Grip Aids

Different moves and stances on the pole demand different grip. The ideal balance between grip itself and the sliding factor can't always be enough for everyone, so in case you're decided to use additional elements to enhance your grip, this might be the right page to find some answers:

Pole Finish

The most common material seen on the media would be chrome, which turns out to be the toughest finish on your pole to adapt to. On the long-term perspective, you stand a choice of finding a different pole with different coatings that can be an ideal help for your need of boosted grip.

X-Pole have posted ideal short guide on the differences between different coatings. Consult chosen manufacturer's specifications for more details on maintenance and durability.

Bodywear

In addition to putting stuff over your pole, there is a large variety of clothing and accessories that have quite significant grip factor over large variety of finishes.

Gloves

Gloves have been holding their reputation mostly among beginners in VR. Thanks to their ease of use and possibilities for mounting VR gear, they've helped many to overcome challenges of the first development of solid grip as well as valuable asset for continuous practice.

Pros:

• ✔️ Wonderful grip factor
• ✔️ Ideal for beginners
• ✔️ Affordable in the most of the stores
• ✔️ Despite coming in female sizes only, most of brands do still ideally fit male hands.
• ✔️ Add much better support to your wrist (ideal scenario if your arms aren't adapted yet)

Cons:

• ❌ Materials might be of poor quality and tear over time
• ❌ Prolonged sessions render gloves sweaty and the main cause of additional blisters
• ❌ Bodily oils or other liquids render the grip between gloves and your pole nearly unusable
• ❌ Your hands might get lazy and regress in grip strength
• ❌ Bad for being used on a static pole

VR Considerations:

• Based on your hand shape and size, gloves might make it impossible to slide index controllers over the wrist
• Make use of certain controllers harsher and unnatural
• They have a good surface area and free spots for attaching VR gadgets or tracking enhancements

Store Links:

🔗 Mighty Grip Pole Dancing Gloves

🔗 Walmart Listings

🔗 SuperFlyHoney

Leggings

Legs for some parts give a hard time in performing certain moves, specifically hands-free inverts. However, there are companies that produce full sized leggings to help you with that challenge.

Pros:

• ✔️ Significant boost to lower body's grip
• ✔️ Very helpful for many levels of difficulty in learning and performing moves
• ✔️ Unlock new moves and stances

Cons:

• ❌ Some brands come pricey
• ❌ Need additional attention with maintenance
• ❌ Tear easily over time
• ❌ Bad for being used on a static pole
• ❌ Increase body temperature quickly causing excessive sweating

VR Considerations:

• They give some good areas to attach trackers on
• Knee trackers will sit on more securely
• Might limit motion or placement of hip tracker's strap

Store Links:

🔗 PoleJunkie Listings

🔗 SuperFlyHoney

Thigh Straps

There is a little experience with thigh straps due to low reputation and availability across the world. However, just like any other accessory listed here, thigh straps still add to the boost of the grip factor over your upper legs.

Pros:

• ✔️ Enhance the grip
• ✔️ Very similar to leggings in terms of performance
• ✔️ Don't have the same sweat issue
• ✔️ Help with maintaining flexibility of your lower body

Cons:

• ❌ Not stable
• ❌ Slide off easily
• ❌ Hard to find right size
• ❌ Not really needed once advanced level has been achieved

VR Considerations:

• None

Footwear

Pole dancing barefoot isn't always ideal as sweat and dust particles off the ground reduce the grip of the skin of your foot a lot. That said either shoes or ankle straps can be of help with the grip and even timing of your performances!

Shoes: give lots of support and stability to your feet and ankles for a large variety moves and even dance styles. The main concern for the use on the pole would be low durability and limitations on foot postures. That said, it is highly recommended to purchase your shoes for the pole in person, if possible, in order to test grip and good fit of the picked product.

Ankle Straps: provide a wonderful grip and mobility all the way around your foot and ankle, with additional support to tendons. Keep in mind the possibility of quick tearing and limitations to certain dance styles.

🔗 Mighty Grip

Chemicals

At some point of own career, many pole dancers end up giving up on alternatives and stick to easier forms of boost the condition of own skin. Here is a list of a variety of products that can help with reducing sweat or even rendering your skin quite sticky for limited time.

⚠️ HEALTH WARNING ⚠️

The following products may contain allergens and other hazardous materials. Please consult a licensed professional for more details.

Chalk Powder

The all famous chalk powder is an extremely famous method of controlling own grip and sweat over your hands. Pros:

• ✔️ Provides extremely dynamic range of motion with a good balance between grip and sliding factors
• ✔️ Quick and easy to use
• ✔️ Affordable in price

Cons:

• ❌ Highly allergenic
• ❌ Doesn't work on dry hands
• ❌ Needs sweat or moisture to activate

VR Considerations:

• Very messy and even occludes tracking, make sure to clean your gear after each use

Store Links:

🔗 Stardust Hand Chalk

🔗 FrictionLabs Magic Chalk Ball

Liquid Chalk

Pros:

• ✔️ More gentle on the skin
• ✔️ Contains specific fluid to moisturize the skin and apply the chalk at the same time
• ✔️ Very affordable

Cons:

• ❌ Very messy
• ❌ You need to identify a very specific amount

VR Considerations:

• Might cause jamming of your controllers
• Same cleaning of your gear after every use

Store Links:

🔗 Amazon

Grip Enhancers

On top of regulating sweat, there are also additional chemicals that render your skin very well adhesive to metals. Those chemicals are known for being mainly composed of rosin as well as other compounds, based on manufacturer's specifications.

⚠️ HEALTH WARNING ⚠️

Some soft tissues of your skin aren't meant to be exposed to this kind of chemicals, resulting in high inflammation or even loss of skin if exposed. Please consult a licensed professional for more details.

Pros:

• ✔️ Very strong and long lasting grip
• ✔️ Easy and quick to apply

Cons:

• ❌ Highly allergenic
• ❌ Potentially toxic/hazardous
• ❌ Cannot be applied over certain parts of your skin

VR Considerations:

• Certain touch sensor of your controllers might not pick up well on the touch

Store Links:

🔗 Grip-iT

🔗 Tourna Grip Rx

🔗 iTAC2

Household Items

Some other items can be looked up for enhancing your grip or skin condition, as our skins react differently to naturally occurring elements.

• Shave cream
• Aloe extract