While foam rolling can improve circulation and flexibility, reduce tightness, and even ease soreness, I’ve always found it too uncomfortable and too strenuous, and they’re also impractical for travel (when my body is often at its stiffest).
A foam roller also applies pressure over a large surface area, so it can’t always reach deep tissue (the integrated muscle and connective tissue—known as fascia—that work together to move your body), said Antonio Stecco, a leading fascia researcher and professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, in an interview.
Percussive massage devices (like the Therabody Theragun Prime, Wirecutter’s top-pick massage gun) can be used to deliver more localized treatment, but there isn’t a lot of evidence to support the benefits of using a massage gun. There is, however, evidence of benefits from manual massage. Anecdotal benefits aside, I personally find massage guns to be loud and unwieldy, especially for my back and shoulders, and they need to be recharged.
The humble massage ball does what foam rolling does—it helps slide, separate, and lubricate layers of soft tissue, which helps improve circulation and reduce stiffness and adhesions (what we often call knots). However, a ball’s smaller surface area means it can reach deeper layers of fascia, said Stecco.
I personally prefer the ball’s maneuverability and versatility—360 degrees, versus a single axis of rolling—and you can use it effectively while seated or lying on the floor. Plus, unlike a bulky foam roller or massage gun, balls can easily snuggle up around the shoulder blades or on either side of the spine, where I need a massage most of the time.
Better still, balls offer a customizable approach to self-massage. Not only can you find a set with the size, density, and material that you prefer, from natural rubber to natural cork, but you can modulate the intensity of the massage with your technique. Rolling out your shoulders by leaning against a wall can feel less intense than rolling against the floor, for example.
Massage balls are also incredibly affordable compared with a motorized tool. I own several different pairs from Tune Up Fitness and Sky Ting, a yoga studio in New York, so I can always have one on hand, at my work desk, in my car, with my yoga mat, and always, always in my personal item when I fly, since I can subtly use them in a plane seat without disrupting my neighbor.
Of course, any relatively dense small or mid-sized ball can be used to roll out muscle and fascia. Tennis balls, for example, are commonly recommended by physical therapists to help conditions like plantar fasciitis.
But tennis balls lose firmness over time, and they lack good grip. A firm and rubbery material, such as that of the Tune Up Fitness balls, makes it easier to control placement of the ball without it shooting out from under you. Another advantage to massage-specific balls is that they are often sold in pairs in a little carrying pouch, so you can use them individually, or as a peanut-shaped unit, which I like for rolling out my IT band and back muscles (it can hug the neck and spine without putting pressure on bone).
The Tune Up Fitness Yoga Tune Up Therapy Balls are similar in size to tennis balls, made of natural rubber, and are a good choice for people with a very sensitive treatment area or who are getting used to the sensation of rolling out tight muscle groups. They are denser and grippier than a tennis ball, but they still have a little give.
For some people, the Yoga Tune Up balls might not be dense enough. The ones I reach for most often are actually lacrosse balls, made of denser, marbleized synthetic rubbery material, which I bought from Sky Ting yoga studio (full disclosure, I did a yoga teacher training there and continue to be a student).
Staff pick
These balls are a dense rubbery material for a deeper massage, and each costs only $10, so you can stock up.
Another classic and affordable lacrosse ball, these come in pairs. For storage, you have to get your own pouch—a sock will do.
These lacrosse-style balls come with a convenient storage pouch and in a fun tie-dye color that makes a great gift.
Michael Cohen, a New York–based yoga teacher, leads classes at Sky Ting that incorporate massage balls, and he agreed that the denser rubber gives a more intense, deeper tissue massage.
You can get lacrosse balls at many sports supply stores. Ted Tae, a video journalist for The New York Times’s Well section, recommends the Blonyx Lacrosse Ball in the 2024 New York Times Holiday Gift Guide: It’s “sturdier than a tennis ball, more maneuverable than a foam roller and perfectly sized to fit snugly in between your spine and shoulder blade — ideal for loosening a stiff upper back, or anywhere on your body that needs it.” We also recommend Champion Sports Lacrosse Balls, which you can purchase in packs of two.
Staff pick
A pair of natural rubber balls with a larger 3.5-inch diameter for foam-roller-like release.
For larger, tighter, and more-tender muscle groups, I love the larger Tune Up Fitness Alpha Twin Set massage balls, which are made of the same natural rubber material as the Yoga Tune Up balls but about the size of a large orange. Tune Up Fitness recommends these for areas with large muscle mass, where you want a wide area of traction, and these are my go-to for IT band, quad, and psoas massage. These feel gentler for applying full body pressure over very tight areas and near my hip bones and sacrum (the flat bony zone where the spine meets the pelvis), but the larger surface area means they may not massage as deeply as a smaller ball.
