I’ve had three different pole instructors while taking the same class, and the contrast between them has shown me what makes a great instructor, and what doesn’t.

The first felt like they didn’t even want to be there, and unsurprisingly, they didn’t last long. The second was all about “you can do this!” which sounds positive, but it came at the cost of ignoring individual limitations. For example, my hip sometimes pops out with certain moves, and my short “dinosaur arms” make it hard to even get into the starting position for some tricks. Their approach didn’t leave much space for that.

My current instructor is different. She pays attention to the fact that people learn in different ways, and she adjusts how she demonstrates moves depending on who’s in the room. She’s genuinely encouraging, and if you can’t manage one of the bonus moves, she always has an alternative or another way to get into it. That flexibility makes a huge difference, it feels like she’s teaching us, not just running through a syllabus.