Learn to Pole Dance at Home Part 1: Buying Your First Pole
October 23, 2025
Whatever your reasons for wanting to learn pole: it isn't always the most accessible hobby. It can be hard to find good quality studios in some parts of the world and it can also be expensive. Luckily for you many generations have learnt either entirely at home or as a means to supplement studio classes. Heck, our entire discipline was developed by ingenious and daring strippers in the clubs! They had to figure it out the hard way through experimentation.
But luckily for you we have moved on in the last few decades and there are now a plethora of resources to help you learn safely at home, including this one!
In part one we are going to look at setting ourselves up for training at home, including buying a pole, crash mats and other equipment that can be useful. It's important to consider that, although the upfront cost is a lot, a good quality pole and crash mat can last many years and will save you thousands in class fees. Many companies now offer payment plans as well so you can spread the cost.
Buying a home pole
First you need to figure out what kind of pole you need and there are three main types:
- Pressure Poles
- Mounted Poles
- Stage Poles
Pressure Poles
Pressure poles are held together in place by...pressure! The pole expands (lengthens) and wedges between a joist/beam and the floor. These are the most popular home poles because they can be taken up and down in seconds (once you get the hang of it) and do not need to be drilled into your ceiling.
However, they are not suitable for all ceiling types and can be dangerous if not installed safely. You have probably seen plenty of poles coming down on social media. This is usually due to defective or unsafe counterfeit poles OR user error. Poles do not fall down when safely installed and reputable brands will have done extensive safety and load testing.
These poles can come in segments, so you can easily change the height, or in one piece that is ordered to size. Segmented poles are only recommended for less than 3 metres height. Then you'll need a one piece pole.
Mounted Poles
Mounted poles include a mount that you drill into your ceiling. There are options for different ceilings including wood, concrete, metal and even sloped ceilings. What you'll need will vary depending on your ceiling and the pole brand you choose to go with. You'll need to contact them for advice.
The pole can either be fixed into the mount, so you'll need to remove the mount to remove the pole, or slot into the mount, meaning the mount stays fixed to the ceiling but the pole can be removed easily. You can get floor pins for some brands that fix the pole to the floor for extra safety.
These poles can come in segments, so you can easily change the height, or in one piece that is ordered to size. Segmented poles are only recommended for less than 3 metres height. Then you'll need a one piece pole.
Stage Poles
These are free standing poles that you can put up anywhere! They will come with a base, that helps to weigh the pole down, and do not need to be fixed to any ceiling or floor. These can be heavy and laborious to put up and down, depending on the brand, but are great for outdoor pole-ing, events and for those with super high ceilings and plenty of floor space.
Stage poles do have more movement to them as they sway but are perfectly safe when used appropriately (you may not want to do big dramatic static movements or have more than one person on some of them).
Pole Diameter, Finish and Spin vs Static.
To make it even more confusing there are also different pole diameters and finishes, plus some poles spin and some don't!
Pole Diameter:
40mm may suit someone with small hands better but can make leg grips harder for some students.
45mm tends to be the most popular as it offers the best overall hand and leg grip.
50mm are rare these days but some old school pole dancers still might like them. These are much thicker and harder to hold with your hands but great for leg and body grip.
Finishes:
Chrome is a standard finish that is neither particularly grippy or slippery. This is the cheapest option for your home pole. However, chrome poles are usually plated and can start to wear away. If you have a nickel allergy this can become a problem as the pole ages.
Brass poles tend to be grippier in more humid climates but they do require more maintenance. Would avoid unless you live in a warm humid climate.
Stainless Steel is personally my favourite. They are longer lasting, as they are usually solid steel rather than coated, and require less maintenance. Some people do find them more slippery though.
Titanium is a pole finish I have absolutely no experience with and have no idea about unfortunately.
