Editor’s Note: Many users of ultralightweight manual wheelchairs self-propel for years… even for decades. That makes efficient self-propulsion a critical factor that can affect a wheelchair user’s independence and health.

Christie Hamstra, PT, MSPT, DPT, ATP, is a Clinical Education Specialist with Motion Composites, and has worked both as a physical therapist in a seating clinic and as an ATP supplier who specialized in seating and wheeled mobility. Mobility Management asked Hamstra these questions about efficient propulsion and ultralightweight wheelchairs.