grip/finger pain

hi, not sure if i am squeeqing too hard or what. i have just started and been to the driving range everynight and twice on sat and sundays for an hour and half each event. in the mornings now i cant close my hand or fingers as they are too swollen. generally they warm up in the first hour. but the knuckle joints hurt.

for a while during the back swing, i couldnt hold on to the club with my left hand as the wieght and pain would pull my fingers out of thier sockets. (could the back swing be too fast?) i hold the club lightly at address but notice that i squeeze down harder and harder from back swing to down swing. i have been hitting a lot of flat hits and worm burners and the more i hit the more intense the pain is. i have just found the right hand drill and this seems to have helped some. i also learned i do a lot of jumping around during the down swing and swaying back during the back swiing. so i found a drill for someone to hold the brim of your hat to keep my head still and that has helped the fat hits. i just hope i havnt ruined or done severe damage to my hands. anyone else run into this???

thanks

pat

Pat,

One reason your hands are swollen is here: "...everynight and twice on sat and sundays for an hour and half each event..."

You are hurting yourself more by not allowing your muscles to reast and heal. When you strain a muscle, it will tear and that is normal. It swells from being filled with blood. THis starts the healing process. If you restrain that muscle before it fully heals, you begin to cause more damage and that is the pain you are feeling. The pain is there for a reason. Stop. You will know when you can continue again then there is no more pain.

To the other points about grip pressure: You want to keep the pressure even throughout the swing. If you are increasing the pressure in the downswing, then you are doing something that is not correct. You should not need to change the pressure. So continue looking at the drills you mentioned. This could help with that, but it may not be the only solution.

Please rest. Then start up again when there is no pain, and see what happens. Then come back and let us know more.