Hand Pain After Changing Release

[blong4133]

New to the boards, so allow me to extend a friendly hello to everyone.

I've been bowling most of my life, but due to grad school I haven't really been bowling much the past 2 years. This summer, I decided to get back to it and joined a summer league. I'm a cranker, and like to put a lot of revs on the ball. But in the past, I've had a big problem with digging my fingers into the ball and pinching. This got so bad that I was tearing my thumb up. I would almost always rip the skin off the back of my thumb and bleed every time I bowled, and I began losing feeling in the tip of my thumb.

Luckily, the man who owns the house in which I bowl is one of the best ball drillers around, and after talking with him about the issue, we decided to put some smaller finger grips in the ball to keep me from digging, and I changed my release, placing more emphasis on lifting the ball with the fingers rather than making sure my thumb stays in the ball until the last minute. Been doing this for 2 weeks, and my thumb is great. However, I have some hand pain in my bowling hand. It's mostly around the knuckles of my middle and ring fingers, but extends to most of the back of my hand. But the pain is the worse around the knuckles. The pain is most noticeable when I grip something or try to twist off a bottle cap or something like that (and when bowling). I think it may be because of the added stress on the fingers, and the fact that I haven't been bowling much.

Anyone know what's going on, or have dealt with a similar issue? And suggestions for getting rid of the pain? Any advice/help is appreciated!

[martinezsam2495]

Welcome to Bowling Boards!
The holes are probably too small for your thumb, you may need a bigger hole, I would get that checked by your local pro shop, and tell them your situation,

[ursus]

New to the boards, so allow me to extend a friendly hello to everyone.

I've been bowling most of my life, but due to grad school I haven't really been bowling much the past 2 years. This summer, I decided to get back to it and joined a summer league. I'm a cranker, and like to put a lot of revs on the ball. But in the past, I've had a big problem with digging my fingers into the ball and pinching. This got so bad that I was tearing my thumb up. I would almost always rip the skin off the back of my thumb and bleed every time I bowled, and I began losing feeling in the tip of my thumb.

Luckily, the man who owns the house in which I bowl is one of the best ball drillers around, and after talking with him about the issue, we decided to put some smaller finger grips in the ball to keep me from digging, and I changed my release, placing more emphasis on lifting the ball with the fingers rather than making sure my thumb stays in the ball until the last minute. Been doing this for 2 weeks, and my thumb is great. However, I have some hand pain in my bowling hand. It's mostly around the knuckles of my middle and ring fingers, but extends to most of the back of my hand. But the pain is the worse around the knuckles. The pain is most noticeable when I grip something or try to twist off a bottle cap or something like that (and when bowling). I think it may be because of the added stress on the fingers, and the fact that I haven't been bowling much.

Anyone know what's going on, or have dealt with a similar issue? And suggestions for getting rid of the pain? Any advice/help is appreciated!

Is it a sharp pain or is it more like an ache? When I switched from conventional grip to the fingertip grip I noticed a soreness in my ring and middle finger, likely due to using those muscles in a way that I hadn't in the past. It wasn't a sharp pain but more of a soreness. It went away after about a month.

[billf]

The pitch is off. Go back to your driller, explain where and when the pain is a he should be able to change the pitch and alleviate the pain.
When you were gripping the heck out of the ball you were probably bending your fingers more than you currently are. This bad form caused the drilling to be inaccurate.

[blong4133]

Is it a sharp pain or is it more like an ache? When I switched from conventional grip to the fingertip grip I noticed a soreness in my ring and middle finger, likely due to using those muscles in a way that I hadn't in the past. It wasn't a sharp pain but more of a soreness. It went away after about a month.

It is a dull pain. I switched to a fingertip grip probably about 10-11 years ago, but like I said, I had a pretty bad release. I think most of my revs were from actually turning my hand rather than lifting the ball with the fingers.

That's why I thought that the added stress on the two fingers were the main cause of the problem.

I have a little case of tendonitis in my elbow that I take Calcium Magnesium for, and I started taking it again for my hand. Michael had some suggestions in another thread so I think I may run up to the local Sams and try that out. Hopefully the hand won't be bothering me much by then...lol

But thanks for the advice everyone. I appreciate it!

[The German Shepherd]

I have found that taking an Omega 3 along with Osteo Biflex has helped tremendously with mu hand/finger and joint pain. Do you take any of these?

Jay