How to get the hang of trekking poles?

[Prentiss Riddle]

I just bought my first pair of trekking poles (Black Diamond Z-Poles) and I'm feeling like a klutz because what I thought would come naturally isn't.

I know that the right pole should move with the left foot and vice versa, but try as I might I don't seem to be able to stick to that pattern. I'm also worried about stressing my wrists. I've watched a bunch of random videos and just feel confused.

(This isn't a new feeling for me, by the way. I can't dance, catch a ball, or stay up on a pair of skates.)

Does anybody have a surefire way to learn to use trekking poles correctly? Perhaps a specific well-made video?

And no anti-pole polemics, please! There are other threads for that. :-]

Prentiss

 

[C clearly]

anti-pole polemics

Nice turn of phrase! Was it intentional?

When learning, I had to remind myself to keep the pole movements short and fast enough to match the walking pace. Plant the pole firmly each time, maybe even counting until you get the pattern. (Find a hidden path somewhere if you are self-conscious, as I was.)

 

[Susan hopes]

Prentiss, I tried walking with my new poles the same way as you tried, but after a short time I found myself walking where I moved the pole in tandem with the side it was on. That is, right pole with right leg, etc. I don't know if it's "wrong," but it worked pretty well. I also liked the thump and feel of a single wooden staff my husband made for me.

Your elbows should be at a 90 degree angle and your wrists should be straight; I hope this will alleviate any wrist stress.

Good luck, and if you learn anything further, please post it here.

 

[Pilgrim-S-414]

This worked for me... Just attach pole straps to your wrists and just drag them, don't grab the handles, while letting your hands move in a natural rhythm while walking... After a while grab the pole handles
... I did saw a great video for this but I'll need to dig it up

 

[SYates]

Try the following:
Choose a long, straight, flat stretch of road.
Start walking and try to forget how you should do it and find out instead what feels right for you.
For some people the diagonal method (left leg/right pole) works better, for others the parallel one (left leg/left pole).
The important thing is finding out what works for you and then to make it an automatism, so that you don't need to think about it.
So experiment, walk, walk, walk until you forget that you are using poles.
You will stumble a lot in the beginning, at least I did, hence the stretch of flat, straight road
Buen Camino! SY

 

[dougfitz]

This worked for me... Just attach pole straps to your wrists and just drag them, don't grab the handles, while letting your hands move in a natural rhythm while walking... After a while grab the pole handles
... I did saw a great video for this but I'll need to dig it up

I don't remember having much difficulty learning when I started, but I have used this technique to help others who have been 'square gaiting' - moving the right foot and right pole forward together, then left foot and left pole. I also used it teaching my grand-daughter to use poles.

At the start, just let your arms hang by your side, dragging the tips along on the ground behind you. As your arms start to swing just let them, letting the amplitude of the swing increase but keeping the arms straight for a little while. Once you have a reasonable swing going, start to bend the elbows, without holding the poles but still just letting them drag. If at any stage you lose sync and start to square-gait, go back to just leaving your arms by your side and start again.

The final step is to gently grip the pole handles. You don't need to grip them tightly if your wrist is through the strap correctly, and the strap is properly adjusted. At this point you should be able to guide the tip forward so that it hits the ground about level with the opposite foot, and you bring it forward again when the opposite foot comes forward.

Try doing about ten paces on each of these stages, longer if you want.

 

[koknesis]

well, i would recommend to start with a double poling technique, every 2nd or 3rd step as shown on this video:

actually i like it on a rough path. used it on some stretches of CF causing common enjoyment for the pilgers i passed hope this helps.

 

[Robo]

Very useful Video! Much of the technique appears to be drawn from Nordic Skiing.

Though parts of it rather remind me of the 'Ministry of Silly Walks' sketch by Monty Python!

 

[Jo Jo]

Do not feel alone. First time I tried it, I could not get it. Only due to a serious knee injury did I persevere. I had to re-train my brain to walk like an animal. Like any other motor skill, I'd recommend doing this very slowly--exaggeratedly slowly. The last thing that should come is speed, and only after the technique is in your "muscle memory." In a few days of consistently trying this you will get it. After a few weeks, you'll wonder how you ever walked without poles.

Buen Camino.

