Bowling is hurting the heck out of my wrist what do I do?

[WolfGirl1980]

I usually cup my wrist kinda cock it so my ball breaks more today I really had to but anyway ever since I did last monday my wrist has been hurting and I went practicing today and it made it hurt really bad I can't put any pressure on it and can't bend it I can't even rotate my wrist I had on a wrist without it hurting, I used a support today one that just goes around the wrist not a glove or anything like that not that kinda of wrist support one that looks like a wristband but wetsuite material and Velcro so what should I do should I get the glove or what is it the way I am bowling or what?


-Sara

[swingset]

You've reached the inevitable conclusion of cupping the wrist to impart action. It's an unnatural wrist position, and if you bowl long enough or have a weak wrist, you're going to experience pain.

You have three options (IMHO):

1. Change your wrist position and learn to put revs on the ball more by release and swing. It will decrease your revs a bit, but might just create a stronger back-end game for you too. Long term, this is probably the most healthy and sound way to go about it.

2. Try to support the wrist (as you did with a wrap) and mediate the pain. This will probably let you get more bowling in before pain sets in, but it's like getting hit with boxing gloves instead of bare hands...it'll still do damage, just take longer.

3. Strengthen the wrist with therapy and exercise so that you can handle the cupping and uncupping. This is probably a good thing to do even if you do #1 or #2, as wrist strength should be developed as an offset to damage or fatigue, but it might be what keeps you in the game.

A more severe brace (that locks your wrist out) can save you from some serious pain, but it will also stop the cupping/uncupping and force you into a fixed wrist position throughout your swing. You can, absolutely, still bowl with a strong hook this way but you're not going to burn the lanes up with side revs.

I used to cup pretty strong and bowled a big aggressive hook but it took its toll on my wrist and forearm, to the point I couldn't pick the ball up anymore. I re-learned the game with a more traditional (stay behind the ball) release and bowl down-in rather crank it.

When you do experience tendon pain, get it on ice immediately afterwards and try to keep that up for several hours after pain sets in. Inflammation can be reduced by icing, 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off.

[Zothen]

My suggestion is taking couple weeks off bowling,really STOP BOWLING let your wrist heal your straining the ligaments & tendons. I suggest getting an adjustable wrist brace like the Storm braces get a regular brace like the Mongoose for wrist support.

Zothen

[WolfGirl1980]

My suggestion is taking couple weeks off bowling,really STOP BOWLING let your wrist heal your straining the ligaments & tendons. I suggest getting an adjustable wrist brace like the Storm braces get a regular brace like the Mongoose for wrist support.

Zothen

I did stop bowling for a week but it had to be for only a week cause my new league started up yesterday but when I went yesterday they postponed the the start of the leaue till next week since alot of the bowlers were finishing up there other leagues but anyway I did stop by the pro shop and get fitted for a wrist support its by ebonite its a glove with a bar in it its all I had money for the money I got back from bowling is going for running shoes for walking so I can get some of this weight I gained over the winter off to help me bowl also and it helped when I practiced bowling yesterday cause got to bowl for free yesterday since league didn't start till next week. But my wrist feels better now and my hand and thanks for the help.

-Sara

[Zothen]

No problem! Take it easy for the week and good luck with your upcoming summer league.

Zothen

[WolfGirl1980]

No problem! Take it easy for the week and good luck with your upcoming summer league.

Zothen

I just found out Yesterday that my wrist and hand especially my hand cause the pain in my wrist has moved in my hand where my wrist meets my hand and on up towards my fingers more towards my pinky and yes my four arm hurts also all around it different spots different times but I practiced yesterday thinking my wrist was better and I had my wrist support on but even it didn't help yesterday don't think I had it on tight enough think it was on too lose but I bowled some pretty good games and I finally got a thumb slug before I left so I am anxious to try it out tuesday hoping it will help keel me from gettin that callus where thumb nail meats my skin on the very edge of my thumbnail in other words on the right hand side and on my right thumb cause I am a righty so hopefully it will help and help my bowlingas well but the point is bowling yesterday hurt it again cause my wrist and hand especially my hand hurt real bad right after.

-Sara

[Zothen]

My best guess is your trying to create lift,when it should be a natural movement! The other possability is your ball is to heavy? From my own experiance when my fingers and forearm hurt,it's because i'm trying to create lift instead of letting the ball naturally come off my hand or i'm trying to muscle the ball which adds pain in bicep,shoulder & elbow. Try slowing everything down including armswing and try creating a nice fluid motion and see if that helps!

