Poles

Available at Amazon: The rubber feet on these poles are rounded to facilitate the pushoff.

An idea of how Nordic walking became popular

I came across a scholarly article about what made Nordic walking a popular activity.

The authors made the interesting point that, although Exel and other manufacturers promoted Nordic walking, it was the practitioners who actually shaped how others perceived the activity and facilitated the sport's growth in popularity. Those practitioners started with the early adopters like "cohorts of middle-aged ladies" who were willing to be seen engaging in this unusual-looking activity.

These early adopters presented Nordic walking not as a way to get from one place to another but as a form of exercise typically done in one's leisure time without the inherent risks of more vigorous and elite sports. A relationship developed between the manufacturers and practitioners, the manufacturers formally promoting the sport and practitioners evangelizing for the sport, person to person.

PS. One point I might clarify in that article: the Leki (a manufacturer of Nordic walking poles) concept that "people should learn to walk all over again…[because] walking with two sticks does require a minimum of new technique."

• When using the teaching technique of having students drag their poles and simply swing their arms naturally, they notice the poles plant themselves naturally on the backswing.
• This makes it easier to point out that Nordic walking is simply an extension of the natural walking motion. So, I'm not sure the statement has to be that stark.

Reading

In case you're interested: A book about cross country skiing and Nordic walking in Kindle and paperback. It emphasizes the skiing part and introduces Nordic walking to skiers as a way to stay in skiing shape when there's no snow.