Ring finger pain ???

[cape cod beachfront golfer]

I am a right handed golfer who has developed a painful problem with the first knuckle on my left hand. The pain is very sharp but short lasting after using my driver. The pain is not as apparent on other shots. After a full 18 holes the knuckle feels swollen but does not look swollen.
Bottomline:
Is the cause a result of a misfitted grip ??? I use mid size.
Am I gripping the club wrong ???
Do others have a similar problem ???
I have seen other golfers with tape on their finger... Could this help ??

[mrobbie]

Do you play with a ring on? I take my wedding ring off when I play as I get a blister where it rubs, but no actual pain in the finger. Purely to do with the blister, not to pull the cart chick

Have you damaged the finger in the past? Broken? Chipped bone?

Hope its nothing serious.

[atltony]

Does the joint hurt when you go to make a fist? If so you might want to look into "trigger finger" which is basically the tendon swelling up so as when it passes through the tendon sheath you get pain and usually a locking feeling (when closing the fist) and a a sort of popping (when opening the fist) in the joint. People who tend to grip the club rather tightly are more prone to this sort of injury.

[cape cod beachfront golfer]

No, I do not play with ring on.
No past hand injuries.
My best guess is mid size grip...
has changed my hand position ???
Hopefully someone has similar experience...
and a remedy....
I may try a few winds of white tape to separate hand from club?

[Dub]

Sorry to hear that.

I wonder what it is about the driver that's causing the pain moreso than the other sticks. I've found simular results with my left wrist and the driver and know that it's because it's a longer club and when I try to overswing it creates more tension in my wrist. Don't seem to do this with the clubs that have "set" distances. The driver is open ended and I tend to "go for broke"...thus the wierd aches and pains.

Like the guys mentioned....I wouldn't wear any rings.....I don't even wear a watch anymore.

Maybe one of the softer Winn grips will help.

[pjsnyc]

Funny you should say - I too recently have been having similar pain in my right pinky finger (obviously not the ring finger, but the symptoms seem to be the same). I use the interlocking grip and sometimes I grip too tightly (the pinky interlocked with my left index finger) which i believe is causing the slight pain...

[Guest]

Yes, I have the same problem! I'm totally new to this forum and joined because I googled this knuckle problem and found your post. You describe your problem on your first knuckle of your left hand which I assume is the first knuckle you see when taking the golf grip. This would be your knuckle on your index finger, right? This is where my pain is and radiates a bit to the back into my left hand. I have the pain with all my clubs but particularly my irons. I've been icing it and using advil and playing through it but it seems to be getting worse. I do spend a lot of time hitting balls on the range. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks! I'm an 8handicap by the way.

[Comeback City]

yea...i have this same problem - I'm right handed and my right ring finger hurts...and yeah i think its because i grip it too tightly

[BigBoy]

The ring finger on my left hand will often ache the day after I hit the range - I'll wake up with my hand in a fist, and it takes some effort to straighten it out.

I think it has to do with a gripping too tightly. While I consciously keep a very light grip in my set up, some swings I can feel myself bear down on the downswing when trying to hit certain shots. My guess is you tend to try to 'grip it and rip' on your driver, trying to give it that little extra hit with your driver, and grip it tighter. The ironic thing of course is that will actually tend to slow down your swing and cause you to hit it shorter.

I believe I initially injured my finger last year when I hit a REDICULOUSLY fat shot on a severe uphill lie while trying to kill the ball. My finger has never been quite the same. My knuckles are a bit of a mess already from years of jammed and broken fingers playing basketball a lot during my youth

[Golfika]

Yes I have the same problem with my left ring finger, First I believed its due to my age , I started golf in July about 3 months ago at age 54
I practiced like 3 times a week , never let completely heal my finger.
Now its 6 days since I played golf but my ring finger is not OK yet.
My question , how long it took your finger to be completely healed ?

[O.B. Right]

I get pain in the first knuckle on my left index finger when I practice too much or grip too tight using an interlocking grip. I actually learned to switch off between interlocking and ten finger grip because of this problem. I prefer interlocking but when it hurts and loosening my grip isn't helping then I go to 10 finger.

