Welcome to Ski Hacks – a series of bite-sized videos with expert advice from pro ski instructor Darren Turner. Whether you’re a first timer or a seasoned pro, they’re designed to give you tips and tricks to help you make the most out of your time on the mountain.

Ski poles look simple but we’ve got a couple of tricks to help you choose the right ones and to hold them properly.

Transcription

What length should your ski poles be?

[00:00:11] So, quick chat about your ski poles. They’re quite often overlooked. Firstly, the length. When you’re standing on  flat ground, on your skis, with the poles in the ground, you pretty much want your arm at about a right angle.

How to hold the strap

[00:00:26] Secondly, the strap. Now, take a moment and get that the right length. Ideally, once you’ve placed your hand through the strap, you actually want to come down on to your palm. There, it’s actually the strap that holds a lot of the force. So it just stops you gripping the pole like a crazy person, getting a tense arm, making your shoulder stiff. Kind of encourage this very rigid arm position. So take a moment, get the strap the right length and you can keep your hand nice and relaxed.

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