2011 was my biggest year of pole to date. I entered my first competition, set up the pole dancing club at University and pushed myself harder than I had ever done before. And with the year nearly ending so amazingly, it was just typical that I had to injure myself again. With only a few days left of the year, I fell off the pole coming out of an invert and somehow managed to fall straight onto my bent, left elbow. It was honestly the worst pain I had ever felt in my life, and I was completely convinced that I’d broken it. Luckily, after 3 hours in A&E at Colchester hospital, and 4 different doctors raising eyebrows at the cause of my injury, I got the good news that it wasn’t broken and to give it plenty of rest.
It is now January and I have only just started to be able to use it properly again. I stayed off the pole for almost 3 weeks, minus a little spin here and there, stayed away from the gym and stayed way away from doing too much work with it! I decided to get back on the pole in the comfort of my own home the other day (fearing that I had lost all my strength and not being able to face the embarrassment of falling off again) and I was pleasantly surprised to be almost back to my usual self! I was almost certain that I wouldn’t be able to do some of the moves I had been working on leading up to my accident, but I was shocked when I managed to get a one handed embrace, Allegra AND rocket man!
I have heard a lot of people saying that they are worried they have lost their strength over the Christmas period, but I think that many of us under estimate how strong we are from pole and how long it actually takes to lose it. That is not to say that I haven’t put on a few pounds over the festive season, which makes a few move a little more difficult, and that my hands haven’t turned silky smooth from all my moisturizing sets I received from Santa, and now I can’t stand the burn from the pole as much as they used to, but as far as the core strength that I had spent all year working on, most of it is still there. And even if it wasn’t, the passion would be, and without that passion none of us would have the stamina to participate in the physically and mentally demanding sport that we do. Many of the members of the pole dancing club at my University would have never believed that they would have got to the standard of pole dancing that they have in a few short months when they first began, and I cannot tell you how many times I have heard ‘I’m not strong enough, I have no upper strength.’ But their determination and enthusiasm which has gotten them to where they are today, and surprise, surprise their strength has come along too.
I know that my new year’s resolution is to work harder on my pole and push myself to not just pole dance well, but to the best of my ability, and that many people will be deciding to get back into pole after a break, or even to just master some of those nemesis moves that have been driving them mad, and I wish everyone the best of luck with their pole goals this year. My determination will come from the fact that I know I have worked so hard to get to where I have with my pole dancing, and that it would be unfair to myself to not push myself even more to become better. As long as you still have the passion, you can surprise yourself with what you can achieve.
Take care
Sophie xxx
