Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

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Izzat
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Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by Izzat »

Dear sirs,

Since the end of last year (around October), I've been strugling a lot with my ring finger that cracks after bowling many games(around the same time that I've gotten the feel of my game & improve my averages in the 180s range & in the process of going to the 190s range as I started playing a lot of low 200s games). I have no problem during weeks that I bowl less...
My original wiki fit was this:
MF: 3/8 left; 1/8 forward
MF span: 4 1/8
RF: 1/2 right; 1/8 forward
RF span: 4 3/8 (when my ring finger crease started to cracks did remeasure it & found out that it was supposed to be 4 2/8)
Thumb: 1/8 left; 1/8 forward (experimented with 0 last year & found that I liked it more)

Then I started to do adjustments on my RF, span 4 2/8. pitches 3/8 right; 1/8 forward. In hopes of relieving stress to my RF. The cracking still occur after many frequent bowling...

After that I started experimenting with sarge easter (middle of December)... Long story short I hated it. Used till January this year on my Misfit.

My current fit after a few tweaks ever since then is:
MF: 3/8 left; 1/8 forward
MF span: 4 1/8
RF: 3/8 right; 1/8 forward (3/8 right. Just feel a little bit more comfortable than 1/2 right)
RF span: 4 3/16 (shorten it by 1/16 in hopes of lessening the pressure on my RF)
Thumb: 0; 1/8 forward (0 laterals just feels more comfortable for me)
Today after 3 days of consecutive bowling many games, the crease on my ring finger cracks again(this time a lot worse)... I attached together pictures of my RF

This time I'm thinking of drastic adjustments in my RF specs... Thinking of shortening the span to 4 1/8 and putting a lot of reverse. Maybe 1/8 reverse.

Oh, and another thing, when I bowl I always insert my fingers up till the first knuckle... I don't dig my fingers & what not. In fact, ever since that cracking problem, I wrap protecting tape on my RF from the 1st crease. Today I noticed the cracking after finished bowling & it was very painful when I tried unwrapping the tape as there was dried blood sticking to it & my skin.

Please help me. Any suggestions are very much appreciated.
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kart300
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Re: Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by kart300 »

Hi,
The burn marks on your both fingers shows part of the problem. Your fingers are slipping off the finger holes rather than staying with the ball and coming out and off the ball, cleanly.
Your skin on the RF is tearing under the stress. So it is either a span issue, pitch issue or the finger inserts are way too tight, or all of the above. Plus even if you tape the finger you are putting more of the finger in the hole than necessary as the tear is above the crease.
Turn your inserts around, if they have pitch, to use the oval side.
One simple way to get through this after giving time to heal properly. Wear a glove for the fingers (cut out the thumb from a golf glove), also tape the finger first. All this costs is a couple of inserts for each ball you use. Healing will take place more quickly and effectively if you keep the skin soft and moist with hand cream or similar such as lip salve applying hourly.
Get measured up for a comfortable and relaxed grip, with someone who knows how to assess the flexibility of your fingers and span properly.
Hope this helps
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Izzat
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Re: Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by Izzat »

Hello there Kart300.

First of all thank you for your opinion & suggestion.

In regards to my spans, I'm positive that I already have a relax span. Attached together is picture of my finger spans(as you can see, I already have a shorter RF spans than the ideal relax span like my MF) & MF flex(RF have the same flex) which is normal flex.

I'm also using standard oval inserts with no pitch (always have).

Although I do prefer my inserts to be very tight, so as to minimize any grip pressure. The same goes for my thumb holes. Maybe that is the cause of the problem?

Maybe I'll try your suggestion to wear a golf glove & change the inserts.

Took your advise & starting to use hand cream now & hopefully it'll heal fast.
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kerrek
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Re: Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by kerrek »

Izzat,
try O'keefes working hands cream. Seems to work really well for me and doesn't have a greasy feel. Almost feels like a wax on your hands. Good luck solving your issues!


Ken
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Re: Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by LabRat »

I would suggest that the burn marks are caused by the inserts being too tight, bunching up the 'meat' of the fingertips on release and then dragging on the bunched up skin as the fingers exit the holes. If your span is a little short you may be over inserting the ring finger, causing the tearing at the joint. Try either a little bigger insert or open out the top of the pilot to give yourself a bit more room at the crease. Also make sure the inserts line up with your clt angles, if the oval is not aligned with the fingers properly it can cause issues.
Are you a low tilt bowler?
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Izzat
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Re: Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by Izzat »

Thanks for the suggestion Kerrek.

