Pole Dance Problems: Pointed Toes

Okay, we all agree. Pointed toes make pole dancing look a million times better but goddammit why is it so hard to do?!

Unless you count the one week I was made to go to a ballet class back when I was three and I hated it and begged my mom to quit, I have zero dance background. Pointed toes became a relatively new term in my vocabulary only within the last three years.

I remember my first routine I ever learned, my teacher was like, “Point your toes”. I looked at her in confusion. I curled my toes. “No, like this.” she said and demonstrated the beautiful complete extension of a pointed toe. I tried it. Then my foot cramped. Oh god.

Why is something that seems so simple so hard?

Three years later, pointed toes are still the bane of my pole existence. It has gotten much better but it’s far from perfect. For me, I always loose my toe point during a transition or struggling to get a move – my default position is a flexed curled toe foot..yum. For some reason my body doesn’t understand that having a flexed foot is not gonna save me from crashing to the floor.

The only tips and advice I’ve been able to garner from my three years of toe pointing are:

• Practice It: Especially for newbie toe pointers this helps extremely to avoid the toe cramping. The foot muscle rarely gets used so it make sense that a new movement like this would cause cramping. Practicing will also strengthen your toe point.
• Think About It: So the only way I know to help myself keep my toe pointed during pole is to just think about it. It’s hard. But trust me it must be done.

Sometimes I think about duct taping my foot so tight that it’s forced into a toe point almost like how the Chinese women used to bind their feet, but then I think rationally and that idea just sounds horrible. Until then it’s more practicing and thinking.

Do you guys have any helpful tips on how to keep your toes pointed?

Pole Dance Problems (PDP) is an comedic illustration series for pole dancers who face a unique set of problems both on the pole and off. They are often painful, embarrassing but more than not they make us happy and proud to be a pole dancer.