Good idea or bad idea?

[Angela06]

Hi everyone,
I recently sprained my left thumb. I think I know why this happened: I've slipped into the habit of separating my left thumb from the rest of my left hand at about a 30 degree angle, so that my thumb points straight down the shaft, and also kind of flexing it against the shaft when I swing. Hence if I hit the ball fat, I jar my left thumb.
Now, here's my question. I golf almost every day, and I really like it. It's the highlight of my day. But the thumb thing seems to be getting worse rather than better. And even when I try not to, I end up doing the thumb thing, and the pain gets worse, etc. Instead of taking time off, could I just get some athletic tape and tape my left thumb to my left index finger, so I can't do the thing that's causing the sprain? Or would that just make things worse?

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by Angela06

Hi everyone,
I recently sprained my left thumb. I think I know why this happened: I've slipped into the habit of separating my left thumb from the rest of my left hand at about a 30 degree angle, so that my thumb points straight down the shaft, and also kind of flexing it against the shaft when I swing.
Now, here's my question. I golf almost every day, and I really like it. It's the highlight of my day. But the thumb thing seems to be getting worse rather than better. And even when I try not to, I end up doing the thumb thing, and the pain gets worse, etc. Instead of taking time off, could I just get some athletic tape and tape my left thumb to my left index finger, so I can't do the thing that's causing the sprain? Or would that just make things worse?

Bad idea. You could try taping your thumb to the top of the shaft, where it belongs...

[Angela06]

It belongs on top of the shaft? Meaning the thumb really is supposed to be apart from the index finger? I know nothing about all this, so I admit I may be way off base here, but I have a book that says the thumb should touch the palm and index finger ... yadda yadda yadda ... which is why I was thinking that taping thumb/index finger would be ok.

[Eracer]

In reality, the left thumb should be very slightly down the right side of the shaft.

May I point to a book that will explain a proper grip? Ben Hogan's book:

Five Lessons - The Modern Fundamentals of Golf

Hogan was one of the greatest ball-strikers of all time, and in this book he spends 30 pages in the first lesson describing a proper grip. If you learn it, and practice it, along with the other lessons in sequence, you will become a much better golfer.

[Matthew_22]

If all else fails, and you still want have to play, just go to the practice greens and practice your short game.

There will be less forces acting on your hands, and you may be able to spend some time figuringout what to do with your thumb.

[Witmaster]

Angela,

I'm curious... are you a Lefty or a Righty?

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by Witmaster

Angela,

I'm curious... are you a Lefty or a Righty?

Good question. I assumed that she was playing right handed. Now that I think about it, her question makes more sense coming from a lefty.

[Witmaster]

Just a thought.

As a reference only, here are a few pics of a pretty standard grip.

[bdcrowe]

Ben Hogan would tell you it is an easy fix. Leave the thumb where it belongs, and stop hitting fat. Simple as that...

[Farquod]

Glib, but BD may very well have it right. One reason you may be over twisting your thumb and hitting it fat is that you're swinging too much with your right side, and not getting your left side through the ball. No weight transfer, and overcompensation with the hands. Fat and twisty. Thumb in pain.

[DrBrown]

I did something similar to this last weekend. I actually have a god solid grip but I had injured my left thumb tendon last year playing softball and I didnt allow for enough time to heal. I let it go all winter w/out swinging or stressing it but now that Im golfing again and hit a few fat shots it really hurt.

I visited an orthopedic doctor and he explained to me the tendons that connect to our fingers run up the forearm to the elbow area. Tendons are somewhat like strong rubber bands and if you stretch them in a bad motion it can pull/sprain the tendon. Mine only hurts when I golf conveniently, so it hurts whenever I do the one thing I love to do. Sooo the recommendations I got was wrap it constantly until it heals, stop golfing so much or at least reduce grip pressure to almost nothing (play fewer holes), use IB Iprofin(sp?) for the inflamation and swelling, icy hot the heck out of it befor and after golfing, and honestly try not to over work it. Once you have pulled or sprained a tendon like area it takes over 3 weeks to heal properly, its a slow regeneration so dont over do it or this injury will haunt you forever like mine is. I jumped back into golf 2 weeks after I was hurt last year and now after 3 days of swinging its back.

[What'saScore]

Nice pics. Except the skirt is a few inches too long.

I used to wrap my thumbs like that, until the "teaching pro" at the local driving range told me it was wrong. He said to put the thumb straight down the shaft, just like gripping a hammer, and having both thumbs in line. This was supposed to keep everything lined up properly through the entire swing.
So who is right?

[Pa Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by What'saScore

Nice pics. Except the skirt is a few inches too long.

I used to wrap my thumbs like that, until the "teaching pro" at the local driving range told me it was wrong. He said to put the thumb straight down the shaft, just like gripping a hammer, and having both thumbs in line. This was supposed to keep everything lined up properly through the entire swing.
So who is right?

I gripped like in the picture to start with. Somewhere in the last 5 years of playing my thumbs ended up straight down the center. I have found through experimenting of the last month or so, and about 10 rounds that putting my left thumb too far down the grip and my right thumb in the center of the shaft caused alot of the problems I've had in the last 2-3 years with pull hooks. Just from my own experimentation, I think having the bottom thumb on the top of the shaft forces the club face closed at impact, which may be a good thing unless you hit pull hooks. Moving my top thumb further up the shaft puts the club more in the palm, allows allows for a more comfortable and steeper swing (which I needed) and keeps the clubface straighter for long. It is definately nice to experiment with the grip and learn the different cause and affects. It has given me a whole new perspective on being able to execute different shots, and has definately helped my game.