Zothen

[WolfGirl1980]

My best guess is your trying to create lift,when it should be a natural movement! The other possability is your ball is to heavy? From my own experiance when my fingers and forearm hurt,it's because i'm trying to create lift instead of letting the ball naturally come off my hand or i'm trying to muscle the ball which adds pain in bicep,shoulder & elbow. Try slowing everything down including armswing and try creating a nice fluid motion and see if that helps!

Zothen

OK I will do that thanks for the tip I try it tomorrow in league.;)

[TCJ]

I've only experienced severe wrist pain one night in all my years of bowling. It was some years ago when I wasn't bowling often, but for some reason I began to feel some extreme pain in my wrist, so much so that I could barely hang onto the ball. This was the first game. The second game I stuffed a bunch of tape in the thumb hole so it was more than a little snug. To my own amazement, about half the pain went away just by doing that. After that night I began to pay very close attention to using the proper amount of tape in the thumb hole because I was clearly just trying to grip the ball too hard because the hole was too large (I wasn't very experienced, and didn't even realize it at the time). Since that time, I've never had any bothersome pain in that wrist again. A few times I've had minor discomfort, but that's quite rare.

I don't know if you use tape or not, or if you pay a lot of attention to it, but if you don't, it might be worthwhile checking into it. It won't be a solution in itself, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to have the thumb fitting well (on the off chance that you are doing what I did).

[WolfGirl1980]

I've only experienced severe wrist pain one night in all my years of bowling. It was some years ago when I wasn't bowling often, but for some reason I began to feel some extreme pain in my wrist, so much so that I could barely hang onto the ball. This was the first game. The second game I stuffed a bunch of tape in the thumb hole so it was more than a little snug. To my own amazement, about half the pain went away just by doing that. After that night I began to pay very close attention to using the proper amount of tape in the thumb hole because I was clearly just trying to grip the ball too hard because the hole was too large (I wasn't very experienced, and didn't even realize it at the time). Since that time, I've never had any bothersome pain in that wrist again. A few times I've had minor discomfort, but that's quite rare.

I don't know if you use tape or not, or if you pay a lot of attention to it, but if you don't, it might be worthwhile checking into it. It won't be a solution in itself, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to have the thumb fitting well (on the off chance that you are doing what I did).

I don't use tape but I just got a thumb slug put in my thumb hole and today I dropped the ball and then I had to put a lot of rosin on my tumb to hold on to the ball I do grip the ball hard alot I dunno how not to and neot drop it I am new the game and not very experienced but well semi new Been bowling a long time for fun non competitively but been bowling competitively for a couple of years now I would say about 5 years give or take a few. But anyway I might try some tape in my thumb hole I will buy some see how it does. thanks.

-Sara

[GoodGorilla]

My best guess is your trying to create lift,when it should be a natural movement! The other possability is your ball is to heavy? From my own experiance when my fingers and forearm hurt,it's because i'm trying to create lift instead of letting the ball naturally come off my hand or i'm trying to muscle the ball which adds pain in bicep,shoulder & elbow. Try slowing everything down including armswing and try creating a nice fluid motion and see if that helps!

Zothen

In norm duke's dvd he says to accelerate the ball past your right leg. He also says not to accelerate upwards, but toward the lane. Another thing on norm's dvd is he says hitting the ball (using the wrist to cup after uncupping during release) on the bottom is what makes a person have a hard hand, and a person who releases the ball with a broken wrist has a soft hand. What does all of this have to do with cranking the ball at the bottom?

[GoodGorilla]

Today I practiced not hitting the ball at the bottom, and raising the backswing by heightening the ball's starting position. My goal was only to increase my speed on my strike release because it was only at 11mph. If I throw a ball strait, it goes 16.5 mph. By increasing the ball height, the ball speed picked up to 14.5 mph while using no hitting on the bottom. After bowling my wrist feels pretty good after 7 games, and the pin action looked better after increasing the speed. From the looks of the ball spin, not hitting the bottom reduces the revs without giving up to much angle. I'm going to try playing this way for a few weeks to see to make a better estimate on how good it is, but my wrist feels pretty good.

[TCJ]

I don't use tape but I just got a thumb slug put in my thumb hole and today I dropped the ball and then I had to put a lot of rosin on my tumb to hold on to the ball I do grip the ball hard alot I dunno how not to and neot drop it I am new the game and not very experienced but well semi new Been bowling a long time for fun non competitively but been bowling competitively for a couple of years now I would say about 5 years give or take a few. But anyway I might try some tape in my thumb hole I will buy some see how it does. thanks.

-Sara

If you've never used it before, have someone who knows about it show you how (and where) to put it in the thumb hole. And, yes, if you have to grip the ball to hang on, you've got a loose thumb hole and that will cause a lot more tension in your wrist.

