I’m here to tell you a secret, and I really hope it helps!

Every pole move, spin, trick or drop all have one thing in comment; the ‘Oh Crap’ moment.

I didn’t realise this on my own – other polers have told me about it, and it’s my turn to pass it on to you.

Call it what you will, but all our moves have it. It’s the one point in the move where you literally think ‘Oh Crap’. It’s the scary point in the move that almost makes you not want to try it…

The Tiny Little Moment Of Fear

Let me give you a few examples… If you are doing a chair, it is the moment where you feet first come off of the ground. The moment itself lasts a second or two a most, but it is the scary point we need to get through in order to nail the move.

After that, you’re either into the spin, or your feet are back safely on the floor.

In a drop, it’s the half a second it takes to take your arm or leg or whatever other grip you have, off of the pole in order to drop and then re grip – your body will naturally grab back on to the pole so we don’t need to think about that.

But it’s the half a second of no grip that causes you to panic.

So How Does That Help?

Well now that you know about this moment, you can do something about it!

The ‘Oh Crap’ moment usually lasts for about a second or two. When you think about how long the move takes, two seconds is such a small percentage, that we shouldn’t worry so much about it.

Of course fear is fear. You can’t really control it too much and I genuinely believe that fear is a good thing, and often keeps you safe.

However I do believe that we can train ourselves to combat the fear, if it’s for the greater good. If we talk ourselves out of doing something, we just won’t do it.

Our body will not do something if our brain doesn’t want it to. With that in mind, if our brain is egging our body on, believing it can do this, then we are much more likely to succeed.

So we need to tell our brains about the ‘Oh Crap’ moment. It is there, it is a real thing, and it will happen. But it will last for a second to two and then it’s over and you will be safe and feeling amazing, for having tried something new.

I believe that the first time we do a move will always be the scariest, and once that’s over, it’s happy days and we can get back to training.

So what are you waiting for? Figure out the ‘Oh Crap’ moment in your next move, and let your brain convince your body that it’s just not a big deal 😀