I had taken 3 weeks off pole since mid December, so I was really nervous about starting again, and was almost tempted to bail, especially since there was some pressure at work.
Technique and moves I revised (all on the other side) include:
1) Climb (more like pull-up) eagle, outside angel, inverted pike (called an “egg”), inside angel x 1: I did the climb eagle and outside angel several times and tried to get the courage to do the inverted pike on the other side, but I failed until Janet was available to spot me.
The key is to make sure the inside leg is engaged and has good grip with the pole. It’s very difficult to really feel secure, so the steps are as follows:
– bend the inside leg (the one not hooked on the pole), and bring it it forward towards the body and face (press the inside of the thigh tightly against the pole)
– straighten the leg, and use both hands to pull the leg as close as possible towards the face and body (as if trying to do a split with body leaning over the front leg)
– once you feel secure with the grip of the straight inside leg (very difficult to feel so!), bring the outside leg to join the inside leg
– i can’t remember which leg should be on top to keep the legs down (i think the inside leg should be on top), and wrap both arms around the legs and keep pulling them towards you
– to transition into inside angel, let go of the hands, and simultaneously hook the inside leg on the pole, and drop the outside leg back to secure the position
2) Climb, hook, superman: I tried this several times, but was struggling to get the confidence to let go of my bottom (right) hand, and rely on my top (left) hand. I think the next time, I would need to lift my feet upwards and when I let go of my right hand, and really reach out
3) ‘The violater’ (a.k.a. Hello-boys) x 3: struggled with this somewhat. Bum cheek kept sliding down. Think I think to turn my hips up more. The steps for the violater are:
– from an extended pose, turn back to face the pole, slide hands lower down (both hands on the pole)
– lean the body to the left, so that the weight is on the left leg
– bend the right leg and continue leaning leftwards, so the right quads is leaning on the pole
– bring the left leg towards the body, then extend right leg out
– try to curl the hip upwards (like in a V-sit)
4) Caterpillar into butterfly x 3: I was struggling to see whether I had actually done it correctly until I saw myself in the mirror, so I had to move poles. The first couple of times, when I didn’t get to see myself in the mirror, I don’t think I managed it at all, because I was struggling to visualise it. The third time was slightly better.
Steps:
– Caterpillar
– Keep one hand higher up on the pole nearer the legs (left hand for the alternate side, right for the usual side), and the other hand above the head (nearer the bottom of the pole)
– Keep the lower hand slightly higher up (closer to the chest) and push away, and bend legs and sit back (push hips and bum up and away, like in a cat ripple)
– Then push body away from the pole, drop one leg back (the back leg in the butterfly), and slide the other leg to hook onto the pole to get into butterfly. Try to straighten that leg into extended butterfly
5) Flying body spiral into ballerina x 5 (a.k.a. ‘Full monkey’): This was okay. If I did the flying body spiral into swan into ballerina, then I would slide too far down and struggle to get into ballerina. This worked much better when I went straightaway from flying body spiral into ballerina.
6) Twisted grip (Australian grip) shoulder mount (on right shoulder): I made valiant attempts at this. Janet suggested that I have my hands lower as there will be less height to jump.
anyway, if I did it that way, with my hand lower, my wrist would hurt and I struggled to jump up. So it actually worked much better for me if I extended my hand straight. I mainly did tucks, then kicks. But it was much better progress than before.
Janet suggested I try to do a shoulder mount off the floor, and I managed that into caterpillar, although it did feel scary to be so near the floor. But the plan was meant to do an eagle before going into caterpillar from the floor. Oh well, next time then.