Dear LabRat,
The inserts are lined up properly. I wear inserts with sizes that match up my fingers snugly, but I feel it's not excessively tight. I can insert my fingers easily, without having to dig my fingers in at all. Tried 1 size up before, but don't like it, as I tend to grab the ball a bit.
In terms of tilt, I'm not very sure myself. But usually the oil tracks around 1 - 1.5 inches from my thumb & finger holes.
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Re: Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by mxJosh »

Have u tried the Vise Bio Skin tape?

I use it everytime I split my ring finger. Usually happens if I bowl a lot of games in successive days. Even on a fresh split, I can continue bowling without pain using the tape. I place a 1/2" strip, cut across, so its about 3" in length. I place the tape on the back of my ring finger then stretch it up towards the nail and wrap around to the front and stretch it thin about 1" below the cut. Then I wrap a similar sized piece around my fingers to keep the strip from peeling off. Adds very little size to your finger and protects your cut.

Maybe that's not what u were asking as you were concerned with finger inserts and pitches but it has helped me a lot.

http://www.viseinserts.com/bio_pro.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by StrikeTheory »

For splitting like that, I would look at adding some reverse to your ring finger to lessen the pressure on it.

I see you are 1/8th forward now, maybe take it to 1/8th reverse on a test ball and see how that feels.
Izzat
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Re: Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by Izzat »

Thank you guys for the suggestions.

@mxJosh, Last time I check at the proshops here, there are no vise tapes. Just standard protective roll tape like storm thunder tape. But I'll try & look for it.

@striketheory, That is going to be my next move. But from what I've read by adding reverse in my ring, it will increase my axis tilt right? If so, will it be a lot & severely affect how my ball rolls? Guess I have to try it & find out. Out of curiosity, as my RF span is already short by 1/16 from actual 4 1/4, what if I just add 1/8 reverse to it. So 0 fwd/rev for my RF.

For this weekend though what I'm going to do is to use protective tape to wrap my ring finger (ala wes malott), & just change to slightly bigger RF inserts to accomodate it & see how it goes. Btw, the RF is healing well... Used to take a lot longer though. Thx for the suggestion of using hand creams. :)
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Re: Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by bullettoothtony »

I used to have the same problem with the ring finger splitting at the crease.... It was pitch related ,I went to one size bigger grips and that helped tremendously...now that I have my span dialed in I was actually able to go back to my regular size grips and it is because my driller added reverse to the ring .. My ball reaction is much more consistent also...just my .02
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Re: Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by Binkster »

Izzat wrote:Thank you guys for the suggestions.

@mxJosh, Last time I check at the proshops here, there are no vise tapes. Just standard protective roll tape like storm thunder tape. But I'll try & look for it.

@striketheory, That is going to be my next move. But from what I've read by adding reverse in my ring, it will increase my axis tilt right? If so, will it be a lot & severely affect how my ball rolls? Guess I have to try it & find out. Out of curiosity, as my RF span is already short by 1/16 from actual 4 1/4, what if I just add 1/8 reverse to it. So 0 fwd/rev for my RF.

For this weekend though what I'm going to do is to use protective tape to wrap my ring finger (ala wes malott), & just change to slightly bigger RF inserts to accomodate it & see how it goes. Btw, the RF is healing well... Used to take a lot longer though. Thx for the suggestion of using hand creams. :)
I have similar issues with cracking and the hand creams (all are about the same) work pretty good. But here's what I have found to work the best. Use the hand creams during the day but when you go to bed try this: Take a vitamin E capsule and poke a hole in it, put the liquid on a bandaid (use generously) and put the bandaid/s on your finger/s - works great!!
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Re: Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by mxJosh »

Izzat wrote: @mxJosh, Last time I check at the proshops here, there are no vise tapes. Just standard protective roll tape like storm thunder tape. But I'll try & look for it.
I had to order mine the first time. a roll lasts awhile. I only used it when I have split the callous. once its healed, I go back to no tape.
Izzat
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Re: Cracking Skin on Ring Finger Crease

Post by Izzat »

mxJosh wrote: I had to order mine the first time. a roll lasts awhile. I only used it when I have split the callous. once its healed, I go back to no tape.
What about ebonite ultra magic tape? can this be an alternative to the vise bio skin?
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