Pain in Right Hand
 

I have developed pain in the back of my right hand along the bone of my right ring finger close to the wrist. This pain is particularly aggravated when I grip the golf club.

I swing right handed. I use an interlocking grip with the pinky of the right hand interlocked with the left index finger. I have tried using a conventional grip, not interlocked, and still have the same pain.

I first noticed this pain after I started trying to practice what I saw in the Ben Doyle videos. I suspect that I have clubhead throwaway and am trying to fight it by forcing a frozen right wrist instead of having proper lag in my swing. I have continued to play golf with this pain, thinking that it may improve with practice, but it is getting worse. Obviously, I am doing something wrong in my swing and I want to see an AI soon to get it fixed. But for now, I need to know what I should do and what I should not do to try to strengthen my wrist/hand and help it heal instead of making it worse.

Any suggestions for therapy would be appreciated.

If anyone else has experienced a similar problem and knows what swing errors caused it, suggestions there would also be appreciated.

Are you using a small tire like in the videos or something else?

I used a small canvas bag filled with towels as an impact bag for a few shots, but when my hand started hurting, I was primarily hitting chip shots, using golf balls, and trying to keep the right wrist frozen throughout the stroke.

I could possibly have hit the hard ground in my back yard too hard, trying to get the distinctive "thump" that Ben has in the video. But, like I said before, I believe that I was trying to override throwaway by holding my right wrist firm, rather than creating lag from the feet through the body to the ball.

The problem is, now I have an injury that is getting worse. I want to do the best thing to help it heal as quickly as possible so I can play golf without worrying if I am making the injury worse. :?

Ellskit,

The nerves to your hand originate in the cervical vertebrae. Look at the new training and see if you are not putting a new stress on your neck and shoulders. One of the first things I learned from Yoda is that I held the club too tight but this caused problems in my elbow not my hand. I personally don't like the impact bag for most people because it is such and abrupt conclusion to a motion that should be full and free flowing. I usually have to work with people on their form, when they insist it helps their game,The sheer knowledge that you will 'hit' the bag can cause you to ceaze up in your shoulders and that is a reaction that difficult to overcome.

Make sure you didn't start reaching to create the "thump"and thereby straining your neck and shoulders. You may have to practice a few swings in front of a mirror or take a video of yourself to really break down your swing action and then work backwards to correct the dis-ease that has developed in your hand.

Let me know what you find. There are certainly exercises to correct the developing problem.

Vickie

elliskit,
Another thought would be that you might have injured one of the small bones in the wrist (the carpal bones). The area you have described is where the hamate bone is located and I know some golfers who have injured this. This bone has a small hook on it. I wonder if you have tenderness in the area where you are feeling the pain while swinging the club???? If so, you may need an xray to see if you fractured the hook of the hamate. And I love Ben Doyle's video, but when I see him hit the tire I cringe!
My 2 cents---rest it for a week and if pain returns with taking even slow practice swings, I would head for your doctor and get evaluated for either a hand/wrist problem or pain referred from the neck (see Vickie's post). Good luck. Let us know how it turns out. Dr Dave

Get an MRI, xray's did not show my hook of the hamate fracture, I spent six months with the pain coming and going, resting and trying to play, following MRI, had surgery to remove fractured hook, pain free ever since!!!!!


Todd

I did some swings tonight watching my shadow and I do not see any bobbing or swaying (my head was stationary), nor do I see or feel any over extension, so I do not think it is referred pain. I noticed that I do not feel any pain in a full swing, only with less than a full swing. Also, I noticed that the pain is specifically related to my right pinky. When I do not wrap my pinky around the grip, I do not feel any pain. The pain is worse with the interlocking grip as opposed to overlapping. I have used an interlocking grip for about 10 years and have never experienced this pain before now?!?

If there are some exercises I could do that might help determine the nature and/or severity of the injury, I am willing to try them.

:shock: :cry: This does not sound good at all!!! I do have tenderness when I press on the back of my right hand between my ring and pinky bones near where they join the wrist. I feel it when I close my fist, but not if I do not apply pressure on my pinky.

I did not want to hear the fracture word. I would be very surprized if it is a fracture though. I have never fractured a bone in my body, through many forms of abuse I would consider much more severe than anything I could inflict using a golf club, although I have had severe sprains, pulled muscles and sore tendons. I am going to try resting it, but I am supposed to play in a company tournament on 8/20. I really do not want to miss that!!!

Thanks for the replies,
Kit

it sounds identical to an injury i had last year, i attempted to hit a ball that was lying under some groundcover there was some small roots and i thought my 9 iron would just slice right through them, no dice bam! my right wrist was hurting i still finished out my round but it hurt. for months i would think that it was healed and than i would take too big a divot and it would hurt again, now it is healed but i think it took about 4 months before it went away.

I think you are getting some really good advice on resting for a week and realizing these impact actions (whether its a bag or the green proper) expose you to some pressure on the tnedons and ligiments of your phalanges (ok their just fingers). I don't have a bag but I do use the interlocking grip and I don't play often. I will often feel some tenderness from the position if it has been a long time since I held a club and especially if I have consecutive days or back to back games on the same day. I think the bag would give you significant exposure to strain that pinky with the index finger of the opposite hand either by the tinest pull at impact or even the added pressure that is caused in the impact. It will likely be an inperceptable amount of strain. This would explain why taking your pinky out (especially now while it is in trauma) alleviates the symptom.

I would follow the advice to rest for a few days. Use some arnica cream (a natural anti-inflammatory) and some ice several times a day to get past the trauma. Get a gell ball (get one shaped like an egg) and hold it with the middle, ring and pinky of your hand (go ahead and do them both) squeezing the ball will help move blood into the injured area and speed healing. This will also strengthen the muscles and thereby the pliabaility of your connective tissue. It will just make the pinky hardier to take the assault.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes. There could be numerous answers. Don't try to do too many changes at once or you won't find the origin of your problem.

Vickie