by xe

Created on: March 21, 2009   Last Updated: March 29, 2009

What should a beginning walker do to prepare themselves for this athletic endeavor? Understanding the basics of walking as a beginner is an important subject, but one that I find can be somewhat confusing when studied in depth. I have devoted significant effort to researching the topic with several people I know who have started their lifelong walking program, but alas can only report from observation (as they are too young to express themselves through words). My Grandson, Niklas, for example experienced a wide range of emotions during the weeks in which he was transitioning from crawling to walking; so I will attempt to summarize the basics that he might describe based on his tribulations.

The first thing that one observes is that the beginner should be cautious when walking towards any coffee table or other piece of furniture. especially if it has sharp corners. Until good balance is learned, there is a tendency to fall towards those objects which often results in a nasty bump and an interruption of the walking practice until the screaming and crying subsides. A corollary to this basic would be that while a coffee table is a good place to start, it is probably not a good initial destination.

Another basic I observed is that the choice of footware can affect the success of the walk. While miniature tennis shoes with sturdy soles and toes look great, lack of ankle control as experienced by a novice can at times result in the toe digging in and inadvertantly causing a fall. This is usually not so big a deal, unless rule number one comes into play and a table is in the randomly designated fall zone.

Another basic factor bearing comment is the getting started phase. There are two fundamental variations of this. Either someone has helped the beginning walker to their feet, and at some point chooses to let go and let gravity take its course, or the beginning walker pulls up on a piece of furniture, the dog or some other item and starts on their own. Care must be taken with this style, because if the object used for pulling up moves (as in sliding as a piece of furniture) or running away (as in the dog), the startled beginner can take a resulting tumble. Again, see rule number one.

The actual process of progressing from beginner's rank to the next novice phase of walking seems to in actuality be a matter of trial and error, and with the exception of the inadvertent collisions with hard objects does not seem to cause lasting injury or harm. Of course, by the time the subjects of my observation reach the age where two-way dialogue will be possible, they will in all likelihood have forgotten completely what process they went through to learn. Please note that no beginning walkers were permanently harmed in the writing of this article.

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