 

[Felipe]

Don Pablito (it is not a diminutive for Pablo, that's his name) , from Azqueta, one of the local Camino personalities, gives free wooden staffs to pilgrims (besides shells and squashes) and also a basic usage lesson to newbies. He insists that it is not the same technique when you are climbing than going down the hills. And I think he is right.
I hope the old señor be still there, welcoming walkers at the first street of his village.

 

[nellpilgrim]

When I started to learn I felt like a praying mantis learning how to knit-and looked even odder-but by abandoning any thought's of looking 'cool' and taking long practice walks first on smooth flat surfaces, moving on to earthen tracks and eventually graduating onto rougher terrain I 'got it'. One of the important things that Doug mentioned above is that the weight/pressure should borne on your straps not by you tightly gripping the stick handle. Though I'm now unconsciously competent most of the time if someone asks me when I'm walking "how do you use those" I'm likely to get out of sync! They are such a blessing and I can't thank my brother in law enough of insisting that I try them out-if the albergue was to go on fire the first thing I'd grab would be my walking sticks!

 

[KentuckyJay]

I just bought my first pair of trekking poles (Black Diamond Z-Poles) and I'm feeling like a klutz because what I thought would come naturally isn't.

I know that the right pole should move with the left foot and vice versa, but try as I might I don't seem to be able to stick to that pattern. I'm also worried about stressing my wrists. I've watched a bunch of random videos and just feel confused.

(This isn't a new feeling for me, by the way. I can't dance, catch a ball, or stay up on a pair of skates.)

Does anybody have a surefire way to learn to use trekking poles correctly? Perhaps a specific well-made video?

And no anti-pole polemics, please! There are other threads for that. :-]

Prentiss

Just like the Nike commercials used to say, "just do it." Swing your arms naturally like you are walking sans poles. The rhythm comes with use. Use them to brake going downhill and to help pull up on sharp inclines. Nothing to it. Buen Camino.

 

[Walter1407]

They don't have courses (two to three hours are usually enough) in your part of the world? If poles are used the wrong way for a longer time, they can do damage and you might end up with a physiotherapist. Poles must be used diagonally, not parallel for exactly this reason. If you walk with poles and use them properly, you use up 10% to 15% more energy than if you walk without. But used correctly, they are good for your knees and back.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Don Pablito (it is not a diminutive for Pablo, that's his name) , from Azqueta, one of the local Camino personalities, gives free wooden staffs to pilgrims (besides shells and squashes) and also a basic usage lesson to newbies. He insists that it is not the same technique when you are climbing than going down the hills. And I think he is right.
I hope the old señor be still there, welcoming walkers at the first street of his village.

Felipe, es el Sr. en la entrada del pueblo depues de Astorga, el que te manda al cafe de su hijo? He makes lovely gourds, but if that's him, did not know he coached people on how to use poles. Last fall I was walking with a group from the Canarias who are part of a local walking group. Showed me how it's supposed to be done. Think not. Way to much work for the arms in my opinion ;0)

 

[Anniesantiago]

One thing is that you can just try to forget you have the poles in your hand, and just start walking, swinging your arms as you normally would.
The thing to remember is that you do NOT put the poles out in front of you.
They should PUSH you off from the back.
I also would never use the straps... that's a good way to break a wrist if you do fall, imo.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Annie, what good are the straps anyways? Mine don't seem to be adjustable, so if I listened to people here, and not grip my poles, I wouldn't have poles.

 

[Buz Radican]

Annie, what good are the straps anyways? Mine don't seem to be adjustable, so if I listened to people here, and not grip my poles, I wouldn't have poles.

I agree. Last summer I hiked about 500 miles, 320 miles on the very rocky northern part of the Appalachian Trail, and another 180 miles on a trail more like the CF. I used two trekking poles every step of the way, without straps. For me, I found trekking poles not only the useful, but essential. But that is just me. Poles are not everyone's cup of tea.

 

[Bernice M]

Prentiss,
I'm famously uncoordinated and clumsy and at 60 years, poles are essential. To set height, with arm at your side hold forearm at right angles to upper arm. That should be your pole height. Once you get walking you will notice that you get propulsion forward only from the pole movement from mid-body and to the rear. Placing poles ahead of your body wastes energy. Of course, if you are doing downhill, you may want poles ahead of you, but in general keep at the mid-body position. To learn I had to concentrate, but it became so natural that I didn't like walking without them.

