I spend a lot of time on the computer. I feel the repetitive stress most on the back of the hand, for some reason.

With the nice wide cork grips on the GG poles, I find my hand naturally slides up to palm the ends on downhill slopes with my fingers gripping lightly to direct the points. On the uphill my grip automatically shifts down to the flared bottom edge of the handle. Neither of those would be comfortable with straps on. The rest of the time the poles rest lightly in my hand, so much so that every once in a while, a gust of wind can pick one out of my fingers.