The Fireman Spin is one of the first spins newcomers to pole dancing will probably learn as it's nice and easy and feels secure. It's not too heavy on the upper arms as the legs are also keeping you on the pole, and squeezing in those abs will keep you upright and provide support to the rest of the body.
Here's a few tips on how to do a successful Basic Fireman Spin:
1. Sometimes it can be easier to start from a standing position, until you get the 'feel' of where everything is going. You won't get as big a spin as walking into it, but don't worry about that for now.
2. Standing with the pole in front of you, about a forearm's length away, grab your strong hand up high, and the other about chin-height.
3. Bend your opposite knee and push it into the pole on that side, so the pole contacts that 'grippy' part of your leg just above where the knee bends. It does not want to be right up near the thigh.
4. Either bounce off sideways in the direction of that leg (or allow yourself to 'fall' round in that direction if you want to take things more gently), allowing the other knee to come into the pole on the other side: so you have the pole squeezed between both legs, near the knees.
5. Allow yourself to spin round keeping your feet tucked up under you, so you can land on them easily when you reach the bottom.
6. When this starts to feel ok, try it again, except with the pole on your side this time (inside / stronger hand up high). Beginning with your outside foot, do two steps and on '3' bend your outside knee, swing it round and hop up sideways in that direction, aiming the grab the pole between both. Adjust your hand grip to allow yourself to continue spinning to the bottom (and don't forget the abs!)
Despite such a wordy set of instructions, this is quite an easy spin, the kind of thing we might do on a train on a Friday night back from London without even thinking about it ;-p
Trouble-shooting:
1. If it just feels 'wrong', and won't click, try it on the other side of the pole, sometimes it can work better with strong hand at bottom.
2. If you stop spinning before you reach the bottom, (i) relax your hands slightly; (ii) ditto knees; (iii) check you're not gripping on with your feet; (iv) put more energy into the steps and sideways push, for more momentum.
3. If you slide straight down with no grip whatsoever - roll your trousers up! ;-p
4. If you keep bashing your knees: slow down, take your time, use an Arnica based product for any resulting bruises.
5. It's tooo painful! In a way pole dancing feels like the most unnatural thing in the world when just starting out, but trust me, the body will get used to gripping on to cold metal, and soon enough you won't feel a thing :-)
6. Make sure you're pushing off sideways and never INTO the pole!
7. Check for good pole posture: abdominals engaged, shoulders down and never hunched up around the ears.
This is a great move for pole dance novices and it's a right buzz when you get that first spin round the pole :-)
What kind of things do you hope to get out of your pole dancing classes? How can we help you achieve them? (Email me, leave a message on Facebook, send a text..)Thanks for reading!
xElaine
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(c) E Gosling, 2010
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