My Gripe About Grip

Fact: The human body has millions of sweat glands, and more than half of them are located in the hands. When the body becomes agitated – through physical activity, extreme temperatures, or stress – the sweat glands release sweat to help cool the body back down to its optimal temperature range.

General Observation: Women new to pole often confuse the combination of adrenaline (which results in sweaty palms) and lack of pole-specific strength with the obsessive need for grip aid to stay on the pole.

Time and time again in studios all over the country, I’ve seen well-intentioned instructors supply a brand new student with every grip aid possible. In my humble experience, unless the student has the medical condition, hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, it’s not that she lacks grip in her hands, it is usually that she lacks strength in her hands. For example, I was helping out another instructor who was teaching beginners and one student kept complaining about her sweaty hands. The Wonderful Teacher gave her a grip aid. New Student tried the one spin that they had previously been taught, and declared flatly: “It doesn’t work.” When I asked New Student to wash her hands, I took the opportunity to clean her pole. I was shocked by the extreme sticky-ness.  I wrapped my hands in a baseball grip (with the towel between my hands and the pole) and easily pulled myself into a pole pull-up from a dead-hang. New Student returned from the bathroom and happily finished her class, but I’m sure she now firmly believes that she will need “professional strength” grip aid in order to pole dance.

Unproven General Fact: If you were to continue to practice pole dancing with regularity, you will get stronger in your body and in your hands, your palms will get dryer, you will sweat less and therefore, your natural grip will improve.

DollHouse Pole Studio carries two kind of grip aid at the moment: Dry Hands and Grrrip. Dry Hands is a liquid that dries to a faint white, slightly chalky substance. The website makes the claim: “So effective, it actually repels water.” The Grrrip spray is advertised as a “Dry non-sticky and non-tacky grip and hold enhancer.” Both are available for use in class, as are Wet Ones wipes, spray bottles of water and alcohol, and microfiber towels.

When necessary, I will direct Level 1 students to use the Grrrip spray on their hands if the normal cleaning, then drying with a microfiber towel does not suffice. Grrrip is probably the most mild commercial grip aid that I’ve encountered. While it keeps your hands “dry”, it still allows you to practice spins. Some overzealous students will reach for the strongest grip aid and then tear the skin off their palms during spins. I usually will go no further to intervene. (Ah, but there was the time I bought Football Receiver gloves for a student who professed to being “super sweaty”. I also bought for her liquid hair spray and shaving gel just in case the gloves didn’t work…) A little FYI for those who think I sound like a Dragon Teacher: once you progress to learning aerial holds and moves, then I’m all for grip aids!

So here are a few tips that might help enhance your experience in pole class:

1) Wash your hands before class:

New students, no matter how clearly it is stated in our website, will inevitably come to class with lotion on their bodies and therefore on their palms. I understand the aridness of the climate—I used to live in Santa Fe, NM and Las Vegas, NV before moving here—but please, please, please, wash your hands and rinse thoroughly before even touching a pole. Even though you can’t feel the lotion on your hands, the minute you start to perspire, it’ll be all over your pole. You will not be able to properly grip, you will be upset, and you will walk away erroneously thinking that pole dancing is “not for me”.

2) Clean your pole:

Hold a white hand towel open in your hand and spray the alcohol solution into it. Then wipe down your pole. There are two reasons why we ask students to do it this way. One, if you spray directly onto the pole, the mist gets all over the floor and if you’re wearing 6-inch heels, that is the last thing you need to be worrying about, and Two, the alcohol will also end up drying out your palms to some extent. If you’d rather not share towels, please help yourself to Wet Ones. When your pole is free of grit, wipe it dry with a microfiber towel. Mary Ellyn Weissman of Empowerment Through Exotic Dance recently introduced me to these little pieces of heaven. They miraculously add a touch of tackiness to chrome. I’m not sure how, but they work!

3) If you use grip aid, please read the directions:

I like Dry Hands. It’s my brand of choice. I’ve used many different grip aids and have always come back to Dry Hands. It’s not perfect—it will definitely wear off and you will have to reapply especially if gets very hot in the studio. How to use: a) shake the bottle, b) pour a nickel-sized drop into your palm, c) gently pat your hands together as if you were politely clapping to get the product on both palms, d) LEAVE IT ALONE FOR AT LEAST 20 SECONDS. Dry Hands needs to air dry or else it will not work. I’ve seen impatient students rub and rub and rub their hands together and then jump on the pole. Guess what? It’s no longer on your hands anymore—you’ve rubbed it away. If you need to reapply, go back to Tip #1 to get the best results.

Personally, I think there is good reason why grip is so challenging for new polers. They are not yet conditioned to the rigors of pole dancing and must move safely through that process. They must gradually build up muscles and work on dance vocabulary to get to the advanced tricks. Sweaty hands are nature’s way of telling us to slow down and be present before looking towards the future.