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powerball

Published: 03 Oct 2007 - 05:32 by aprice1985

Updated: 22 Oct 2007 - 07:50

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Anyone any advice on how best to get started with the powerball, i recently got one but just cant get the thing going.  I do have a slight shoulder strain/bruise at the moment, could that be inhibiting it?  Also anyone got a video of best to use it or any general thoughts?squash game squash extras How to add images to Members' Forum posts and replies here...

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From rippa rit - 22 Oct 2007 - 07:50

Thanks Mike I downloaded the program and presto away it went.

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From mike - 21 Oct 2007 - 16:45

Rita, the video is divX encoded. Do you have that codec installed?


Aprice - The powerball often demands that you put a funny expression of concentration on your face and stare blankly into space with your head tilted while learning to build the momentum.

If you can feel the ball "grip" it's a matter of keeping that gripping feeling as you gradually increase the force you apply



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From aprice1985 - 21 Oct 2007 - 12:30

save it to your computer and it then plays.  It is really good, i now feel some of the force of the powerball but still just cant get any momentum going with it.

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From rippa rit - 21 Oct 2007 - 08:11

Mike - I could not open this.  What a pity since you went to so much trouble.

RayStrach is on working/holiday and hopefully will open up his laptop soon so maybe he can get the link working?  Hope so.

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From mike - 20 Oct 2007 - 20:09

http://www.diigital.com/other/powerball_demo.avi


Aprice, I've prepared this video showing how I start the powerball.

I had an immense amount of difficulty getting the video from my still digital camera into Premiere and out again, so I had to give up on getting the sound to work. It drove me nuts.
If you care to imagine the first (successfull start) has a slowly accellerating sound. The speed is built up smoothly and gradually.
The wrist speed and cirlce size has to "match" the powerballs speed. Bigger, slower circles to start with and as the force gradually builds to increase speed and reduce the circle size.
Once you get to 10-12K rpm the motion is more of a wiggle than a circle.


The second part of the video shows what happens if you try to rush. The flick was also low quality in this example.

The second one also shows what I mean by a closed wrist. It's hard to get the WRIST to make smooth circles from this position. It's done in the forearm (wrong way to do it IMO) and there's no rhythm.

Regarding finger position, I just spread them around the ball to try and distribute the force evenly. Whatever feels comfortable without touching the spinning part is probably okay.
When I started my hand and fingers would get quite sore from the pressure, but I got used to it and don't have the discomfort anymore.

Hope that helps.

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From hamburglar - 20 Oct 2007 - 06:54

That's how i hold it. doesn't matter which way you turn your wrist, but I like going in a clockwise motion with the RH, palm down, or CCW, palm up. You really need to get the constant sliding sound going. most people rotate the wrist too fast and you actually get ahead of the rotation, slowing it down.

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From aprice1985 - 19 Oct 2007 - 23:56

Still having no luck with the powerball, does it matter what direction you spin the wrist?  Also could mike please explain more about the open type of grip you need, i have the palm of my hand about on the speedometer and fingers around the "hemisphere" pointing in towards the end where the gyroscope protrudes.

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From jimbob1965 - 05 Oct 2007 - 08:43

I bought one of these recently and it took me a week or two to consistently be able to start it up every time.  Once you get used to it though, it becomes second nature and you wonder why you used to struggle, so keep persevering!  As others have said, wide, circular motions to start with are the key, rather like you are stirring something with a spoon.  You also need to give the chord as hard a tug as you can manage to give it the best possible chance of taking.


Out of interest, what maximum RPM do others manage to achieve?  My maximum so far is 11,300, but on average, I obtain around 10,750 as a maximum during a session.  When I first started (around 4-5 weeks ago), I struggled to get 9,000, so it is definitely having a strengthening effect.  I also notice the difference on court with greater endurance of strength in my racket arm.


Cheers


Jimbob

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From powerball_admin - 05 Oct 2007 - 01:44

From mike - 04 Oct 2007 - 16:18

It took me a good 2-3 weeks of frequent use before I could finger start my powerball.

If you're having trouble using the cord it's obviously more to do with your wrist motion after the intial spin.

You need to have big, slow circles initially. Your hand should be quite open, much like a squash grip, so that your slow circles can "grip" the core of the ball and apply force to help speed it up. If your wrist is more closed or square then the spinner will just spin loosely and will lose its speed.

I think it's important to get smooth circles so that there's a constant force on the inner ball, not periods of force, then no force while you get your wrist back into position. In other words the motion has to be "round" enough that the inner ball is always being accellerated.

The accelleration also needs to be quite slow. The force must build up or your wrist spinning will just bye-pass the core and it'll slow down.

I don't think the shoulder would have any affect while it's slow. Maybe at high speeds when your shoulder is working hard though. Try standing up too.

Good luck

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From mlongobard - 04 Oct 2007 - 05:03

For what it's worth, I bought a powerball a month ago and never have been able to get the damn thing working. Videos on youtube haven't helped. I can get it spiining quickly to start with, and I can feel the force of the gyro start to engage as I rotate my wrist, but after 15-20 seconds it dies out.

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From aprice1985 - 04 Oct 2007 - 03:33

I have been using the string to get it going but struggle to get it to the 20000 rpm it says i should and then as i spin it round in wrist circles it just gets slower and slower until it stops.

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From raystrach - 03 Oct 2007 - 09:02

From hamburglar - 03 Oct 2007 - 06:06   -   Updated: 03 Oct 2007 - 08:17

If you just go on to youtube and search for powerball the first two videos are helpful.

I can usually start it with just one hit against my palm---hitting it more times rarely helps. The key is to rotate your hand slowly until you hear the ball spinning on the other axis. Then it can slowly accelerate.

The string can spin the ball faster initially, just give it a good tug. I don't know about shoulder injuries, I think it definitely helps with forearm and grip strength.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5cM84qSj5o

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