We’ve all felt it—the moment in a WOD when you see wall balls on the whiteboard and your heart rate jumps before the workout even starts. Whether you're pacing for a long chipper or sprinting through rounds for time, wall balls can feel like the movement that drains your tank the fastest.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
With the right strategy, form, and pacing, wall balls can become one of your strongest tools for performance and pacing in any CrossFit workout. Here’s how to master this movement, from ball position to breathing, so you can stop dreading “ball shots” and start dominating them.
What Are Wall Balls?
Wall balls are a compound functional movement combining a full-depth squat with a medicine ball push-press. The athlete squats down holding a medicine ball and then throws it upward at a target on the wall, typically 9 or 10 feet high.
They engage nearly every muscle group:
-
Lower body: glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves
-
Core: abs, obliques, spinal stabilizers
-
Upper body: shoulders, triceps, delts, forearms
Wall balls are often compared to thrusters in terms of movement pattern and fatigue curve, and are frequently used in WODs like Karen, Fight Gone Bad, or Open-style AMRAPs.
“Wall ball shots represent a high-rep, multi-joint movement that challenges both muscular endurance and anaerobic capacity.” — Glassman, CrossFit Journal
Benefits of Wall Balls
Wall balls aren’t just a brutal part of high-volume CrossFit WODs—they’re a purposeful, multi-joint movement that builds athleticism, conditioning, and efficiency.
1. Full-Body Strength and Power
Wall balls combine a deep front-loaded squat with an explosive push press, activating:
-
Lower body: glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves
-
Upper body: delts, triceps, traps
-
Core: for stability and energy transfer
“Multi-joint movements like wall balls train intermuscular coordination and produce greater adaptations in power output compared to isolation movements.” — Schoenfeld et al., Strength and Conditioning Journal
2. Muscular Endurance
With rep counts often exceeding 100 in benchmark workouts, wall balls train high-rep stamina, particularly in the quads, delts, and core.
3. Cardiovascular Conditioning
Wall balls demand continuous work, making them excellent for developing aerobic and anaerobic thresholds.
“Functional movements like wall balls improve cardiovascular markers by combining cyclical output with resistance-based effort.” — Hackett et al., Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
4. Reinforces Proper Squat Mechanics
Wall balls reinforce upright posture, depth standards, and midline stability in squatting patterns.
5. Explosive Hip Drive
The upward thrust builds hip speed and explosive power—critical for Olympic lifts and athletic movement.
6. Mental Toughness
Long sets demand focus, pacing, and discipline—making wall balls a great tool for building grit and workout efficiency.
8 Tips to Perfect Your Wall Balls
1. Ball Positioning: Keep It Close
Catch the ball close to your face, elbows tucked, hands on the sides. Keeping it near your center of gravity makes every rep more efficient.
“Holding external loads closer to the body significantly reduces torque demands on the shoulders and spine.” — McGill, Low Back Disorders
2. Keep Your Forearms Vertical
Your arms shouldn’t flare. Vertical forearms keep you aligned and ready to launch the next rep with control and accuracy.
3. Triple Extension Is Key
Use your hips, knees, and ankles to generate power. Triple extension helps reduce fatigue in your arms and maintains rep quality.
“Triple extension movements improve neuromuscular efficiency and athletic output.” — Cormie et al., Sports Medicine
4. Maintain Consistent Squat Depth
Hit depth on every rep—hip crease below knee—and use the bounce to carry momentum.
“Proper depth ensures consistent muscle activation patterns and reduces the risk of compensatory movement.” — Escamilla et al., JOSPT
5. Give Your Arms a Break
After releasing the ball, lower your arms for a brief moment before resetting for the catch. This conserves upper body stamina across long sets.
6. Time Your Breathing
Inhale as you catch and descend, exhale as you throw. A consistent breathing rhythm prevents heart rate spikes and mid-WOD burnout.
7. Keep Your Momentum
Wall balls should feel like a continuous cycle. The downward motion of the ball helps guide you into your next squat—flow with it.
“Maintaining momentum through cyclical movement improves mechanical efficiency and pacing.” — Frontera et al., Essentials of PM&R
8. Measure Your Distance from the Wall
Stand at a distance where the ball just touches the wall with your arms extended in front of you. Too close or too far will throw off your form and rhythm.
Wall Ball Strategy by Workout Type
| Workout Type | Suggested Strategy |
|---|---|
| For Time (e.g. Karen) | Break into planned sets (e.g. 15–15–10–10–10…) |
| AMRAPs | Moderate pace, unbroken sets if possible |
| Rounds for Time | Keep sets short with quick transitions |
| Interval Work | Focus on rhythm and shoulder conservation early |
Related Articles
Final Thoughts
Wall balls are a demanding movement—but with proper setup, breathing, and movement strategy, they can become one of your best-performing skills in CrossFit.
→ Start performance coaching with The Swole Kitchen
→ Fuel up for endurance and recovery with Swolverine BCAAs + Clean Carbs
SWOLVERINE is an endurance athlete and active lifestyle brand. Made for the elite athlete, and the strong-willed our products were designed to fuel your athletic performance. We perform when you perform.
We believe that everyone can optimize not only their athletic performance but their human potential. The way we believe we can optimize performance is through transparency, clinically effective doses, and clinically proven ingredients with evidence-based outcomes. We provide the nutrients you need to power your active lifestyle.
