Mark Fenton's book “The Complete Guide to Walking: For Health, Weight Loss and Fitness” describes four steps to get accustomed to pole walking in a short period of time. First, your grip should be placed right in the center of the stick. Second, hold the sticks above the ground by naturally swinging your arms. Third, get your arms through the straps but avoid grabbing the handles. After walking this way for a while switch to dragging the poles and keep doing this for four minutes, then get hold of the sticks and start planting the poles at a 45-degree angle. Extend one arm forward but make sure to put its tip back. Step forward with the opposite foot pressed against the ground and start over with the other foot. After you get accustomed to the planting technique in about five minutes, learn how to push off with your whole body.

It is just as important to get used to the walking poles as to do pole walking correctly. Start by adjusting the wrist straps so that they fit comfortably (not too tight or too loose). Securely loose grab will let you rely on the wrist straps while pushing the poles backward and enable getting the strips off as your arms move forward. There are also some tips on how you can facilitate walking over varied terrain. While walking uphill makes your poles shorter to the extent that is required for the load-bearing. When you walk downhill, you should lengthen them to get a better balancing ability. If your terrain is flat, you may need to opt for the fixed poles.