After being a static pole diehard for the first eight years of my pole journey and leaving one of my first spinny pole classes in tears, I have finally after years of practice converted to the dark side and decided that spinny is where it’s at. Yes I said it.
Honestly I never thought I would be a spinny pole queen, and I’m pretty certain my switch to camp spinny took both my pole mates and instructor by surprise too. Like I said, the second or third time I attempted spinny pole I left the class in tears after not being able to achieve anything. That probably had more to do with the fact that I’d been a wally and accidentally attended an advanced class, when at the time of attending I could do a Gemini at best on a good day, but anyway I digress. Since switching pole studios five years ago to two studios which alternate between spinny and static each month, my spinny pole confidence eventually started to grow to the point where it’s gone from being a source of pure stress to a reliable dopamine hit.
The main reason I adore spinny so much is it has it has the ability to make nearly all shapes look more impressive, regardless of their difficulty. Even if you’re in the most basic of pole sits, if you hold the move for long enough you look like one of those badass Sky Dancer toys from the nineties. This comes in handy when you’re freestyling too, as your audience won’t be able to tell that you’re thinking up your next smooth transition if you do so whilst holding your move a little longer.
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Also, I believe there are a wide variety of shapes and combos you can do on spinny pole that just don’t work as well on static. Whilst static is satisfactory enough, there are only so many moves and combinations that can be done best on static. Spinny on the other hand has a wealth of moves which are undoubtedly done best on it, providing you can hold them for long enough without puking or getting the fear (more on that bad boy later). Just off the top of my head, the Devil’s Elbow, Air Walks and a Jade split are all far better when performed on spinny due to the momentum making the moves both look and feel a lot easier to do.
Whilst I’m on the subject of pole moves, I think my top reason as to why spinny is preferential to static is that you’re guaranteed to get a winning angle at some point when either filming or performing your combo. None of the fannying about working out where to face when starting the combo, or having to get your mate to do their best Christopher Nolan impression to try and film you properly when it comes to a spinny combo. Just pop the camera up somewhere and crack on. Because of this, spinny has now categorically became my go to pole setting when it comes to performances too. I’ve lost count of the amount of times a trick looked epic in my mind but looked like utter shit when performed onstage as the angle was all wrong – I wouldn’t have been in such a crisis had I been on old faithful spinny pole!
Furthermore, spinny pole conditioning is undeniably better than static pole conditioning and if you disagree you’re a fucking maniac. Spinny conditioning in my class involves all manner of fun moves such as climbs, flares and practicing inverts and basic combos to build your confidence. The spawn from hell that is static conditioning on the other hand involves all manner of leg lifting abs torture, shoulder mount deadlifts (deadlifts!) and Ayeshas in all manner of petrifying grips. As much as I know those are necessary drills to up ones pole game, they’re either scary as fuck or painful as fuck and I’ll take twizzley climbs over deadlifts of doom any day of the week.
The one Achilles heel I still have when it comes to spinny pole however is getting over the speed. I can confidently whizz about the bastard upside down in both directions without feeling dizzy (eat crystalised ginger in between moves people), but when certain moves give the pole a gigantic oomph of whizz that make you feel like you’re going at 100 mph I start to shit my pants. I know going fast looks very impressive and it’s a fear I shall conquer eventually, it’s just not one I have firmly got a grasp on yet.
So there you have it, after just over eight years of pole dancing and being a static pole enthusiast I finally made the switch to team spinny. I guess the entire post above could be summarised simply by saying I just find it more fun to learn overall and that won’t be changing anytime soon. Tune in in eight years’ time, when I start confessing my love for all things handstand and elbow grip related.
Photo credit @denyerpro
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