop working halfway into your first set. Afterwards I always make sure to stretch out my forearms. 🙂

[StrangeFox]

I wish there was some kind of a kit you could buy that would tell you which pole finish works best with your skin! It’s sooo frustrating and pole finishes aren’t something you can just “try out” unless your studio has poles with different finishes.

I was going to say I found both of my poles slippery when I first got them (brass and chrome), but you mentioned you’ve had yours for a year.

Not sure if you’ve seen this:

https://www.polefitfreedom.com/pole-dancing-grip-aids-compared/

An anti-antiperspirant like Carpe lotion might work.

[StrangeFox]

Thanks Veena! Following her!

mfloresh – I didn’t quite know what I was doing when I started. I googled sewing with stretchy materials/knits and kind of took a bit of knowledge from everywhere. I found this tutorial on making your own super hero suit helpful:

https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Sew-Spandex/

I’m by no means an expert and I’m still figuring things out, but I found it helpful to sew with a stretch needle and leave myself a little extra seam allowance. If you have a pair of pole shorts you love already you can “clone” them if you don’t have any patterns to follow.

[StrangeFox]

Thank you so much – that is so awesome of you! I would love to read a blog on drafting for knits. Please do send me the link when you have it ready! 💖

[StrangeFox]

Just an update: I got the hang of sewing and have made myself my own pole outfits using a bikini top pattern, and some of my pole shorts as a template. I’m trying to learn pattern drafting but that is a HUGE undertaking so it might be a while before I can make my own original stuff. I do have some easy costume ideas I’m going to try my hand at.

Sewing is no longer mystifying and now when my machine jams it’s because my cat has tugged the thread off of the uptake lever (which happens a lot, and was something that took me 2 days to figure out when I first got my machine… I’ve just gotten in the habit of checking it before I first use it). Also, stretch fabrics are only a mild pain in the butt to work with.

[StrangeFox]

I have been poling for around 2 years now and I still have trouble with spins. Most girls’ 1st fireman spin looks 100x better than my 100th fireman spin. I’m comfortable with inverted moves, and other aspects of pole, though. There’s more than just 1 thing in pole and chances are some things will come easier for you, and other things will take time.

You might also decide that some things in pole are just not for you and that’s OK, too.
For myself, I don’t enjoy spins and I just don’t work on them much anymore. They don’t give me the same feeling of joy and accomplishment that mastering an inversion gives me and I find them very stressful on my body, so I prefer to work on things that suit me better. When we work on spins in class I’ve just learned to accept that I may not be able to do everything my classmates are doing.

Nothing in pole is “easy.” The things we’re doing are not exactly natural and so they require some extra strength and practice! To reiterate what others are saying: you WILL get there if you stick with it. 🙂

[StrangeFox]

Another thing – if you’re worried about falling out of this one and you can find someone to spot you, try falling out of it on purpose (cartwheeling out of it). That’s what an instructor had me do and once I figured out how to “fall safely” I was OK to practice it on my own.

If you can afford it, I recommend investing in a crash mat. I know those are more expensive than a pole but they are totally worth it.

Hope that helps! 🙂

[StrangeFox]

Definitely work on building strength as Veena said. This one can be hard on the wrists and shoulders if you don’t have the proper strength. Also be careful if you have hyper-mobile elbows (elbows that bend the opposite way when you fully extend your arms). I only practice ayesha a few times per session and I try to use it sparingly as it doesn’t work great for my body.

From your video it looks like when you come away from the pole you’re too far over to the one side and that’s why you keep falling out of it. What I try to think of doing is keeping my crotch centered with the pole and almost leaning towards my pulling arm a bit so my hips are stacked over my shoulders. You can also try entering into ayesha from a caterpillar, which feels more stable for me. While you’re in caterpillar it’s easier to shift your hips around to find your balance. When you remove your legs from the pole, make sure you remove them both at the same time and point your toes straight down towards the ground. Good luck! You got this!

[StrangeFox]

Are you attempting the handspring mount, or lowering into the handspring end position (ayesha) from on the pole? 🙂 I’ve been trying the mount for over a year and still can’t get it. Ayesha took me such a long time and even now if I don’t train it I lose it pretty quickly. You are not alone in finding it scary and strength intensive – it really is! Once you have it, though, it’s not too bad. You could try posting a video on here and we might be able to give some tips based on what we see.

For lowering into ayesha (the handspring end position) from up on the pole what really helped me was doing it from a caterpillar first and making sure my crotch was centered with the pole before I took my legs off. To do that I had to slightly curve my torso towards my pulling arm (if that makes sense). I had to pull a lot more than I thought I did, and I had to make sure my feet came off the pole at the same time and immediately pointed towards the ground or else I’d wobble and fall out of it. I also practiced tumbling out of ayesha either into flatline, or to the ground just to show myself that there was nothing to be really afraid of.

Good luck!

[StrangeFox]

Ps. I posted the video of my sloppy allegra in slow mo. I invert into gemini (outside leg hang), and then switch to a short legged/flatline scorpio (inside leg hang) before going into allegra:

https://www.studioveena.com/videos/view/5d9a0816-bd24-4cc4-8ae5-168cac110002

[StrangeFox]

Sounds like you are trying to do allegra from the wrong starting position. I could be wrong but are you trying to do it from gemini? If so, you’re just missing a step.

For allegra, you’re going to want to be in flatline scorpio (as Charley mentioned). You can sit up a little in your gemini (outside leg hang) and switch legs so your inside leg – the leg closest to the pole – is on the pole, or you can drop into it from butterfly. If you have the lessons here you can check out Veena’s tutorial. You can also do allegra from your ball/bomb/ tuck hip hold – for that entry you would reach around the inside leg (the leg closest to the pole). Veena also has a great tutorial on allegra.

If you post a video on here, we could give better pointers. 🙂

I’ll see if I can post my (admittedly very sloppy) allegra video on here. Allegra is a move I’m just learning to get comfortable with and my back flexibility is a work in progress so all of my movements are very exaggerated and obvious – lol!

[StrangeFox]

Hey! I don’t think what you’re experiencing is related to size. I started pole a couple of years ago with very little fitness background (only distance running) and although I’m petite, I could not for the life of me do any basic moves. I couldn’t backhook spin for the longest time, actually, and everyone else in my class seemed to do it fine. Even fireman spin, I couldn’t keep myself up off the floor for long enough to do much more than 1/2 a rotation when I started. It was pretty disheartening, especially since everyone else in the class seemed to be a natural.

I’m not crazy advanced, but I can do some pretty cool inversions now and I still find basic spins to be so damn challenging. If you keep up with conditioning, you will get stronger, and just because you’re struggling now doesn’t mean everything is going to be a struggle for you. Some things will come more naturally than others.

I recommend Veena’s conditioning programs, or if you’re near a studio, see if they have a pole conditioning class. I needed to do both. Class helped me correct my bad form and stay accountable, and Veena’s lessons helped me build strength quickly and safely.