WristAssist

So I finally broke down and decided to buy a WristAssist from SquareHit Tennis. This is a device that looks like a wrist brace (sorta like what you might wear if you broke a bone in your forearm).

Here's the idea. A lot of players "break" their wrists when playing tennis. No, I don't mean literally break it. What I found out, a few months ago, was that the racquet and the forearm should be at about 90 degrees. Some players play with the angle nearly straight (i.e., 180 degrees). Some move from a 90 degree, and try to flip their wrists on impact. Now, in reality, that does happen (that is, there is a kind of flipping, of a controlled sort, happening).

The device is a wrist brace with a cord attached to the throat, that forces this roughly 90 degree angle.

The first thing I noticed, when wearing it, is that it is a pain to wear when it's hot. You sweat all over, and the brace gets wet too. Second, and perhaps more importantly, it feels very constraining. For example, with this device, it's hard to bounce a ball and pick a ball.

Having said that, the idea is use the wrist assist for maybe 10-20 minutes, then play without out it, hoping that, even without the wrist assist, your brain and body will react as if it had it on, and hold the wrist properly.

I let Shrini try it out, and thought I thought he hit better with it, and controlled the ball better, he found it terribly constraining, and couldn't wait to get it off.

I wish there was some kind of quick-release, that would allow the cord to be removed easily, and reattached easily too. I'm not sure how you'd do it, but that would make it a little more comfortable.

Overall, is it worth it? Um, I don't know. I think it is a useful tool. It won't work miracles, but it will make you more aware of how your wrist should be, and while it's pricey for what it is, I think it was a reasonable purchase, that is, the device is useful.