When these were introduced I don't remember anything ever mentioned about support. The little ball stimulates nerves in wrist, which send signals to the brain. I think it was supposed to increase blood flow or impulses to the muscles, something like that. This would allow the wrist to have greated strength and endurance. What was done, and I had it demonstrated, was to hold your thumb and middle finger together and the person demonstrating would pull them apart. After massaging the area of the wrist the little ball massages, you would repeat the pull apart test and the other person could not pull the fingers apart. I saw it done on multiple demonstrations with the same results. I have worn one of these in tournaments for years and though don't all the time now, believe when having to roll a lot of games I could and can see a difference in endurance. Just for reference the little ball must be located to drop into the hole in the back of the wrist, between the tendons of the first two fingers, to work properly.