A lot of people get squirrely about touching the testicles because they’re afraid of hurting the person attached to them. They are sensitive, true, but that can work both ways—handling them can also be extremely pleasurable for the testicle-haver. Here’s your guide to playing with balls.
Find the hot spots
The entire scrotum is pretty sensitive, but there are a couple of points worth paying special attention to:
The seam that runs between the two testicles themselves.
The underside of the ballsack, where the sack turns into the taint.
The area where the sack meets the shaft of the penis.
Of course, your partner may have other spots that provoke a pleasurable response when teased or touched, so take your time with the whole area.
Get the pressure right
You do have to be delicate with testicles, but you don’t want your touch to be so light that it tickles. If you feel nervous about how much pressure you can use, ask your partner if they’re up for an experiment. Take the testicles in your hands with the most gentle touch possible. Very, very slowly increase the pressure, and ask your partner to let you know when it stops feeling pleasurable. Then gradually decrease the pressure, and ask when it feels good again. This will give you a pressure range to play around in. (For the record, this is also a great trick to use with the penis.)
Combine sensations
Ball play pairs well with other bedroom activities. Get them involved when you’re giving hand jobs and blow jobs. Use one hand or your mouth on the penis, and the other hand on the testicles. Or use your mouth on the testicles, and your hands on the penis. It’s usually best to touch the penis first before touching the balls, so as not to engage the ticklish response that ball contact can sometimes elicit. You can also go the other direction, and pair ball play with taint or anal play. Or give attention to the penis, balls and anus at the same time.
Use lube
Lube can make ball play much more pleasurable for you both. It helps your hands slide across the skin better, and increases the sensation for the person being touched. Lube the testicles up while giving a hand job, and go to town on the entire crotch.
Explore different techniques
There are tons of different ways to play with testicles. Here are some ideas:
Gently pinch the seam (the skin between the two testicles) between your thumb and forefinger. Slowly and gently glide your fingers down, letting them slip off the edge of the ball sac. Return to the base of his testicles and repeat.
Wrap your fingertips around the base of the testicles, and slowly glide your fingertips down the ball sack, allowing your fingers to slip off the edge. Return to the base and repeat. You can also try this move with light scratches.
Try tracing a curvy “W” shape across the testicles with your tongue. Start at the left side, by the inner thigh. Lick down the bottom of the testicle, up the seam between the two testicles, back down the seam, then down around the bottom of the right testicle.
Or try tracing a figure eight across both testicles.
Wrap both testicles in your hand and give a gentle tug.
Take each ball in your mouth—one at a time, please. Most people’s mouths are too small to hold both, and you run the risk of inadvertent teeth action, so focus on one at a time. Use your tongue to trace wide circles all around the testicle as it’s in your mouth.
If your partner is into a little pain with their pleasure, try lightly slapping the ballsack. Not everyone will like this intense trick, so don’t try it unless you ask first!
Try an endless stroke. Turn your body so you’re facing your partner’s feet. Wrap one hand around the base of the ballsack, where it meets the taint. Stroke from the base of the testicles up to the head of the penis. (During part of this maneuver, you’ll have the balls and penis in your hand at the same time.) Once your hand gets to the head, repeat the motion with your other hand. (This trick works even better with lube.)
Don’t twist
I’ve seen some sex tips that tell you to juggle the balls in your hand the way you would play with small medicine balls. Don’t do this! The left ball needs to stay on the left, and the right needs to stay on the right. Twisting them around could actually cause serious damage. Let them stay where they are.
Try new positions
Ball play can be fun from all angles. Have your partner stand in front of you while you sit or kneel; this will give you access to every inch of the ballsack. Or try laying on your back while your partner straddles your face and lower their testicles down into your mouth and either keeps them there or moves them in and out of your mouth (yes, this is known as “teabagging”). Or have them get on all fours, and lick the testicles from behind. You can incorporate anal play super easily here too.
Use ball play to take a breather
If your partner is approaching orgasm but neither of you wants to come just yet, stop focusing attention on the penis and pay sole attention to the balls. It’s still very pleasurable, but probably not enough to push things over the edge into big-O territory.
This article was originally published in 2017 and updated in August 2020 by Joel Cunningham. Changes included performing a copy edit to align the content with current Lifehacker style and replacing male pronouns with gender-neutral pronouns.