Let the poles take care of themselves
Now there's an act
of faith. I tell Nordic walkers the poles are better trained than their pets.
They'll keep up with you, being available to grip on the front swing and
planting into the ground for push off on the backswing. You don't have to do
anything except walk and swing your arms naturally.
Isn't that a key
element of faith: Expecting something and having confidence to the degree you
think of it as if it's already come to pass. Have that kind of confidence in
the poles.
Why would I say
something strange like that? Beginning Nordic walkers forget how to walk. In
trying to remember the different points in the technique they were taught,
beginners overthink things and get discombobulated in their walking. The most
common way is to mess up your arm swing.
- In regular walking, the opposite arm swings forward as a foot steps forward, left foot forward/right arm swings forward.
- Then as you move forward, your front foot becomes your back foot, and that opposite arm swings to the rear on the backswing. For example, when the steps continue, the left foot has become the rear foot because the right foot stepped forward. At the same time, the right arm will have swung back.
- That opposite foot/opposite arm movement (how we normally walk) is called diagonal walking by some Nordic walking instructors.
In my experience,
beginning Nordic walkers are trying process the new information they gained and
put it into action. The problem is, they overthink it as if running down a
checklist to make sure everything has been covered. That distracts from walking
because the poles haven't become part of the routine yet.
How do I know this?
I ran into the same problems when I was starting out. The key is to have faith
the poles will be there when you need them. If that happens, revert to the
dragging technique where you don't even grip the poles nor let them go. Just
drag them on the ground, swinging your arms naturally. Before long, you'll be
back in synch.