Powder Coated poles are coated in a plastic feeling material (think like the monkey bars at the park) and can be grippier than traditional metal poles. This is the same material used on aerial hoops. I find it too grippy and therefore more painful on the body, but some people prefer them. They come in fun colours!
Silicone poles are coated in a rubbery sticky silicone like sleeve. They provide insane grip and allow you to pole with your clothes on but do come with many downsides. They are more painful, your clothes can slip against the pole, I've been suffocated by my own jumper a few times, and it can limit the kinds of skills you can do.
They can be good for students with hyperhidrosis and I use mine for teaching in winter and for social media posts (so I can stay clothed and appease the social media gods).
Static vs. Spin:
I highly recommend that everyone has a pole that does both spin and static.
Static poles are simply, well, a static pole. They don't move so you have to create the movement.
Spin poles use bearings, kind of like the wheels on roller skates and skateboards, so that the pole itself rotates and creates the spin whilst you hold on.
Neither is better or worse or harder or easier. They're just different techniques. Some instructors to this day believe that static is better for beginners but the truth is that it really doesn't matter. You CAN learn to pole entirely on spin from day one safely: as myself and thousands of my students over the last decade can attest.
Most pole dancers do both. At competition level you usually have both a static and spin pole and are expected to use both equally so learning both does have its advantages. Even if you never want to compete you'll find that both styles of pole have something to offer.
Different Pole Brands
There are so many pole brands that have come and gone in my career. The only two I have had personal experience with are X-Pole and Lupit Pole. Both of these are the most popular brands in most countries and been around the longest. However, there are other options I have included below.
You'll need to do more research on these as I am unsure of safety, price and availability. It might be helpful to ask on social media (groups, reddit etc) what the most popular option in your country is.
It's not possible to provide specific advice on installing a pole because it depends on a lot of different factors: from the brand of pole to the type of pole to the type of ceiling you have. It is important to fully read the manufacturers instructions and follow them exactly.
Most pressure poles are fairly easy to install, and most manufacturers will be happy to give you advice, but if you get stuck you could reach out to a rigger, pole specialist, builder or some other professional in your community for help.
Pole Safety Checks
Every time you use your pole, and regularly throughout training, you should be doing safety checks on your pole. Below is a video showing how to do safety checks on a pressure mounted pole but the same is true of a mounted pole also.
You should also be checking over the components on stage poles and mounts and ensuring everything fits together nicely, there are no loose bolts, no weird sounds or movement and that the pole is safely attached to the base.
Safety Equipment
Pole is, in my opinion, an extreme sport as well as a dance form. This means it could be high risk if we are not putting in place safety precautions. We'll talk more about safe training in Part Two but until then... here are a couple of things you may want to buy.
Crash Mats
Buy the thickest biggest pole crash mat you can. Falling, even from a low height, can be life changing. You can absolutely pole at home safely but the worst injuries I have heard of have been within the home environment and a number of people have ended up paralysed temporarily or permanently. Your safety is no joke! You can still hurt yourself falling onto a mat (we will talk about safe falling practices later) but it is significantly reduced when paired with other safety practices.
I like foam4sports but many pole brands sell crash mats. Ensure you buy mats specifically designed for pole dancing.
Knee Pads
We do a lot of floorwork in pole which requires us to put a lot of pressure into our knees. Some instructors claim your knees will toughen up but it's not true. Prolonged kneeling and rolling over the knee cap, often over years, can lead to degeneration of cartilage or other issues such as bursitis. Joints do not "toughen up" and you don't want to end up having knee replacement surgery later in life.
You only get one set of knees!
Soft thick volleyball knee pads are ideal but many brands sell pole knee pads now as well that have more space in the back for knee hooks and have sticky grippy sections to make various tricks easier.
Now you have everything you need to get started you can join me soon for Part Two where we will cover how to start learning safely and effectively!
If you can't wait you can sign up to access a 6 week beginner course plus over 600 tutorials and classes consisting of everything you need on your journey. Just click here -----> Practical Pole.
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