Hey guys,

I'm hoping someone has experienced something like this before and can offer some advice...

Recently, after I practice, I've noticed that I've been having pain in the joint in the base of the middle finger on my throwing hand. Sometimes, it even feels like my grip is weakened with my middle finger as a result.

I have a ball that is drilled fingertip to my hand and have been working on a free armswing with a relaxed grip on the ball. From what I can tell by the oil Track on my ball, I throw a semiroller type ball.

Is pain in this region an indicator of a bad habit that I'm developing in my release, ball fit, or over- practicing?

I'm hoping it's nothing serious as there's 5 games for $5 bowling tomorrow and that is one heck of a bargain to pass up!

A common reason for a sore middle finger is that it is doing most of the work. A short span on the ring finger or a too long span on the middle finger will put all of the strain on the middle finger. Pitch could also create the same problem. If the ring finger has less pitch than the middle finger the ring finger could release early leaving the middle finger to do all the work.

Check your span. Doesn't seem right.

I would vote bad ball fit. This is from experience, as all my equipment is currently ill fitted, well hopefully one isn't but its sitting in a Pro Shop waiting for me to pick it up tomorrow . If I bowl too much in one week I get a pain sometimes at the knuckle that is at the hand, the back of the and and sometimes the wrist. Your grip is weakened with this pain as you try to relieve it, and the fact there is a grip to begin with is a bad sign.

Even if your fit is good it could be you are doing something wrong like gripping the ball and you shouldn't be. Or you could be trying to do too much to get the ball to hook.

Hey, thanks for the feedback guys! Is there an easy way to check if my span is too short or too long or am I better off going to different Pro Shop than the one that I had the ball originally drilled?

As for my grip on the ball, I keep it as minimal as possible and try to let the ball come off of my hand, but I've noticed that I still need to apply very slight pressure to keep my hand in the right position. Is this wrong?

Let me ask if you have finger grips? And, are they the oval ones with nubs on the end? That has caused some gripping when switched from round to oval grips.

You can tell if your span is correct by placing your thumb in the ball and laying your fingers across the holes. The leading edge (side closest to the thumb) of the finger hole should be no longer than half way between the first and second knuckle of the middle and ring finger without stretching your hand, it should be relaxed. It can be a little shorter than that, but not shorter than one quarter from the second knuckle.

I have just the standard circular grips in the finger holes right now and I checked the span and it looks like the length falls within the criteria CoachJim laid out.

As far as checking for the proper pitches, is this more trial and error as far as finding what is right for my hand or would it help to have the Pro Shop guy watch me roll a couple so he can see how I throw?

One other thing that I just noticed was that I tend to spread my pinky and index finger as far out as I can on the ball when I prepare to roll. Could spreading the index finger and pinky out too far cause strain on the joint? For whatever reason, my shots are better when I do this and I haven't really felt any discomfort while throwing so I hadn't given it thought until I picked up my ball a bit ago.

I'm going to bowl tonight, so I'll try to see if my index finger exits the ball prematurely or if I'm trying to apply more hook than necessary as I release. Gotta love 5 for $5 night!