Don't buy the screw type poles but the ones that fix pole height using a flick clasp (sorry, don't know the correct lingo). My screw-type poles died after about 200km, and I managed the rest of the Via de la Plata with them taped up with fabric dressing. Would have returned them to the shop where I purchased them but couldn't collapse them for the flight home, so they got binned. I don't know what the straps are for except for hanging them on coat pegs or holding them together on the train.

 

[Felipe]

Felipe, es el Sr. en la entrada del pueblo depues de Astorga, el que te manda al cafe de su hijo? He makes lovely gourds, but if that's him, did not know he coached people on how to use poles. Last fall I was walking with a group from the Canarias who are part of a local walking group. Showed me how it's supposed to be done. Think not. Way to much work for the arms in my opinion ;0)

Don Pablito lives in Azqueta, that's the village right after Estella, and before Villamayor. He appears in many videos, as here, showing how to use his staffs.

These are the old, long staffs, quite different to the shorter version currently favored. If you see the statues of Saint James, he is always represented with this type.

 

[dougfitz]

I also would never use the straps... that's a good way to break a wrist if you do fall, imo.

Annie, whenever I have looked for some objective evidence for this, what I have found is anecdotal reports about downhill skiing accidents, and so far nothing about injuries incurred when walking. I have a friend who had a major fall coming into Zubiri where a pole stopping him falling and hurting himself. His wrist was sore for several days, but he believes that the pole probably saved him from even more major injury. The middle section of the pole was bent quite substantially, and replaced by Leki when he got back to Australia. I know that is only one case, but you seem to be basing this advice on a personal opinion rather than some objective evidence.

I don't know what the straps are for except for hanging them on coat pegs or holding them together on the train.

It has always puzzled me that when someone buys a piece of technical equipment, even one as apparently simple as a modern technical walking pole, they avoid RTFM! Is it just a bloke thing? If you want a good explanation of what straps are for and why they are so important, have a look at what must be the grand-daddy of good internet resources on walking pole usage, Pete's Pole Pages. They are a wonderful resource.

 

[Prentiss Riddle]

So some people say they never use straps at all, and other people say they barely grip the grip because most of the weight is born by the straps.

I have to say the latter idea is appealing because my hands and wrists are prone to RSIs, and I'd hate for poles to save my knees but destroy my hands.

That's the hazard of asking questions, you get lots of answers... :-]

 

[Kathy F.]

I was concerned before my first Camino because I just didn't feel comfortable using poles. I tried them out on local walks, always felt like a dork. I watched on line videos but could never quite get the coordination.
Finally, St. Jean Pied de Port.
And, low and behold, I was suddenly able to use them just the way I needed them. They simply "fit" my pace naturally and without my having to give it any thought.
I guess it is one of those things that is so personal that it's hard to tell another person exactly how to do it (like how to hold a pencil). The person just has to do it the way that is most comfortable for them.

No matter how awkward you feel now, take them.

And, for God's sake, do not drag them behind you as you take a step. The sound of scrapping metal on stone/concrete for kilometers at a time was way worse for me than the snoring in the albergues.

 

[dougfitz]

I tried them out on local walks, always felt like a dork.

Kathy, it took me years to get over that feeling! It was great walking with poles on the Camino, where no-one was tempted to make silly remarks etc.

 

[koknesis]

Using poles is nothing more than swinging your arms with a stick attached.

Good point, but unfortunately wrong one. Indeed, there is no secret, just one needs to learn how to handle poles, otherwise they become pretty useless.

 

[Thirstywork]

. I have the same poles as you 130mm Cork.

 

[dougfitz]

My screw-type poles died after about 200km, and I managed the rest of the Via de la Plata with them taped up with fabric dressing.

When you say they died, were they sprung poles and the spring collapsed, or did the locking mechanism holding the middle or lower shaft to the next shaft fail? I have had both happen. When the spring fails, I have been able to use the remedy you describe. When the locking mechanism itself fails, all is pretty much lost and the poles are no longer usable.

 

[dougfitz]

well, i would recommend to start with a double poling technique, every 2nd or 3rd step as shown on this video:


actually i like it on a rough path. used it on some stretches of CF causing common enjoyment for the pilgers i passed hope this helps.