[zrlaegel]

i tweaked my months ago when i changed my grip and it still hasnt healed it takes a while unless you splint it because your always using your hands

[mogirlgolfer]

I to have pain in my left index finger.  I'm right handed.  The pain actually started on the 15th hole. It almost felt like an electrical pain.  If that makes sense.  When I bend the finger it clicks from the first knuckle to the middle knuckle.  So I assumed it was my interlocking grip.  I've had the pain about 2 weeks.  My husband said he had the same thing happen to him (he is also a golfer).  He said to tape it up so it won't bend.  It helped him.  So far hasn't helped me.  Hopefully, now that the weather is getting cooler I will give it a rest from golfing and by next season it'll be gone :)

[Buff Ucker]

I'm right handed.  Left ring finger, middle joint pain.

Pain started when I took a full swing out of a sand trap.   Sand was heavy from rain.  Did not have a strong enough grip on the club, and club was nearly torn from my hand.  Felt like I tore a tendon/ligament.

After trying to 'play with the pain', I went to my doctor. My orthopedist, a 3 handicap, made me take four weeks off, finger splinted the whole four weeks.

When I was allowed to start up again, she started me out by switching from an interlock grip to a ' left hand - four finger grip'.  Her reasoning... the extra finger on the grip reduces the pressure on the ring finger by 25 %.

Next, she moved the grip of the club up toward the palm of my hand.  Less then an inch, but it takes a lot of pressure off the finger tips and transfers it more to the base of the fingers.

That helped.

Then, for 6 weeks, 'buddy wrap' the finger while playing.  Basically, tape the ringer finger to your middle finger.  The middle finger takes some of the pressure off the grip. (You'll have to 'Freddie Couples' it... play with out a glove, OR, put your glove on and buddy tape them. Then you'll have to putt with your glove on.)

That pretty much eleviated most of the pain.

A year later, little or no pain.  I use one piece of tape, wrapped around the finger, just above the knuckle, tight as possible without cutting off circulation.

Now, 2 aspirin half hour before practice and playing, sometimes 2 more at the turn, and I'm good to go.

Note:  While it does not sound like much, these are pretty significnt grip changes. My handicap went up to 11+, but after a year, it's back down to 9.

"And remember... you don't have to kill it.  It's already dead."

Good luck!

[Brown Bomber]

I am a right handed golfer, golfing for 3 years, was practicing 3 time a week to learn and improve my game. I was having a little pain on my left ring finger at the knuckle, pain would stop after a couple of days, did not think much of it. Played a round of golf today after three months and pain came back after few swings and I started to worry whether this is the end of golf for me, came home and started searching the net. I am going to try the followings: 1. change my grips to mid size, 2. hold the club more towards the palm of my hand, 3. try the arthritis gloves and last use lighter grip pressure. I sincerely hope that one of these will help me so I can continue to play and enjoy this wonderful game. I welcome any practical and reasonable suggestions.

I am glad I found you guys!

[BuckeyeNut]

Originally Posted by cape cod beachfront golfer

I am a right handed golfer who has developed a painful problem with the first knuckle on my left hand.

Your a righty and you have ring finger joint pain on your left hand?  I can't see how anything golf swing related can do this to your left hand.   If you said "right hand", then yes....that would make sense.

[DrvFrShow]

Sorry for the necro on this thread, but if I posted a new thread someone would say "use the search function." I did.

I have had pain the ring finger of my left hand. It is definitely related to golf and range practice. I had my clubs regripped with Winn Dritac Mediums, and that has helped some, and when I'm doing heavy range work I wear a pair of Mizuno leather batting gloves. If my hands bother me I'll wear the left one when I'm playing. They're plain so they technically meet the rules. But they're thick and you lose a lot of the feel.

Still at night my hands can hurt so bad I can't sleep. Advil before bed and a little weed helps.

But what is the answer? I take time off, and it doesn't matter. The damage is done.

[Lihu]

Sorry for the necro on this thread, but if I posted a new thread someone would say "use the search function." I did.

I have had pain the ring finger of my left hand. It is definitely related to golf and range practice. I had my clubs regripped with Winn Dritac Mediums, and that has helped some, and when I'm doing heavy range work I wear a pair of Mizuno leather batting gloves. If my hands bother me I'll wear the left one when I'm playing. They're plain so they technically meet the rules. But they're thick and you lose a lot of the feel.

Still at night my hands can hurt so bad I can't sleep. Advil before bed and a little weed helps.

But what is the answer? I take time off, and it doesn't matter. The damage is done.

You shouldn't feel any pain in this finger, because it is supported by the other fingers. However, if you over grip you could hurt it. I also injured my index finger which means I was gripping too tight as well, even though it was an impact fracture from a shank.

My cure was to soften the grip, we're supposed to do this anyway. This will also allow you to continue practicing too.