Talk:Nordic walking

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[edit] Darwinism?

Am I the only one that sees the rather odd little red herring, rather sourceless anti-darwinism argument in the middle of there? Where did that come from? Can we have a source on that? O_o -- 151.203.190.88 04:02, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Discuss!

This is a very interesting article, I'd love to discuss how to make it better. For example, I came up with the idea of incorporating weighted clothing with this, ideally beginning with wrist weights, although vests and backpacks and shoulder weights could work. They would require some modifications in gait, but would add variety to training progressively off and on. Tyciol 15:48, 5 October 2006 (UTC)


I'm a little disturbed by the fact that someone keeps changing the page to make it sound like telescopic poles are a second best choice. The copy they put in sounds suspiciously like a commercial site that sells single length poles. If your product is really competitive you wouldn't have to market this way, now would you? Let's keep Wikipedia as a reference source not an infomercial! -- —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.94.193.219 (talk • contribs) .


I also find it disturbing that Bernd Zimmermann of the American Nordic Walking Association and someone from the International Nordic Walking Association INWA, Leki and Exel keep rewriting history to appear as it they invented the sport and use Wikipedia to sell their products.


Response to above comments: I don't think the person was "marketing" one-piece poles. The person sounds like they know what they are talking about. Have you tested poles? Adjustable poles are NOT as safe as one-piece poles - ask the hundreds of backpackers that have tumbled when their telescoping poles collapsed unexpectedly. I have tested adjustable poles and they are heavier, clunky (make annoying noises from their twist lock systems)and some don't hold the position they are set at.

Ever seen a ski racer with adjustable poles? I'm giving nordic walking poles as Christmas presents and they won't be adjustable/telescoping/adjustable poles.

SWIX and Excel make the world's best ski racing poles and they tell the truth about one-piece nordic walking poles being better - lighter and safer. -- —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.103.6.114 (talk • contribs) .

Mentioning and endorsing specific manufacturers makes the commercial nature of the comments and post pretty clear. Make the article neutral or flag it as advertising.

Cheap and badly-designed adjustable poles are definitely inferior to quality one-piece ones. The same goes for cheap one-piece poles, etc,etc. I have always been partial to Swix one-piece Nordic walking poles, but having tried some quality LEKI ones, such as the Speed Pacer Vario, the Instructor, and even the Traveller, haven't experienced any problems whatsoever. A properly-designed locking mechanism will lock and hold safely, providing it has been tightened sufficiently. As a matter of fact, the LEKI Speed Pacer Varios, which adjust (rather than collapse) within a 20 cm range have become my favorite poles as of late. They swing at least as well as my beloved, and well-used Swix CTs and in addition, they allow dialing in the length, for different terrain conditions and for a different workouts. So, in short, I would suggest that we talk about quality vs cheap poles, rather than about adjustables vs one-piece models. —Preceding MZalewski comment added by 152.75.125.150 (talk) 02:51, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia does not have an opinion on anything. If there is a broad, general consensus that that certain kinds of poles are better than others, we should cite sources for that; if there is not, we should include both points of view and avoid supporting either opinion ourselves. Of course, citing sources is crucial again. -- Schnee (cheeks clone) 20:12, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Inappropriate tone

I moved the "inappropriate tone" tag up to the top of the article - I'm pretty sure that lines like "Mind you, there is a difference in Tom Rutlin's technique and the "scandinavian" Nordic Walking technique." aren't what you'd expect in an encyclopedia. I'm also getting the feeling that the article may not be entirely neutral; pole walking was certainly done before 1988, although it wasn't called "nordic walking" then. Someone who knows more about this than I do should rewrite this article. -- Schnee (cheeks clone) 20:12, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nordic walking links

It has become all too obvious that someone is consistently removing all Nordic walking links from the article on Nordic walking and substituting the International Nordic Walking Association (INWA). For everyone's information, INWA is simply a front for the pole manufacturer Exel and despite the name, not really the "International Nordic Walking Association". There could be a number of useful links in that article, including anwa.us, poleabout.com, nordicwalkingus.com, Exerstrider.com and others, even INWA... Is there a way to control the people from INWA, so other useful links, besides theirs also appear and stay within the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mzalewsk (talk • contribs) 22:08, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

Well, I'm probably as guilty as anyone of removing external links from the article. See, I believe that WP:LINKS, WP:SPAM, WP:COI and WP:NOT, jointly and severally, are pretty clear. Wikipedia is not a repository for external links. Now, after looking more deeply into the INWA site, I see that you're correct that Exel and a couple of other companies bankroll that site. Of course, the exact same thing is true for the ANWA site, which you seem to feel is all right. In any case, I've looked at each of the sites you've suggested and, in my opinion, none of them is appropriate for inclusion as external links on the page, INWA probably included. If you read the guidelines I linked to, you'll see that, if there's a site with information you think would be useful to include in an article, the best thing to do is to expand the article to contain that information and use the website as a reference. Of course, it's a lot more work to expand, format and copyedit articles than it is to simply slap external links onto them. That's why there are literally thousands of spammers who troll Wikipedia for the sole purpose of slapping external links onto articles in the hope that they will draw hits to their site; whose only edits are adding external links or whining about their links being removed. As I read those guidelines, however, the purpose of the External links section is solely to link directly to the subject of the article. For example, in the Nikon article, a link to the Nikon corporate website is appropriate. Links to blogs that discuss Nikon equipment or sites that sell Nikon equipment would not be. In addition, the External links section could be used to temporarily store a link with useful information until an editor has time to work it into the article. For an article such as this one, the only external links I think should permanently be attached are links to non-commercial associations or educational institutions teaching about the subject. If you can find some of those, they're highly unlikely to be removed. Sites, however, that include advertising for equipment or that promote or sell equipment, excursions, books, etc, are wholly inappropriate. So, in an effort to placate your sense of injustice at having the INWA link in the article, I shall remove it forthwith. — Dave (Talk | contribs) 01:57, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] German study questions "significant un-weighting of hip, knee and ankle joints"

That is named as one of the benefits in the article. But the corresponding German Wikipedia article refers to a study (in German) which investigated the positive aspects of the use of poles to your joints. The study says, that there is no significant benefit: Joints study —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.191.127.148 (talk) 09:26, 13 May 2008 (UTC)