Wrist Soreness...Support?

[liljoe0985]

Been back into bowling now for the past 5 months and have gotten pretty serious about it carrying a 150ish avg at the moment. Im "all in" also being Ive bought my first ball (14lb hammer epidemic), bag, and shoes. Im a cranker type bowler bowling from the far left with my aim point at the 10 board with speeds of 17-18mph. The past few weeks Ive been bowling about 12 to 15 games a week and this past week started getting some soreness in my wrist. It hurts at the moment only when I stretch by putting my arm straight out and pulling by finger tips back and down. I tend to cup the ball some and I guess thats where the pain is coming from. Thinking about purchasing some sort of wrist support/glove and hope it alleviates the pain. I have GOT to find something though because I have fallen in love with bowling and dont wanna hurt myself and have to stay out for an extended period of time. Any suggestions on what support I should take a look at? Any suggestions are welcomed! Thanks!

[resstealth]

A good wrist support should help you out alot. I haven't really had wrist pain, but ive been suffering through a pulled forearm muscle and it really sucks to see your game go down because of an injury.

[billf]

I have used and use at time braces but what I have found best for cupping and uncupping with support is wrapping my wrist with athletic tape. It's pliable while still being supportive. Braces for crankers seem to hinder them, in my opinion only. Let us know what you come up with and good luck.

[The Mayor]

Wrist pain means that there is something wrong. Whether that's something you're doing in your release or swing, or if the fit of the ball is off, it's important to find out what it is. If there is a certified coach in your area I would recommend setting up a lesson. It's hard to say what wrist support you would need without seeing you throw the ball. As Bill said, many crankers will us athletic tape on their wrist to provide some support but not hinder your release. However, it may be your release that is causing the problem. So either find a coach of take some video so we can try and help!

[resstealth]

Getting lessons are nice, but most coaches charge 50 an hour. Not affordable for most.

[billf]

$50 an hour? Seriously? I'm attending a bowling clinic in May; $99 includes classroom materials, lunch and lane time coaches are a silver and a gold certified and will be from 9am to 5pm.
Depending on the cost of materials, lunch and lane fees, that's less than $10 an hour. For $50 an hour I better be getting Del Ballard or John Jowdy!

[liljoe0985]

I bought an ebonite wrist wrap and used it today,didnt really feel a whole lot of difference but maybe its bc i need more rest on it.My dilemma is i had to bowl mon and today bc of the bowling class i take at college but i did take it easy. Im not plannin on bowling the rest of the week to let the soreness go away hopefully. I figured the pain im experiencing is coming from the cupping of my hand and im at the point now where i may be considering having someone watch me or taking lessons to correct it which sucks bc like i said since buying my new ball ive been avg a lil over 150 (even bowled a 160 today with my gimp wrist lol). Changing everything now just stresses me out bc I feel like im gettin a lot better. Just dont wanna take any steps back but I did call around to 3 local bowling alleys today and NONE offer lessons! So now I dunno...hopefully my wrist will just heal and this wrap will work...

[J Anderson]

$50 an hour? Seriously? I'm attending a bowling clinic in May; $99 includes classroom materials, lunch and lane time coaches are a silver and a gold certified and will be from 9am to 5pm.
Depending on the cost of materials, lunch and lane fees, that's less than $10 an hour. For $50 an hour I better be getting Del Ballard or John Jowdy!

How many are attending the clinic? Here on the gold coast a half hour, one on one, 30 minute coaching session runs $30 including linage.

[swingset]

I bought an ebonite wrist wrap and used it today,didnt really feel a whole lot of difference but maybe its bc i need more rest on it.My dilemma is i had to bowl mon and today bc of the bowling class i take at college but i did take it easy. Im not plannin on bowling the rest of the week to let the soreness go away hopefully. I figured the pain im experiencing is coming from the cupping of my hand and im at the point now where i may be considering having someone watch me or taking lessons to correct it which sucks bc like i said since buying my new ball ive been avg a lil over 150 (even bowled a 160 today with my gimp wrist lol). Changing everything now just stresses me out bc I feel like im gettin a lot better. Just dont wanna take any steps back but I did call around to 3 local bowling alleys today and NONE offer lessons! So now I dunno...hopefully my wrist will just heal and this wrap will work...

I experienced the same issue coming back to bowling at age 42 after having not bowled for 15 years. I used to be a cranker, and cupped pretty heavy....but it's not the cupping so much as the more violent reaction on release that was causing me to have some carpal tunnel issues in my wrist.

I'd like to say there's a magic answer, but as noted above pain is indication that you're hurting yourself. You won't get used to it, you'll compound the injury and build up scar tissue until you can't hardly bowl at all. You need to change your mechanics.

That might be something minor, or it might mean deciding that an impressive looking hook isn't worth the pain on and off the lanes. I have switched to a more rigid wrist from backswing through release, taking my revs down a lot and forcing me down & in, but my ball speed didn't have to change just my arm/wrist mechanics. Plenty of PBA champions still around with that delivery, it's not a handicap believe me.

[liljoe0985]

Yeah Im thinking m mechanics are gonna need to change the problem is finding someone to watch me bowl and help me out with it bc i dont know where to start. Ive watched numerous videos online but im lost...id feel much better having someone show me and tell me in person that "this is wrong and this is what u need to be doing to fix it". So guess im gonna search around the local bowling alleys around here and hope i find someone before my hand falls off!