Nordic Walking Poles – Not All Nordic Walking Poles, Straps And Grips Are Created Equal

EXEL Nordic Walking Poles Are Equipped With REAL Nordic Walking Pole Straps

The best Nordic skiing (cross country skiing) ski pole straps and grips are also ideal for Nordic walking. Skiers know that fingerless glove type straps are more comfortable and much more effective than velcro sling type straps, simple loop straps and strapless grips.

Nordic Walking is very similar to cross country skiing and provides many of the same wonderful health benefits. The best straps for Nordic walking are similar to the fingerless glove type straps found on SWIX and EXEL cross country ski racing poles during the winter Olympics. These comfortable and effective straps are patented by the Salomon Ski Company. Ski racers don’t use velcro slings, simple loop straps or strapless poles. Be sure to avoid cheap imitations and strapless poles.

SWIX Nordic Walking Poles With REAL Nordic Walking Pole Straps

Skiers know that one-piece poles are safer lighter and much more durable than cheap/flimsy 2-piece and 3-piece twist-lock and flip-lock collapsible poles. The best poles are one-piece poles. One-piece poles are safer, lighter and much more durable than cheap/flimsy collapsible poles.

REAL Nordic Walking Straps - Patented by the Salomon Ski Company

I’ve been coaching skiers for almost 30 years. I’ve seen a lot of exciting changes in the ski industry and specifically with improved ski equipment. A dinosaur long gone from the ski slopes are strapless ski poles. These strapless poles where terrible for xc skiing and on the slopes they increased the risk of skier’s thumb.

The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine posted two articles about these increased risks due to strapless poles with flared handles. Dr. George A. Primiano’s article “Skiers’ thumb injuries associated with flared ski pole handles” states that each patient was using a strapless ski pole handle with a flared thumb support. These skiers felt their interphalangeal (IP) joint flexion was blocked by the flare of their ski pole handle, causing their protruding thumb tip to be the point of initial impact, thus leading to their injury.

In the other article by Dr. Bruce A. Van Dommelen and Dr. Raimonds A. Zvirbulis their findings led to this conclusion: We found that the strap handled pole without any platform had the lowest injury rate. The saber type pole handle had the highest injury rate.

In an article posted by Wilderness Medical Society and written by Dr. Edward Heneved about skiing and snowboard injuries, Dr. Heneved stated the obvious and said to “avoid strapless saber pole grips.”

It is a simple fact that one-piece poles are safer, lighter and more durable than cheap/flimsy collapsible poles. Skiers also know that the comfortable and patented fingerless glove type straps are more effective and allow for improved and efficient technique. And the above articles show that strapless poles are no safer today than they were when Scott Ski Poles Company and Reflex Ski Pole Company both discounted their production.

SWIX and EXEL make the best cross country ski racing poles and they can be trusted to make the best one-piece Nordic Walking Poles as well. At WWW.SKIWALKING.COM and the American Nordic Walking System we carry 16 different lengths of SWIX and EXEL Nordic Walking Poles. We are the only source in North America for both SWIX and EXEL Nordic Walking Poles plus SWIX and EXEL Nordic Walking Tips/Asphalt Paws.