Wrist Wrap for Shot Put: Necessary or Placebo?

Every shot putter needs some form of protection for their wrists. No questions asked. Even with this knowledge, beginner shot putters are often told to wait before looking for wrist wraps until they are “more advanced”. The reality is that every shot putter, regardless of knowledge level, needs a wrist wrap. If they fail to use one, they leave themselves prone to injury.

Just think about it: at practice, you throw a heavy object around for fun. If you are not taking the right precautions, it can lead to some lingering injuries like wrist pain. Even worse, the overuse and general wear and tear of several practices can lead to even more serious injuries. I’ve seen some incredibly talented shot putters injure themselves just because they did not use some form of wrist injury prevention technology.

In this post, we will cover your two options as a shot putter or weightlifter: using a wrist wrap or medical tape. We will help you learn the science of why wrist wraps can significantly improve performance (in comparison to not using any protection). We will also give you a step-by-step walkthrough on how to either use wrist wraps or medical tape. Lastly, we will give you our final recommendations for your brand new wrist wrap and the best medical tape on the market.

Which Wrist Wrap(s) Would You Recommend for a Shot Put Thrower?

For a shot put thrower, we would recommend two wrist wraps the Rogue Fitness and the Velassa Shot Put wrist wrap.

Rogue Fitness Wrist Wrap

Our first recommendation is a Rogue Fitness wrist wrap. You cannot go wrong with these. They provide an incredibly comfortable feel. People have reported that after using these wrist wraps they felt no more wrist pain. The Rogue Fitness option is an affordable way to protect your wrists while throwing and benching.

For the majority of my career, I used these wrist wraps and they quickly became a staple for everyday practice. The comfort and consistency lasted me for a solid three years. I actually owned two pairs, one to keep in my backpack for transport, and one to keep in my track bag. If you want to check out what I brought to indoor track meets, check out my blog post “15 Essentials to Pack for an Indoor Track & Field Meet” for a print-out downloadable PDF.

Velassa Shot Put Wrist Wrap

Velassa is a prestige throwing brand that has risen to power since 2018. They are strong advocates for professional throwers and have sponsored several athletes in their journey to the 2020 Olympics. They are an incredible company that makes fantastic products for throwers. If you do a quick search online, chances are most websites will not provide this hidden gem. It has been specifically made to fit the needs for every thrower: right or left-handed.

I used the Velassa Shot Put Wrist Wrap during my junior and senior years in college, and they were amazing. Less heavy than the Rogue Fitness wraps, quicker to wrap around, and provided the same about of compression and stability. A brand that supports professional shot putters, and curates unique products certainly needs to be supported.

Why Do I Need a Wrist Wrap to Throw Shot Put?

A wrist wrap will add more stability and comfort to your throws. If you throw without one, you are exposing yourself to injuries. Studies have shown that using a wrist wrap while throwing shot put can increase distance. In this study, they took eighteen Division 1 male collegiate shot putters and had them try on three different types of wrist wraps: large, small and no wrist wraps. The results showed that large and heavy wrist wraps gave athletes the best competitive advantage.

While there are several factors that contribute to a far throw, wrist wraps are just common practice amongst top throwers. You’ll see several professional competitors mainly tape their wrist, and only some use a wrist wrap.

What’s the Difference Between Using Medical Tape and a Wrist Wrap?

It’s all about personal preference. You can choose whether or not you want to tape before every competition or if you want to use a wrist wrap. You have to experiment and find a preference. As you begin to experiment, it’s important to understand the benefit and downfalls of each.

Benefits of Using A Wrist Wrap

The benefit of using a wrist wrap is that it is a consistent way of protecting your wrists. When using one, you never have to worry about having a supply of medical tape readily available. The biggest advantage of having a wrist wrap is consistency. You will only be able to tighten your wrist wraps so much, and you will likely always get the same amount of tightness in every throw.

The Downfall of Using A Wrist Wrap

The downfall of having a wrist wrap is that you really have to shop around to find a one that fits you well. I had to try on 4-5 different wrist wraps before settling with two for the rest of my career. Those two wrist wraps helped catapult me to success with my throws all the way from middle school to my senior year at William & Mary.

