Five top tips to better pole dancing grip
One of the main things I get asked in my pole dancing classes is “how can I get better hand grip?” or “my hands are so slippy, do you have any tips?” – so I decided to share my knowledge and experience with you.
Sweaty hands while pole dancing was one of my biggest struggles when I first started pole. I had very slippy, sweaty hands, and it made doing certain pole tricks near on impossible. After 13 years in the pole industry, I have picked up some tips that have helped me, so here are my top 5 tips for a better handgrip on the pole.
Tip 1 - Clean your pole
It’s always easy to presume that the pole is clean and that YOU are the problem, but sometimes it can be the cleaning products you use causing the main issues with your hand slippiness.
Sometimes, if you haven’t used your pole in a long time, the grip can feel so odd that the pole has a film of oiliness. It almost feels like the chrome has worn off and that it’s constantly slippy. It hasn’t, but it needs a good clean.
Following the below steps should make sure that the pole is clean and ready for an excellent pole class.
Follow these steps
Drying grip
Get yourself some dry hands (or similar hand drying grip), cover the pole with the grip and leave it on for as long as possible. If you can leave it on the pole overnight, that is even better, as this helps pull away any oil and dirt from the pole.
Clean
Then take a clean cloth and wipe it down with vodka. Yes, vodka. For me, vodka (the cheap stuff, don't waste your money) is a lovely clean spirit that gets everything off for me and I sometimes even wipe my hands with vodka on a cloth while training.
Tip 2 - How clean are your hands?
Washing your hands before a pole dancing class is a super important thing to do, and what you wash them with plays a big part in how well your session will go.
My friend Ad Dre (@itsjustandre2.0) taught me not just to wash my hands but to wash up my forearms. And, when you think about it, it makes sense. We often contact the pole with both our hands and forearms, so make sure you soap them up and give them a good scrub!
It would help if you also took care of what cleaning products you use. If you are washing your hands with a handwash that contains moisturiser, you may be making life a lot harder for yourself. So try WASHING UP LIQUID! Yes, get the fairy washing up liquid out and wash your hands and forearms with it. Washing up liquid is designed to cut through grease and oils, so it will leave your hands feeling perfectly dry.
Tip 3 - Pick your grip!
For me, dry hands have always been a winner, but with dry hands becoming harder to get hold of, it’s good to explore other grips on the market. BUT what type of grip would work best for you?
Some pole dancers tend to find that they can’t grip because their hands are too dry. Yes, you heard me. People like that exist. I have a hairdresser friend, and years of wet hands and constant washing have left her with parched hands.
With drier hands, you want to look for a product that will provide some tackiness, and one of the best products for this is mighty grip powder. My advice is to apply your chosen product into the hands and rub them together until they start to feel warm and tacky.
HOWEVER – I would recommend avoiding using any of the waxy type products. Take ITAC, for example. It works much better on the body than on the hands. If you apply it to your hands, you haven’t got much hope of doing any static spins with it on!
The one thing I always tell my students is to avoid climbing chalk. It may work for a short period, but I find it starts to go lumpy and makes my hands even worse.
The go-to grip is dry hands, and it works great, but it’s worth checking out some of the excellent grips available now and is very similar. To name a few:
• Girlie Grip
• Envirogrip
• Tite Grip
• X-dry
• Total grip
Another thing to mention is that when you change grips, you may take some time to adjust. When you switch, try and stick with it for a month before deciding to ditch it. Once you start to become accustomed to the feel of it, you may have a new grip that works just as well for you!
Tip 4 - Grip strength
Grip strength is often not talked about enough in the pole dancing community. Sometimes our hands won’t grip because they aren’t strong enough. Hand and forearm strengthening exercises are excellent for this. The stronger your hands and forearms, the less you will have to rely on always having super dry and grippy hands. Grip strength for the win!
I have made a short video with some starter exercises that you can incorporate into your pole workouts, which will help with forearm and hand strength.
Get better grip strength!
Pole dancers! If you want to gain more strength, check out my strength and conditioning classes here.
Find out moreTip 5 - DRICLOR!
Sorry dri what?!? Yes, that’s right. Driclor. Many people use this product, but very few pole dancers know of its benefits. When I started competing, driclor CHANGED MY LIFE! My hands were so sweaty all the time, and someone told me to try using driclor.
Driclor predominantly is used for people who excessively sweat from their armpits. But pole dancers use it on their hands and feet, and it works WONDERS! I recommend this to people who enter pole competitions all the time.
How much should you use, I hear you ask? Apply it every night and wash off thoroughly in the morning. Avoid wearing when pole dancing, as it makes your hands quite slippy while it’s on, but when you wash it off, you will notice a difference in the dryness of your skin quite quickly.
Use driclor every night until you start to achieve the dryness you require once you have got to a manageable amount of dryness, stop using driclor. If you continue to dry your hands, it will make your calluses crack, and I learned how painful that was the hard way. OUCH!!!
