When I created the Pole Level Mapper, I knew people would have opinions about it. I just didn’t realize how much I would learn from the way people talked about it.
Because every time someone called it a quiz, a vote, or asked if it was still open, I heard something underneath the words.
And all of it made me even more convinced that the Pole Level Mapper needed to exist.
You already have a map in your head.
When you call it a quiz, I hear that you’re thinking in terms of right and wrong answers.
When you call it a vote, I hear that you’re expecting a winner to be determined.
When you ask if it’s still open, I hear that you’re assuming you missed an event or promotion.
Makes sense. That’s how we’re all used to interacting with things online.
But the Pole Level Mapper isn't a quiz, voting mechanism, or promotion with manufactured urgency.
So what is it?
The Pole Level Mapper is a free tool I designed to help you make the map that's already living in your head visible.
You'll see ten familiar pole tricks and decide what skill level you think they are.
Your responses create a map of how you understand pole levels.
There are no right or wrong answers. And everything is adjustable.
Once you hit submit and get your map, if you disagree with how it all looks, you can recategorize and rename the tricks. You can even add your own.
Because your pole level map is a living document. It can change as you learn, teach, practice, and experience more.
For students: You don't have to follow someone else's map.
If you're navigating a self-guided pole journey, you've probably encountered a lot of people telling you what level you should be.
A trick is "definitely beginner."
That combo is "advanced."
You shouldn't be doing that yet.
You should already know this.
The problem is that those declarations don't know you.
Your pole journey isn't a checklist that everyone has to complete in the same order.
The Pole Level Mapper gives you a chance to turn down some of that outside noise and focus on what actually matters: what you know you can already do. Want some ideas on how to do that? Visit my free Pole Student Hub.
From there, you can think about what you want to be able to do next. You can use your own goals and interests to decide where you want your pole journey to go. Your map doesn't have to look like anyone else's.
You're on a journey, but you don't have to wander without a map.
For instructors: Teach with intention, not just a list of tricks.
If you're committed to becoming a better pole instructor, your lesson plan needs to be about more than which tricks you're going to teach.
Instead of just working through a running list of tricks in your notes app, try starting with a learning objective.
What do you actually want students to learn? What skill are you developing? What movement concept are you exploring? What should students be able to do by the end of class? Want more guidance on this? Visit my free Pole Instructor Hub.
Once you have that objective, your own Pole Level Map becomes a much more useful teaching tool.
You can use it to filter the tricks you know and choose movements that actually support what you're trying to teach.
And maybe most importantly, you can start separating student requests from learning objectives.
A student asking for a particular trick doesn't automatically mean that trick should become your next lesson plan. Your job isn't just to give students the thing they asked for. Your job is to understand where they're going and help them get there. That means making thoughtful decisions about progressions, regressions, modifications, cues, and what comes next.
The goal isn't to be the instructor who knows the most tricks. It's to be the instructor students trust to guide their learning.
Be the pole instructor that students come back for.
For studio owners: Your curriculum is only as consistent as your conversations.
Studio owners have a particularly difficult version of this problem.
You might have a beautifully organized curriculum, carefully defined levels, expectations for what gets taught in every class.
But you aren't in every class.
And even if you were, every instructor brings their own background, experience, strengths, and interpretation to the work. So how do you know everyone is actually looking at your curriculum through the same lens?
You probably don't.
And that's not necessarily a problem.
Different instructors thinking differently isn't a weakness. It's one of the things that makes a teaching team valuable. The opportunity is to surface those differences and talk about them.
The Pole Level Mapper can help you do that.
Use it to uncover differences in how your instructors interpret your existing curriculum.
Use those differences as a starting point for conversations about progressions, regressions, modifications, cues, prerequisites, and what makes something appropriate for a particular class.
Instead of trying to force every instructor to have the exact same map, you can build a shared understanding while still making room for the expertise each person brings to the studio.
That's real professional development. And it doesn't require another expensive training. It just requires getting your instructors in the same conversation.
Strengthen the whole team's teaching experience by making the map visible.
Your map is allowed to change.
I think this is the part that matters most.
There isn't one universal pole level map. There probably never should be.
Levels are categories that studios use to communicate what will be taught to students and what instructors should teach. They're useful. But they're also subjective. Every person interprets them differently because every person has a slightly different map in their head.
The Pole Level Mapper isn't trying to replace those maps with a new universal system.
It's just helping you to acknowledge and make visible the map that already exists in your head or, in this case, is living right now within your studio's ecosystem.
Make it real. Look at it. Question it. Compare it with someone else's. Change it when you learn something new.
Because your understanding of pole progression should evolve right along with you.
Use the Pole Level Mapper.
The map in your head is already influencing your decision-making. Why not map it all out for real?
The Pole Level Mapper is free and open to everyone.
No deadline.
No score.
No winner.
Just a tool you can use to understand your own ideas about pole progression—and start better conversations about them. All I ask for in exchange is your email address and the opportunity to tell you more.
Create your Pole Level Map →