Sore hands affecting my swing?

[NickB]

Alright here is the background on me.

I'm 22
I have an interlocking grip, moderately small hands but not tiny.
I am 6' 190 lbs and athletically built
My swing mechanics have served me well in the last month up until this week.

Alright so here is the problem and I'd really appreciate some help on this. My ball striking was very consistent for about 2.5 or 3 weeks with every club in my bag, it was flying with a nice boring trajectory, straight with no fading or drawing. Well i was at the range every other day or so and hitting about 300 balls or more a day, which doesn't seem like a lot but I just picked up the game after a 2 year hiatus, and I'm sure I am out of shape golfing wise. My swing hasn't changed and if it has, to be honest it has gotten better, more fluid and better tempo over the last week. The problem is this, I am shanking the ball dead right and on the ground, if I am not, the ball is going straight but without getting off the ground and I am topping severly, even concentrating hard on weight distribution, keeping my head down and hitting down on the ball. I am not sure what is wrong but I will say this, During the first week or so, my grip was far too tight even though I was hitting the ball well. I loosened my grip but I have noticed that I almost have a feeling of arthritis or something in my right hand and I really think this is the culprit. I feel scared to follow through because of tenderness but I don't think I am having to regrip the club at the top of my backswing. I want to get lessons but thought I'd get some insight first. My basic question is, do you guys think my sore hands could be getting in the way of turning my club head back square and penetrating through the ball at impact? Thanks. Also I should add that before I started playing i had been lifting weights nearly everyday and felt very strong. I started practicing more often and laid off the weights..should I go back to lifting since that is what I was doing when I was ball striking better?

[SteelDriver]

300 balls is a lot. ease up a bit. i heard of people swinging their way out of a good swing by hitting that much. you begin tinkering too much. weights shouldnt be a problem. make sure you stretch a lot if you do work out a lot. flexibility is something people lose by bulking up. sore hands and 300 balls per range session seem hand in hand to me.