How to Appropriately Ask Your Students About Pre-Existing Injuries in Pole Classes

Let’s talk about how to appropriately ask your students if they have any pre-existing injuries or impairments that may affect their participation in pole class.

Here’s a scenario for reference:

• You are in class and the instructor asks: “Does anyone have any injuries that I should know about?”
• The result is silence…
• Meanwhile a new student who is currently recovering from a groin injury is too embarrassed to speak up in front of the other students.
• Or another student who is deaf in one ear didn’t hear the instructor, didn’t speak up, and ultimately misses out on some very important instructions later in class.

Asking your students about their injuries and impairments is very important, but expecting them to speak up in front of the whole class is not appropriate.

So in this post, we are proposing some alternative ways to ask your students about pre-existing injuries and impairments.

Change the Way You Ask about Injuries and Impairments

Rather than expecting students to speak up in front of the class, offer a space for students to come speak to you in private about their injuries or impairments that may affect today’s pole class.

If teaching online, ask the students to send you a private message through the chat feature.

This suggestion is more about your vibe as an instructor – are you giving off a welcoming vibe to your students? Are you making them feel comfortable to share their pre-existing injuries or impairments that may affect their performance in pole class?

Ask Students Individually about their Injuries

As your students enter the pole room, welcome them in and ask about any pre-existing injuries or impairments. You could use the following wording: “Welcome to class! Do you have any injuries or impairments that I should know about for class today?”

Collect Injury History at Sign-Up

Another good habit is to collect injury history at sign-up. New students should read and sign a liability waiver when registering for their first class at a studio, so you can ask about injury history or any impairments they have at this step.

Also, if your class sign-up software allows, you could ask about any current injuries with a quick check yes or no. (If yes, add a fill-in-the-blank item for further details.) Of course, this would require instructors to review this info for the people who signed up for their class, so you will have to consider the logistics of this option.

Takeaways

In conclusion, we hope this blog motivates you to rethink the way you are asking your students about their pre-existing injuries or impairments in your pole classes.

Providing a safe and private space for students to share information on their injuries or impairments will go a long way in: 1) helping your students to feel comfortable, and 2) helping you deliver proper modifications for all of your students to be successful in class!