Benefits of Using Medical Tape

The benefit of using medical tape is that it’s arguably cheaper and will give you a custom fit to provide excellent wrist support. If you are someone who likes to have their wrists heavily guarded, it might be best to have an athletic trainer tape your wrist for you. Many professional shot putters and throwers tape their wrist. This is really seen as a more advanced alternative and one that comes with a lot of practice.

Per the National Federation of High School Rules and the overall rules of shot put, the tape can be applied to the wrist. It can also be applied to each individual finger per USATF and IAAF rules. However, fingers cannot be taped together. That is a violation of the rules. Officials will come around to check and ensure that tape has not been applied there.

If you are going to use medical tape for practices and meets, we would recommend using White Sports Medical Tape. In college, this really paid off. I mainly used it when I was bench pressing or Olympic lifting. I also used it specifically to use “hook grip” for cleans. White Sports Medical Tape is great because they were cheap and durable. Sometimes it’s tough finding the right tightness, especially when you’re nervous before a meet. I had to go back and re-do my tape because I did it too tight or too loose. Make sure to check out the video below on how to utilize medical tape the best.

The Downfalls of Using Medical Tape

The downfall of using medical tape is that is not consistent. Unless if you’re taping your wrist every day, there is no way to know if you will have a comfortable amount of tightness right before a competition. When I used to compete, I would always try to reduce the number of things that I had to worry about. The only thing I would worry about is getting my bib, checking in, and throwing far. Nothing else should be on your mind and that’s why I chose to use wrist wraps throughout my collegiate career.

Can I Use Wrist Wraps for Weightlifting?

All wrist wraps (unless if they’re specialized) come in pairs. If you have two wrist wraps, you can easily utilize them for weightlifting. This will provide support to your wrists while heavy lifting. This can be absolutely imperative to helping you hit a new personal record in the weight room.

After consistently using wrist wraps, you will feel more confident in your lifts. Without it, lifting and throwing will feel unprotected. Your wrist mobility may suffer if you do not take the correct precautionary warmup before throwing or lifting. Every thrower should have a serious wrist mobility routine that they complete every day.

Can I Use Wrist Wraps for Crossfit?

Crossfit is not a functional way of training for shot put. Therefore, we would not recommend using that as a way to train. However, if you enjoy CrossFit, you certainly need gear to help prevent injuries from occurring. The challenge of CrossFit is completing high-rep Olympic weightlifting movements within a certain amount of time. These challenging timed workouts can push you to your limit. They often consist of AMRAP (as many reps as possible) workouts.

The additional challenging aspect of this is these timed workouts are meant to push you to your limit, and can sometimes be AMRAP (as many reps as possible). If you’re doing these high-intensity movements, you’ll have to have all of your gear ready to go for each gym session.

With that much volume and energy being exerted over a certain period of time, you need to ensure that you are protecting yourself from injury. Regardless of what you’re doing, you’re going to get tired especially if you’re doing several different kinds of movements.

What Size Wrist Wrap Should I Get?

The longer the strap, the stiffer your wrist will be. In terms of stiffness, they should fit tightly around your wrists. This is why we would recommend using an 18″ wrist wrap. Rogue Fitness offers a wrist wrap that is 18″ and is one of the cheapest on the market. Its durable quality makes it the right fit for all throwers. 12″ is not tight enough to support an 8lb+ shot put leaving your hand. Additionally, anything above 18″ offers too much flexibility. In conclusion, I used an 18″ wrist wrap my entire career and it felt comfortable.

What’s the Thumb Loop For?

Insert your thumb into the loop, and use your middle finger to hold the wrist wrap in place as you tighten it. It’s super easy to use and you can use the step-by-step guide below to learn how.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, it’s all about personal preference. People on online forums like Throwholics still continue to debate wrist wrap vs. tape. Some people love using wrist wraps due to consistency and dependability. Others like medical tape due to the custom fit. Everyone has their own preference, but it always protects the wrists.