8 Ways to Get The Most From Your Pole Dancing Lessons

1. Wear Appropriate Gear

Depending on your Level, you'll need bare legs (at least knees at Level 1; as much as poss for Levels 3,4,5). Shorts and a vest top are best

Bring flat shoes and heels, so you have a choice, both have their pro's and cons. (There's a separate article on this, see links at bottom)


Avoid wearing chunky jewellery and watches, they'll get in the way and hurt, and scratch the poles (which will also hurt when gripped!)

2. Wash your hands before class

Clean, dry hands make a huge difference to technique and can be the simple difference between the success / fail of a spin

The same goes for legs, particularly in the more advanced Levels, and if they have been anywhere near a bottle of moisturiser / oil / sunlotion / creams etc that day!

3. Stay Hydrated

Especially in this weather, bring a bottle of water and maybe a bar of something in case a sugar hit is needed

4. Get your money's worth from the Instructor
As an Instructor, it's my big goal to help people in my classes advance and succeed

Always ask if you have any questions, something doesn't feel right, or would like another demo or break-down

If you're looking for specific results when you sign up, let the Instructor know. (There's an online form here, or say in class)

Give feedback on the contents and delivery of your class, is it striking the right balance between dance and tricks? Even any music preferences you might have!

For students Level 3+ if you have a pole at home, get advice on any moves you're working on, any training / pole conditioning regimes which could help

5. Check out my Gallery page and articles online

For a reminder of what we've done, what the moves look like, and other useful pole dancing tips (video-clips of further Levels to be added soon)

Poleminx students can friend me on Facebook, where I post video-clips of each week's moves. Tag yourself in them or share on your profile to build up a collection as a reminder

6. Get visual feedback of your pole moves to chart your progress

Some venues don't have mirrors, and even when there is a mirror, it can be a distraction from your movement around the pole. Feel free to film yourself or take a picture to see how it looks / flows, and compare to earlier lessons

BUT ... limit yourself to a quick snap etc so you don't miss out on what's going on in the class

In this age of facebook etc, make sure the camera is pointing at you only, also filming the entire lesson including the instructor teaching is unlikely to be allowed in most pole schools, including poleminx.

7. Practice outside of class to get quicker results

Most people won't have access to a pole at home, but there's still lots which can be done at home without one (eg, by using a wall), including pole dance movements, dance steps, poses; or pole-specific exercises targetting the shoulders, abs, wrists for example, which will bring faster progress. Ask for 'Pole Homework' if you're enthusiastic for extra stuff (it's more fun than school homework ;-p)

8. Bad Pole Days

Like bad hair days, we all have 'em. Nothing seems to work, it feels super-painful, maybe even previously-nailed tricks seem to have 'disappeared' :-(

Try not to get frustrated, and definitely don't beat yourself up. Even attempting that trick uses and works the muscles, whether you pull it off completely or not, so it's never futile.

Don't spend 15 minutes attempting the same move until it becomes soul-destroying (I wouldn't allow this in a class anyway). If it's not happenning, draw a line, try something different, and come back to it later - or even better, next week. From experience it commonly comes back bigger and stronger next time.

It's a bit of a journey, progressing up through the Levels of pole dancing, often the higher you go, the progress seems slower, however it is all moving forward, think of how far you've come since that first Fireman Spin, not how far away you might be from some nutcase move you've seen on YouTube. If today's moves just keep eluding you, remember and focus on all the stuff you can do really well :-)