An outside leg hang is a basic and essential trick to learn, as many other tricks build upon it. Typically, it's also the first leg hang you'll learn. However, students often struggle with getting a secure and safe outside leg hang at first and may even give up. Don't worry, though - I'll give you all the tips and tricks I know.
In the next part of this blog post that will be coming out soon, I'll go through a progression on how to master your outside leg hang, so stay tuned. We hope you enjoy our new series of pole dance tips and tricks. But first, let's dive in into the tips and tricks to master the outside leghang:
6 Pole Dance Tips and Tricks to master the outside leghang!
1.Invert from a nice and big chopper!
I often see students get into their outside leg hang better if they invert through a nice, high, and open straddle. First, there's no other leg in the way to hook your knee nicely, and if you can get your butt nice and high, you won't get stuck on your hands.
2. Get your hands away from where the knee has to hook!
Make sure you don't hook your knee on your own arm. If you enter from a straddle, get your shoulders low and butt up, and pull your crotch as close as possible for hooking in, so you can hook above your hands. Alternatively, you can slightly slide down your hands down the pole while you hook your outside knee in.
3. Hook in the right angle
Students often struggle with getting the right angle. Before hooking, your leg should point up to the ceiling, slightly towards where the wall meets the ceiling. Your toes should point up, and when you hook and squeeze, your toes should point more towards where the wall meets the floor. So the hooking would be at somewhat of a 45-degree angle to the pole.
4. Use all the contact points
The outside leg hang has three contact points: the crook of the outside knee, the side of the inside stomach/side, and the area around your armpit.
5. Shorten the distance between your outside knee and inside hip
When you start hooking, try to pull the inside hip as close as possible to your outside knee, shortening the distance between those two points. Make sure your belly button is facing up to the ceiling, and your hips are as square as possible.
6. Bring a nice arch into your outside leg hang
Finally, do a nice rainbow arch, pull your inside leg down, and try to push your hips towards the ceiling. You can also squeeze your inside arm against the pole for an additional grip point.
Once you've mastered the outside leg hang, you'll have a world full of possibilities. Are you curious about what you can do from an outside leg hang? Let me know in the comments below!