[WolfGirl1980]

If you've never used it before, have someone who knows about it show you how (and where) to put it in the thumb hole. And, yes, if you have to grip the ball to hang on, you've got a loose thumb hole and that will cause a lot more tension in your wrist. I got the thumb slug and had it insterted at the pro shop I do believe they drilled it too loose what do you suggest I do now that the has already been inserted the I drop the ball first time I tried to bowl with the slug inserted tonight was better I didn't drop the ball it didn't slip but by the end of the night my thumb was hurting but I have bowled three times this week and it still hurts right where my thumb nail ends and my skin begins. so maybe its tight enough I dunno penny for your thoughts?

-Sara

[TCJ]

You want the hole to feel snug, but your thumb to still slide in and out easily. It's very hard for me to tell you over a forum exactly what you need to do, so I can only go by myself. I like to tape up the thumbhole until I can basically relax my hand and let my arm hang straight down to my side without feeling like the ball is going to fall off. If you have to be tensed to hang onto the ball, then you've probably got it too loose. If the ball feels like it sticks or "hangs up" on you as you release, then it would be too tight and you should pull a piece of tape out. As for pain on your thumb around the nail, the ball is probably catching right there on your release. I'm not sure that would be a tape problem but more how you're getting your hand out of it.

Note that you probably WILL have to get used to pulling/adding tape on a nightly basis because your thumb will shrink and swell depending on temperature, humidity, and just from bowling (some people have a thumb that shrinks as they bowl, and some have it expand). It's rare that a person won't have to tinker with the tape at least at the beginning of the night.

Could you ask this of your pro shop guy? He could actually see how your thumb moves in and out of the ball so could probably give you more precise information.

[WolfGirl1980]

You want the hole to feel snug, but your thumb to still slide in and out easily. It's very hard for me to tell you over a forum exactly what you need to do, so I can only go by myself. I like to tape up the thumbhole until I can basically relax my hand and let my arm hang straight down to my side without feeling like the ball is going to fall off. If you have to be tensed to hang onto the ball, then you've probably got it too loose. If the ball feels like it sticks or "hangs up" on you as you release, then it would be too tight and you should pull a piece of tape out. As for pain on your thumb around the nail, the ball is probably catching right there on your release. I'm not sure that would be a tape problem but more how you're getting your hand out of it.

Note that you probably WILL have to get used to pulling/adding tape on a nightly basis because your thumb will shrink and swell depending on temperature, humidity, and just from bowling (some people have a thumb that shrinks as they bowl, and some have it expand). It's rare that a person won't have to tinker with the tape at least at the beginning of the night.

Could you ask this of your pro shop guy? He could actually see how your thumb moves in and out of the ball so could probably give you more precise information.

Yea I will do that I went to a different pro shop guy to get the slug the first time he drilled it felt right he said it was snug but felt right to me didn't feel too tight or too loose the guy I usually go to just got back in town today off vacation I will call him tomorrow I got his number at the pro shop and ask him the same question I should be getting lessons this week from either my cousin on him cause he is a x pro bowler and my cousin is a usbc certified coach the guy on my team is taking lessons from her my mom's nephews wife her husband is secretary of the league I am on so not sure who to get the lessons from yet lessons at my bowling alley are cheaper then the ones chuck the guy I usually go to gives chuck is the x pro bowler chuck farish I think he was even an olympic bowler not sure but I think thay what his dad said. I bowled with his dad on a league once I change houses cause the other place was closer to me.

-Sara

[WolfGirl1980]

My dad said I should put some tape in my thumb hole or some cork. think I try tape first I think I will try some tape like you suggested. Thanks for the help.

[Zothen]

@Wolfgirl1980-Due the thumb test! Put your thumb in ball and and try to lift ball with thumb. If your thumb comes out,then put thumb tape in ball til you can lift ball with your thumb. Then go to lanes and throw ball without squeezing.

Zothen

[WolfGirl1980]

@Wolfgirl1980-Due the thumb test! Put your thumb in ball and and try to lift ball with thumb. If your thumb comes out,then put thumb tape in ball til you can lift ball with your thumb. Then go to lanes and throw ball without squeezing.

Zothen

Thanks Zothan I will do just that my dad should have some tape in his bowling bag I will ask him before I go buying some cause he not bowling right now he probably won't need any till fall cause if we don't have the Michael thats on my team at which is the same guy who gets pissed hits things if he don't get a strike and and then brags and shows off when he does but if he not going to be on our team this fall then my dad is reason he was this past fall is cause my dad had knee surgery dad had bob on bone no cartilage he had to have a knee replacement so don't know how well he gonna bowl but hope he back to normal if he don't bowl with us he be a sub for us dad will I mean anyway I can borrow his tape thats the point.

-Sara