This is a great video for Nordic walking, but I am not convinced that pure Nordic walking is what you will end up using when hiking/trekking/tramping. The big difference is the balance between propulsion and lift. The Nordic walking techniques favour propulsion, helping you go faster, and will raise your energy expenditure quite a lot. Trekking techniques favour lift - reducing the load on your lower joints. You won't necessarily go faster as a result, and will not raise your energy expenditure as much.

The physics is simple - to generate lift, the pole needs to be nearly vertical when it first strikes the ground. To generate propulsion, it needs to strike at a more oblique angle.

You might be able to see the difference if you watch the first 10-15 seconds of the video @koknesis has posted more recently (The Man in the Fjallraven Shirt) where the pole strike is level with the opposite front foot, much further forward than the pole strike in the Nordic Walking video @koknesis provided earlier in the thread. You might also see that the Man in the Fjallraven shirt has his elbows bent closer to a 90 degree angle when the pole strikes, and doesn't straighten his arms to the same extent as the man demonstrating the Nordic walking technique.

What is not clear from the videos is the respective lengths of the poles. As has been pointed out, a good trekking length is to when your forearm is level when your upper arm is by your side and the pole hangs vertically. Nordic poles will typically be much longer, and your hand would be around the level of your chest, and not your waist.

 

[Robo]

This is a great video for Nordic walking, but I am not convinced that pure Nordic walking is what you will end up using when hiking/trekking/tramping. The big difference is the balance between propulsion and lift. The Nordic walking techniques favour propulsion, helping you go faster, and will raise your energy expenditure quite a lot. Trekking techniques favour lift - reducing the load on your lower joints. You won't necessarily go faster as a result, and will not raise your energy expenditure as much.

To me the Nordic walking use of poles looks more like a Nordic Skiing technique. All about pushing forwards and even some of the diagonal skating techniques. All of the techniques shown are used in Nordic Skiing. Didn't make a lot of sense to me.

 

[dougfitz]

To me the Nordic walking use of poles looks more like a Nordic Skiing technique. All about pushing forwards and even some of the diagonal skating techniques. All of the techniques shown are used in Nordic Skiing. Didn't make a lot of sense to me.

Nordic walking probably makes a great deal of sense if you are a Nordic skier wanting to keep up your fitness in summer, or as a general exercise technique. I agree it doesn't make sense to use it if your main interest is keeping weight off your knees.

 

[koknesis]

Nordic walking probably makes a great deal of sense if you are a Nordic skier wanting to keep up your fitness in summer, or as a general exercise technique. I agree it doesn't make sense to use it if your main interest is keeping weight off your knees.

Perhaps this starts to get too technical, but for the sake of clearness, when NW one plants the pole(s) on the line approx matching the gravity center projection just a moment before landing corresponding foot. Next the applied force vector is about 45 degrees to the summar vector of travel, dampening the impact and propelling.
Indeed, NW was primarily thought to serve for XC skier training, but serves well for long distance walking. Partially also because the exaggerated swings with hands greatly support upper body blood circulation, reducing general fatigue despite of increased energy consumption. Of course, this may be individual, but at least for me, being almost 58yo, 8h non-stop is not a problem, providing enough water is available.

 

[Bernice M]

Annie, whenever I have looked for some objective evidence for this, what I have found is anecdotal reports about downhill skiing accidents, and so far nothing about injuries incurred when walking. I have a friend who had a major fall coming into Zubiri where a pole stopping him falling and hurting himself. His wrist was sore for several days, but he believes that the pole probably saved him from even more major injury. The middle section of the pole was bent quite substantially, and replaced by Leki when he got back to Australia. I know that is only one case, but you seem to be basing this advice on a personal opinion rather than some objective evidence.


It has always puzzled me that when someone buys a piece of technical equipment, even one as apparently simple as a modern technical walking pole, they avoid RTFM! Is it just a bloke thing? If you want a good explanation of what straps are for and why they are so important, have a look at what must be the grand-daddy of good internet resources on walking pole usage, Pete's Pole Pages. They are a wonderful resource.

I think your RTFM might conflict with our family motto, 'only read the instructions when in deep do-do'. However, all the discussion has been illuminating and Pete's Poles Pages excellent. Thank you for the guidance.