Jarod Johansen's Ball Stretching Guide

A Photographic Essay in Scrotal Tension

As is mentioned in the introduction to this web book, the function, sensitivity and purpose of the scrotal sack is entirely preserved for those who decide to undertake the practice of ball-stretching. The sack can fully contract such as when very cold or can fully relax such as when warm.

The smooth muscle layer within the scrotal skin lining is termed the dartos muscle. As the scrotal sack grows, so does the dartos muscle. This involuntary muscle layer is responsible for the contraction and relaxation of the scrotal skin. This muscle reacts on two channels; the nor-adrenal and a yet unidentified secondary channel. The nor-adrenal channels react when the adrenal glands pump adrenaline such as during times of emotional and physical stress. The unidentified channel is responsible for the day-to-day cyclic contraction and relaxation of the scrotal skin as well as reaction to temperatures.

There are three phases of scrotal tension and one phase of scrotal stretch. They are: 1) tight, 2) half-tight, 3) loose and relaxed, and 4) loose and stretching. Most men find that their scrotal sack is in the half-tight phase. The tight and loose/relaxed phases are at the opposite ends of the spectrum and the half-tight phase fills in the center of the spectrum and is the most common. The loose and stretching phase is a combination of the loose/relaxed phase plus the addition of a leather stretcher or weights. This triggers cellular multiplication within the scrotal sack and internal structures. The goal for ball-stretchers is to be in the loose/relaxed phase when using leather stretchers or weights because the stretching stimulates the cellular growth response. A stretching tension can be applied to every phase of scrotal tension; however the tension is directed at the smooth muscle tissues within the scrotal sack during the tight and half-tight phases. The tension is essentially wasted against the tight muscle tissue and is not applied to the stimulus of cellular tension.

These phases occur under the following typical conditions:

Tight: This occurs under significant emotional stress and anger, as well as the bodily experience of cold temperate conditions. This condition also occurs under periods of physical exertion such as intense cardio workouts at the gym or an extremely warm bodily temperature since this also stresses the body.

Half-tight: This is the most common, with the scrotal sack often going through cycles of slightly tighter to slightly relaxed tensions. One can take some time and spend a few minutes watching the scrotal sack as it vacillates getting slightly tight and slightly relaxed under normal conditions.

Loose/relaxed: This occurs during periods of emotional tranquility as well as a warmer temperate bodily experience. This may also occur during periods of mental concentration when the entire body relaxes in order to promote the best mental focus. The scrotal sack hangs at its lowest un-stretched point in this phase.

Loose/relaxed and stretching: This is every ball-stretcher's goal, the combination of a loose scrotal sack (relaxed smooth muscle tissues within the walls of the scrotal sack lining) with an applied tension to stretch the skin and stimulate the natural cellular growth response.

The following plate of photos illustrates all four phases of scrotal tension. The photos are all of the same scrotal sack under different conditions.

Every man knows he cannot voluntarily direct the phases of scrotal tension. The tight phase was induced by applying two cold wet ice-filled facial cloths directly to the scrotal sack for several minutes. One ice cube was placed on top side, and one on bottom side. A cold temperature causes an involuntary contraction of the scrotal sack. In the two "Tight" photos in the photo-plate link below, the upper portion of the sack remains slightly loose because the photo was taken in the warm summertime conditions. The author hopes to replace it when winter arrives; the entire sack will be tight and take on the appearance of a large walnut. The half-tight condition is observed after the cold facial cloth was removed and the sack was allowed several minutes to begin relaxing. The loose/relaxed phase was induced after a warm soak in the bathtub, relaxing the muscles within the scrotal sack. Of course the loose/stretched phase was voluntarily created by the addition of metal weights to the loose scrotal sack following the warm bath.

In the photo plate, each phase of scrotal tension is demonstrated with relaxed hanging testicles and lifted testicles. The lifted position is when the testicles are pulled up high within the scrotal sack allowing the best observation of the state of scrotal tension. In the tight phase, the scrotal sack already holds the testicles in the highest position, so relaxed or lifted testicles make no difference. In the half-tight phase, the empty scrotal sack is observed to have many wrinkles and some scrotal tension is immediately obvious. The relaxed phase, the empty scrotal sack has few wrinkles and hangs quite low. In the most relaxed state, the empty scrotal sack is completely smooth without any wrinkles whatsoever. The loose/stretched phase shows few wrinkles and the scrotal sack hangs at its lowest stretched point. Please click here to view the photo plate.