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Finger Tip Pain

Posted: May 3rd, 2018, 10:27 pm
by kmann300
Hello all I just had a question to see if anyone could help me or can point me in the right direction to correct. I have been bowling for years and now I find myself having pain in my finger tip joints and wanted to know is it me trying to hook the ball like I was 20 again or is it time to maybe change the pitch in the fingers. Anyone with any clue to why this id happening. Thanks in advance for all that help.

Re: Finger Tip Pain

Posted: May 4th, 2018, 4:02 pm
by JohnP
Your joints have probably stiffened from the years of bowling, so you need to have your grip evaluated by a qualified driller. You can check the joint flexibility yourself, just bend your joint while using your other hand to slightly force the bend. A flexible joint will bend 90*. The grip adjustment will be a combination of span reduction and more reverse pitch. -- JohnP

Re: Finger Tip Pain

Posted: May 4th, 2018, 4:06 pm
by JJakobsen
JohnP wrote:Your joints have probably stiffened from the years of bowling, so you need to have your grip evaluated by a qualified driller. You can check the joint flexibility yourself, just bend your joint while using your other hand to slightly force the bend. A flexible joint will bend 90*. The grip adjustment will be a combination of span reduction and more reverse pitch. -- JohnP
90 DEGREES?! If I hold down the inner joint, I only get 45 degrees of the outer (fingertip) joints on my right hand, maybe 60 on my left! Soon I only have indentations in my balls, my joints being so stiff! :lol:

Re: Finger Tip Pain

Posted: May 4th, 2018, 4:18 pm
by JohnP
Here's a link to the MoRich Fitting guide from the bowlingchat wiki. Page 5 (including the cover sheet) shows the flexibility test. It's been a while since I looked at it, Mo calls 90* very flexible and 70* normal. You can also compare with the joints on your other hand to see what bowling has done to them. My ring finger is in the very stiff category. -- JohnP

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Re: Finger Tip Pain

Posted: May 4th, 2018, 4:23 pm
by JJakobsen
Yeah for me it is 45 on middle finger, 60 on ring finger on my playing hand. I play sarge easter, so my outer joint on the ring finger doesn't see much action!

Re: Finger Tip Pain

Posted: May 4th, 2018, 10:58 pm
by snick
I have about 60 degrees bend in my middle finger. Mo put me at 1/8 forward linear pitch and a shorter span. Very comfortable.

Re: Finger Tip Pain

Posted: May 4th, 2018, 11:51 pm
by Nord
kmann300 wrote:Hello all I just had a question to see if anyone could help me or can point me in the right direction to correct. I have been bowling for years and now I find myself having pain in my finger tip joints and wanted to know is it me trying to hook the ball like I was 20 again or is it time to maybe change the pitch in the fingers. Anyone with any clue to why this id happening. Thanks in advance for all that help.
How often do you bowl and how much?
I find that my joints start to stiffen and can start to hurt if I bowl too frequently such as when I practice a lot in one week.
If I back off the bowling, then the stiffness goes away and the pain is gone.
It could simply be repetitive stress finally kicking in.
If you bowl a lot then cut back for a couple of weeks, or stop entirely and see if things go back to normal.
If they do, then you just gotta bowl less.
We are not getting any younger.

Re: Finger Tip Pain

Posted: May 5th, 2018, 4:12 am
by TonyPR
Kmann300, bowling should not hurt your hand, as said before, a fitting evaluation may be what you need. As we age our joints become stiffer and flexibility is key in selecting proper spans and pitches, post your location and I am sure someone here will point you in the right direction to a qualified ball fitter/driller in your area. Hope we can find someone near by but if not it is well worth a long drive to have a good fit.

Nord the pain in your joints may be from squeezing the ball, in your videos I have seen you keep your hand on top of the ball through out the whole swing, this squeezing will also rob you of a lot of ball speed. Changing your technique a bit will fix those two problems.