Wrist Ball Review

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Anyone out there play with gyroscopes as a kid? I remember being fascinated
by them. I had a metal one that came with a book of tricks that you could do
like balancing it on a string tied between two points as it spun. This product
that I’m about to write about reminds me of that gyroscope.

wristball1 The Wrist Ball from Merconnet is a
hand and arm strength builder. Made of a transparent aqua plastic, it consists
of a 2-1/2 inch diameter hollow ball with a yellow plastic gyroscope inside it.
The gyroscope has a channel that runs along its axis. Included with the ball is
a thin red cord. One end of the cord is inserted into a hole in the channel. You
then wrap the cord along the channel and then give it a sharp pull to start the
gyroscope spinning. Once it starts spinning, you rock your hand back and forth
left to right to increase the spin. If you do it correctly, the gyro will rev up
faster and faster making it harder and harder to hold on to the ball. This is
supposed to strengthen your grip and forearm…

When I first got this item, I thought it looked pretty interesting. But after
trying it several times over the past couple of weeks, I was totally
unimpressed. It would spin for maybe 20 secs and then just poop out. I kept
thinking woo hoo, this is a piece of junk!

As I sat down tonight to write this review, I knew it was going to be a
bad
one. But of course I had to try it one more time so I could
explain all the concepts. Surprise! It worked for me this time! Instead of
following the instructions (what had I been thinking?!), I curled my wrist and
made really small methodic rocking motions back and forth similar to opening a
door knob. This action started the gyroscope spinning faster and faster (it can
go as fast as 8000rpm) as I
kept up the same slow motion. As the spinning increases, so does resistance and
the feeling that the ball is going to just fly out of your hand. As a result,
you have to keep a tight grip which helps to strengthen your hand, fingers and
forearm. I was even surprised that after a several minutes, my biceps even
started getting a little fatigued.

Doing this ‘exercise’ is supposed to help people with arthritis and carpal
tunnel syndrome. Although I have neither of these problems, I do have chronic
tendonitis in my one elbow. I’m wondering if this might help… After using the
ball in both hands for maybe 5 mins each, I can definitely feel a tingling in my
hands. Sort of an energizing feeling…

wristball2
wristball3

It can also help to strengthen your grip for things such as golf, tennis,
guitar playing, etc. Regardless, it is actually fun after you get the hang of it
and can be done sitting, standing, while you watch TV or talk on the phone.

Although the Wrist Ball has a novelty look and feel to it, it really does
work. It’s not expensive either, so it makes a fun gift for that friend that has
everything.

Price: $18.00

Pros:
Is supposed to help ward off carpal tunnel syndrome
Helps to strengthen your grip and forearm
It’s fun

Cons:
Takes a bit of practice to get the hang of

 

Product Information

Price:18.0
Manufacturer:Merconnet
Pros:
  • Is supposed to help ward off carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Helps to strengthen your grip and forearm
  • It's fun
Cons:
  • Takes a bit of practice to get the hang of

3 thoughts on “Wrist Ball Review”




  1. Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
  2. Whey hey, i have the same one as pictured, i was just wondering what rpm the different colours represent?

    I know it makes a dodgey sound at 8000RPM

    But what intervals do the colours show up at?

  3. It’s been quite a while since I wrote this review, but I just did some searches on Amazon and find that they are still selling this product. I found 10,000, 13,000 and 14,000 RPM versions. The color didn’t seem to make a difference.

  4. I tried my hardest and got it up to 8899 rpm, i was sad though because i didn’t make it go up to 9000.

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