Wrist/Strength Conditioning Exercises

Published: 01 May 2007 - 13:56 by allymcteo

Updated: 01 Jul 2010 - 05:04

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Hey everyone,

Okay so after 2 weeks of resting my wrist, it appeared to be good to go for a game of squash. I could pronate and bend my wrist in all directions without any pain or soreness.

As soon as I started with some warm up shots (using proper technique) I could feel my wrist becoming sore again. At one point I was massaging my wrist while bending it and I could feel the muscle or tendon popping each time I bent my wrist.

ANYWAY...the soreness was on and off throughout the match. Overhand smashes more than any other shot appeared to aggravate my wrist the most.

Now I'm getting kinda worried that the injury that I had "recovered" from was actually a permanent injury and could affect my squash playing from now on. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do? Where do I go from here?

I was thinking that perhaps I need to lay off squash for a while again until I build up the muscles in my wrist. But the only exercise that I can think of is wrist curls with light weights (2-5 lbs) Does anyone have any other suggestions for wrist strength conditioning?

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From atul4 - 01 Jul 2010 - 05:04

The initiative taken for the concern is very serious and need an
attention of every one. This is the concern which exists in the
society and needs to be eliminated from the society as soon as
possible.

Back Exercises

From rippa rit - 09 Jun 2010 - 20:00

ally - on reading your post I could only think that your technique is incorrect in the swing (motion), though you may have the grip right prior to swinging at the ball. Often injuries are due to incorrect technique and that is not only for people who play squash. I believe you are breaking your wrist, and/or tilting your wrist back during the swing. It would be worth taking a short video of your play and have a good look to see if there is unnecessary strain on your wrist during the swing, and that is both forehand and backhand strokes.

From headlock22 - 09 Jun 2010 - 13:37 - Updated: 09 Jun 2010 - 13:39

i could not pass by this board without dropping a word... from my experience gyro balls are not that effective for strength training, i have been training for 12 years and maybe i have just built up a lot of strength and endurance, but i can literally sit there and spin it for at least half an hour FAST and not feel a thing! i would recommend you guys Bison-1, I just recently bought one and trying to finish the first general course with it but can say that it is for real - the best forearm equipment i have tried. i am into grappling not tennis, but thought you guys would benefit from it too.

here is the bison-1 forearm equipment site.

From stevo - 17 May 2007 - 12:34

I got the Blue Neon powerball (yes I know it is a training tool and not a flash light) and it is great. Good workout and good fun. My current best is 11737.

So how do people train with their powerball? How often and what kind of exercise? Do you just spin as fast as you can to fatigue, or do 30 second reps for X reps?

Personally I just try to break my record, then have a go until the arm fatigues. Not very structured.

From Adz - 14 May 2007 - 21:40

Ha ha! Just think, you'll only have to double your 8400 to beat the current world record! The guy who can do 16500 rpm must be an absolute machine! I know I've got pretty stronger forearms, and after a fair bit of practise, I could only hit just over 12500!

All fun though! Keep going until you get the cramps up your forearms, and then try one more time. It feels like you become as weak as a baby, but man it feels good once you've recovered a bit! (this is an example of exhaustion training which I would NOT recommend if recovering from an injury!)

From daveamour - 12 May 2007 - 17:23

Hi again allymcteo

I think without a doubt you need to go and see a professional as soon as possible.

Secondly I know how scary it must be thinking you might not be able to play again but if you are that passionate and determined and your wrist doesn't recover well then you can learn to play with your left hand(or right hand if you are left handed). Sounds ridiculous I know but a squash coach I know taught himself to do it and can still beat most people with either hand!

From hamburglar - 12 May 2007 - 08:07

Unless you're fingers and hand are really large, you should be able to position your fingers and palm away from the open area. 8400 rpm is quite good, i think i can only get 10,000 or so. The clicking noise is normal, at least mine does it. If it's slipping out of your hands, the gyroscopic force is too much. Go slower, more controlled and build up your strength, rather than a short quick burst of speed.

From SamBWFC - 12 May 2007 - 06:45

Why am I so crap at it? I've got burns on my little finger where I keep catching the ball, and I can't keep it going because it starts slipping out of my hands.

Keep getting a clicking noise as well, but I know that's down to being a beginner. I've manager 8,400 rpm so far, I'll keep trying.

From allymcteo - 08 May 2007 - 11:26

Okay guys, I take what I said back...the powerball is the ultimate tool to strengthen your wrist and increase grip strength and power your shots in squash.

After playing with it some more, I realized that the movement exercise that I should be doing is the one that Akis the world champion powerballer is doing. Which is the 'wrist-circles'.

