I had been doing handspring and cartwheel mounts for a little over 3 months when I first noticed it: nagging feeling at my right wrist that extended to the elbow through my ulnar side forearm. It wasn’t pain, not at all, it just felt like it was…there. I was aware of my right wrist and forearm when I was poling, at my computer, in the shower, cooking, cleaning and most of all, when I first woke up int he morning. Overuse, I was told, and not stretching out the area enough after a pole practice. So reluctantly, I spaced out my training sessions and made sure to stretch out the area really well after every session. The problem never went away, but since it didn’t hurt either, I got used to it.

Over the course of the next few months, I learned the twisted grip and true grip version of the handspring. I mostly used the split grip and the twisted grip as these two were much more versatile for getting into and out of different moves. Then one day, after a particularly grueling practice, I felt a pain on the outer side of my right wrist. I iced the area and let it rest for a few days. At the next practice, the pain came back. Again, I iced it and let it rest until the pain subsided. But again, the pain came back the next time I was on the pole and lasted several days. Since I was about to spend 2 weeks visiting family in Hong Kong, I took the opportunity to rest my wrists.

After the two-week hiatus, I welcomed my pole (and the relatively clean Canadian air) with open arms thinking that the 2 weeks apart surely gave me enough time to heal…but the pain came back. This time, I started feeling numbness in my right pinky and half my ring finger. The numbness came after practice, in the morning when I woke and any time I moved my wrists in a twisting motion. Within a few days, I lost the ability to move my wrist in any twisting motion at all. Time to get some professional advice! I went to see a doctor who specialized in sports medicine and after much poking, prodding and x-rays, I was diagnosed with a triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) injury and medial epicondylitis. Doctors order was to stay completely off the wrist for 6-8 weeks and to wear a brace daily for support while visiting my physiotherapist to help recover my range of motion and deal with pain management.

During this forced pole-free interim, I spent a lot of time scouring pole related websites and forums for information about wrist injuries. I became thoroughly convinced that it was the twisted grip handspring that caused my painful condition. Like so many other polers out there, I jumped on the “twisted grip is no good” bandwagon. I had no doubt in my mind that if I eliminated the twisted grip handsprings from my repertoire, my problems would be solved. The solution seemed so easy! And not to mention, there were so many pole dancers out there with stories implicating the twisted grip, it just made sense.

After 2 months of rest and wallet draining physio sessions, I was given the green light to start reintroducing pole fitness back into my life. I missed pole so much! I started with climbs and spins. No problemo! Inverted poses? Piece of cake! Should mounts? Got it covered! Alrighty, the moment of truth, handspings! But this time, I swore to myself, I will only practice split grip and true grip. Guess what? The pain and numbness came back within a week of starting to handspring. So, not even 2 month since leaving my physio’s office, I was back at the docs when the same problem. I was devastated. I had avoided twisted grip like the plague, why was this happening?

My doctor inquired offhandedly if I had ever considered focusing on another sport, but as a sports medicine doctor, he knew my answer before I did. No athlete gave up their sport that easily! I showed my physiotherapist some videos of moves I thought were causing the problems in an attempt to identify the culprit. He agreed that the twisted grip handspring has great potential to cause injury but not like the ones I was suffering from. The twisted grip was more likely to cause shoulder/rotator cuff injuries than wrist and elbow problems. The true grip was deemed the safest of the 3 choices for handspring provided you are strong enough.

I narrowed it down to the reverse grab and shockingly, the SPLIT grip handspring. The reverse grab was easy to fix. I was torquing my wrist to stay on the pole when doing reverse grabs on 2″ diameter poles. I have really tiny hands. The solution was just to avoid reverse grabs on thicker poles. Now comes the real big culprit. The split grip handspring. There is a moment in the split grip when the weight of the body shifts to put pressure for a moment on the ulnar side of the wrist. At the start of the movement, the inside of the elbow faces slightly upwards towards the ceiling. At the end of the motion, the elbow faces slightly downwards. But the hands stay in the same position on the pole the entire time. The twisting motion happens at the forearm and wrist. Check it out yourself. Next time you handspring or cartwheel mount, take notice of where the inside of your elbow faces throughout the move.My body just wasn’t made for that.

So another 2 long and boring months off the pole and when I was finally ready to start up again I removed split grip handsprings from my list. I added the true grip handspring back first and I stayed pain-free. I was still very wary of the twisted grip and waited a long time before using it. I finally did though and was pleasantly surprised. I have been pain-free for 2 years. I still avoid the split grip handspring unless I’m doing a demonstration (after which I feel that mild nagging sensation again). I can use the split grip for everything else. It is just the movement in the handspring that causes the problem.

I know there are some people who may say that I’m only having trouble with split grip because I’m not strong enough, but I honestly believe that if I’m strong enough to use the true grip, I should be strong enough for the split grip. Either way, I’m not interested anymore in making the split grip handspring work for me. It’s not worth it. I enjoy being able to brush my hair, open doors, fry an egg, use a computer, sew costumes and most of all, I enjoy being able to pole.

I guess I owe the twisted grip handspring a great big apology, considering I accused it wrongly and bashed it vehemently without proof. Different bodies have different weaknesses. I still believe that the twisted grip handspring is not for everyone, especially those with shoulder issues. And to make matters even more confusing, I have trouble with the TG shoulder mount while the TG handspring works perfectly fine for me. How is this possible? Easy, in the TG shoulder mount, more of twist happens in the forearm and wrists. I can barely place my palms on the pole in that position, forget about putting weight on it!

So what’s the take home lesson from all this? Just because a move is safe for many people doesn’t mean it is safe for everyone. Similarly, just because a move causes problems in many people doesn’t mean it is the source of your own problem. Experiment to find the moves that work and don’t work for you body and learn to adapt moves to make them safer for you. Also, find a doctor and physiotherapist who work with athletes and get them to understand that what you do if they don’t already. Regular doctors might just tell you to stop poling all together instead of working with you to find a solution. Ever body is different and there is nothing wrong with that.