Middle finger, middle joint extremely swollen....beginner here needs help

[brawndo89]

Okay so I've been bowling casually for years of course, always using a ten pound house ball and rolling straight, averaging 110-120. Recently an old friend and I went bowling and he taught me how he spins the ball, and my average immediately went up to 150-160. I kept using the ten pound house ball while I was getting the spin down, and decided to get a decent beginning bowling ball from my local alley. This one to be exact..

http://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-balls/Brunswick/9249/Karma-Black-Blue-Solid.html

The dude there said it was a good beginner ball and it was 120 drilled to my hand. He recommended I get a 12 pound ball because 10 pounds was way too light...but mentioned I'd become stronger and would eventually need to move up to a 14/15/16 pound ball...anyway...

I started to roll a bit more and on my second day using the ball my middle finger, middle joint, got extremely swollen and it was very painful for the first few days. It happened on sunday and it is still swollen and a little painful today almost 5 days later. This never happened to me with the house balls and I'm rolling the same way, the only difference is the 2 extra pounds I'm not used to....so why now am I starting to get this swelling/pain...any suggestions?

edit: I'd also like to add I do not put my thumb in the hole at all. I can't figure out how to get any hook with my thumb inside :(

[J Anderson]

You probably sprained your finger. The standard treatment is R I C E- Rest ( stop trying to use the part that hurts!), Ice, Compression ( kind of hard to wrap an ace bandage around your finger), Elevation ( keep it as high or higher than your heart.)

I suspect the cause is the fit of the ball. Just out of curiosity is the ball drilled with a finger tip grip or a conventional grip?

[brawndo89]

I opted to have it have normal holes drilled in it, but I had those rubbery fittings put in to fit my fingertips. So yeah I roll with fingertips only.

[J Anderson]

Using just the fingertips and no thumb it doesn't seem like there would be enough stress on the middle joint to cause the pain and swelling that you describe.

[brawndo89]

I know right :( I have no idea what happened. I think I might have just rolled too many games...it was about 15 games in 3 days. Guess my fingers weren't ready for that yet or something I dno. Or I rolled terribly wrong.

[The Mayor]

Sounds like you might have put that middle finger in a little too deep and then when you released the ball, strained something. You don't always have to feel it when you do it to cause damage. Best advice: Learn to use your thumb. Work with a coach and you'll learn to hook the ball with your thumb in quickly.

[broncofan27]

I had this same issue with my thumb in the ball. I think it's just from new stress and different stress on the fingers you haven't built strength up for. Give it a week of rest and I bet you will feel better.