Ball grip and release is a simple hand exercise: you squeeze a small ball as firmly as is comfortable, then let it go slowly. In the video it is done sitting at a table, with the elbow resting on the tabletop and the hand held up in the air. The voice guide adds a faster squeeze and release, like a pump, for a hand that is swollen. Physios use it to rebuild grip after a hand or wrist injury, and often pair the pumping version with keeping a swollen hand raised.

How to do the ball grip and release

Sit at a table and rest the elbow of the arm you are working on the tabletop. Stand the forearm up so your hand is in the air above the elbow, as in the video, and let your other forearm lie on the table.
Hold a small ball that fits in your palm, such as a soft stress ball, in the raised hand.
Close your fingers and thumb around the ball and squeeze as firmly as feels comfortable. Hold the squeeze for a moment and keep breathing.
Let go slowly, straightening your fingers until they lift off the ball and it rests loosely in your palm, as in the video.
For a swollen hand, the voice guide changes the rhythm: squeeze and let go quickly and lightly, over and over, like a pump, with the hand still raised.

What you should feel

Work in the palm and the front of the forearm as you squeeze, and in the back of the hand as the fingers open. A swollen hand may feel tight and stiff for the first few squeezes.

Common mistakes

Letting the hand sink toward the table, which loses the raised position.
Gripping so hard that the hand shakes or the forearm aches straight away.
Letting go all at once instead of opening the fingers slowly.
Holding your breath or hunching the shoulder as the fingers close.

How often

A common plan is 2 to 3 sets of 10 squeezes with a short hold at the top, once or twice a day. The pumping version is often a run of about 10 light, quick squeezes, repeated every hour or so while the hand is swollen and raised. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

Sharp pain in the wrist, the palm or a finger joint.
Numbness or tingling in your fingers that comes on as you squeeze. If one side of your face or body suddenly goes numb or weak, or your speech becomes slurred or muddled, call emergency services, even if it goes away.
The hand is more swollen, hot or stiff after the session rather than less.
Emergency: while you are in a cast or splint, your fingers turn blue, white or pale, or feel cold. Do not wait to see if raising your hand helps. Go to an emergency department straight away, and do not drive yourself. The cast or splint may be cutting off the blood supply, or pressure may be building up inside the forearm (compartment syndrome), and both need checking quickly.
In a cast or splint, the pain gets worse, your fingers feel numb or tingle or look more swollen, or the cast feels too tight. Stop, raise your hand above your head, keep moving your fingers and contact your fracture clinic or get medical advice straight away. If you cannot move your fingers, the pain is severe even after painkillers, or the numbness, tingling or swelling has not settled within 30 minutes of raising your hand, go to your fracture clinic or an emergency department straight away, and do not drive yourself.
Since the fracture or cast, the hand is getting more painful rather than less, the skin becomes very sensitive to light touch, or the hand changes color, temperature, swelling or sweating compared with the other one, or looks shiny. See your doctor or physio as soon as you can, within a few days at most, as this can be complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and early treatment may help.

From the clinic

The voice guide asks for the hardest squeeze you can manage. This page asks for a comfortable squeeze instead, which suits a hand that is sore, swollen or still healing. Build up from there. Keeping a swollen hand raised, ideally above the level of your heart, is standard advice after a hand or wrist injury, which is why the hand stays up in the video. The wrist fracture rehab program covers more ways to manage swelling after a break.

After a broken wrist, hand or forearm, or surgery on any of them such as a tendon repair, start only when your doctor, surgeon, physio or hand therapist says the bone or repair is ready for this, and follow their plan for how much to do. Still in a cast or splint? Ask your fracture clinic before squeezing a ball, and keep the fingers moving with open and close the hands in the meantime. Pumping is not the answer for every swollen hand. If it swells with no injury or operation to explain it, or it is hot and red as well, a doctor needs to look at it the same day.

For a squeeze with the forearm resting on your thigh instead, see the hand grip squeeze.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-28.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Ball grip and release