I was originally just doing the start up movements that were shown on the box, so I really wasn't sure what was going on.

ANYWAY...my wrist is back up to 100%! And my forehand smash is even harder than before! It totally helped rehabilitate my wrist and forearm and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT if you're looking to improve your game or simply just recover from injuries.

If you're looking to get a good price on powerballs, I recommend NCIX.com.

http://www.ncix.com/search/?q=powerball&minprice=Min. Price&maxprice=Max. Price

They've got several types in-stock and the prices are cheaper than anywhere else on the web (outside of eBay).

Thanks for all the help guys! I am totally indebted to you all!

From nickhitter - 05 May 2007 - 05:24

not to mention how good you'll get at other wrist dependant one hand activities.

From mike - 04 May 2007 - 08:12

awesome, I'll have to get one!

From daveamour - 04 May 2007 - 03:24 - Updated: 04 May 2007 - 07:08

Check out the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0v05iaYZC0

From daveamour - 04 May 2007 - 03:20

I have been using a powerball since Christmas and have noticed a big increase in my squash power particularly in those shots where you are stretched and so only really have your wrist to play with and also on my backhand too.

I can''p praise powerballs enough, they are superb!

From mike - 02 May 2007 - 22:20

Sounds promising. I have a weak backhand. I know squash isn't all about power, but sometimes power can be damn useful, and I just don't have it on the backhand side. Not sure if more strength will necessarily give more power, but it can't hurt.

From Adz - 02 May 2007 - 18:10

Mike: I originally used mine to build up strength in my wrist but I have since used it to recover from an injury. I think the best thing I noticed was that I gained more stamina in the muscles in my forearms. They used to ache quite a lot after 3 or 4 hours on court, but the powerball stopped that from happening. I admit that I haven't quite mastered some of the super RPMs recorded on the powerball website, but I was quite happy with my just over 12500rpm effort!

Sparty: As jbs says, the gyroscope causes an internal force to build up which becomes greater and of more resistance the faster that you spin it. At 15000rpm they claim that this internal force is equivalent of 40lbs of pressure. Now 40lbs of pressure is approx 18kgs. Picture that weight in an object about the size of a tennis ball, and now try to rotate your wrist/forearm as fast as you can with the thing trying to jump out of your hand! Now that's only if you can get up to 15000rpm (world record is 16317!), I managed a lowly 12574rpm in comparison, but can regularly get over 11500rpm. I'd imagine this is still around 31lbs of pressure or 14kgs!

They're well worth looking at for building strength and endurance in the forearms and wrists, and I really would recommend them to anyone!

Adz

From allymcteo - 02 May 2007 - 05:12

I gotta say that I love the prompt replies on this forum...hahaha

And just to answer "mikes" question, I injured my wrist and was looking for ways to rehabilitate and strengthen my wrist to avoid future injury.

Okay, so I since I'm desparate for a cure, I went out and got myself a powerball today.

It's incredible. No exaggeration.

Anyway, I tried it out and I can definitely see how it strengthens yall the muscles in your arm, but I'm skeptical about how it helps to rehabilitate my wrist. I guess I should've been more specific and explained that the soreness occurs when I bend my wrist back (or when I follow through on a backhand return). The pain and soreness is at the joint on the top of my wrist closer to thumb...hopefully that makes sense?

The powerball is a great exercise to improve grip strength on the racquet. I'm just wondering if it's the solution to my injury.

From mike - 02 May 2007 - 00:02

Adz -- what did you notice after using the powerball (regarding your squash game) ? Were you recovering from injury, or just building strength?

Looks like it could have potential to add power to my backhand.

From hamburglar - 01 May 2007 - 20:53

Powerballs are cool. It's gyroscopic force which becomes stronger as the ball spins faster. Get the ball spinning, and if you rotate your wrist by doing wrist circles, you can get the gyroscope to turn and if you do it at the correct speed, you can actually accelerate the gyroscope speed which in turn makes it harder to do wrist circles. Get one of those meters that attaches and you'll see it's going around 10,000 rpm!

From nickhitter - 01 May 2007 - 19:14

I am curious. how do you actually work it? like hold it in your arm and wave you arm around?

From Adz - 01 May 2007 - 18:27

I second that! I got a while ago and the difference it makes is definitely noticable after around two weeks of use!

If you're in the UK, play.com or ebay is the cheapest place to get them from, and go for the pro ball as opposed to any of the neon ones - it's for training - not for flashing lights!

Adz

From paul01323 - 01 May 2007 - 18:04

You could try a powerball

http://www.powerball-gyros.com/powerballs.htm

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