Given my spotty pole training so far, due to work, injury etc. I haven’t yet put together official monthly targets of things to work on, as I had planned to. But better late than never, so my list of targets for March are below:

Polishing / building confidence:

These are tricks that I should have the strength and ability to do, but lack confidence to do it, because I’m not used to doing it (especially on the other side) or am just scared of doing. So I just need to keep practicing these until I can do them confidently (sufficiently so to include in a freestyle!) and beautifully.

(1) Falling angels (both sides)

(2) Outside angel, inverted pike, inside angel (both sides)

(3) Outside angel, inverted pike, horizontal split

(4) Cat ripple

Improving consistency:

These are tricks which I’ve managed to do before or occasionally, but my ability to do them is inconsistent. E.g. my shoulder mounts come and go, or I used to be able to do knee-holds, but now they really hurt. And superman is something I’ve managed to do only a couple of times under supervision, ditto for my clumsy pencil mount.

(5) Pencil mount

(6) Superman

(7) Shoulder mount

(8) Knee hold (from side-climb)

Learning:

These are must-do or must-learn tricks for my current level of training (at both schools, including to pass L5 at my main school!), or the logical next steps given my level of strength and training. I *should* be able to do the Aisha quite easily, if only I practice it. Ditto for extended butterfly… I should have the strength to do it, I think it’s my fear and/or lack of technique or balance that’s holding me back.

(9) Pencil from hangback

(10) Aisha

(11) Extended butterfly – from bullet, from butterfly

Obviously I’m still working on other moves in the meanwhile, which are part of my longer-term training goals (e.g. handspring etc.), but these are tricks which I’d like to concentrate on in the short term, because I should be able to do them, and then I’d like to polish them and make them look beautiful, which means, logically, the tricks will progress from the “Learning” bucket, to the “Improving consistency” bucket, to the “Polishing / building confidence” bucket, before graduating to becoming part of my repertoire of tricks for use in free-styles and/or choreography.

Fingers crossed!