04 focus zx5 steering problem

My girlfriend was driving the car and smacked a curb in the snow. She bent the lower ball joint where it's about touching the brake. I jacked the vehicle up and was moving the wheel from left to right. First the wheels are very firm to turn. After just a couple times of moving they are really loose turning. I am curious on what could be causing that. I'm fixing the ball joint tomorrow and having someone realign the front end. I just hope it's nothing serious if it's doing that.