Driving with putters hurts middle finger joint

[Der Alte]

Driving with putters (Ion, Anode, Ridge, Spike) hurts my middle finger joint. I have tried a power grip, modified power grip, fan grip, birdie grip etc. and the results are always the same - stabbing pain on my second joint. Is it possible that there is something wrong in my grip that is causing too much pressure and torque to my middle finger?! Even the tiniest pull against the finger hurts way too much. So usually it's not even possible to do an approach shots with a putter and that sucks.

Of course it is possible that I have played too much or I have had a bad drive or something because this problem started so suddenly. At the moment I have to tape my entire middle finger and avoid using it at all. And naturally that is messing my game. I'm really frustrated and I'm feeling that I have to give up and stop playing this wonderful game Probably I just have to rest and hope that this problem disappears.

[vtbuzzz]

R.I.C.E. - rest ice compression elevation...w/ an emphasis on the first two.

[JR]

At the moment it seems like you have repetitive stress injury. The amount of no use stress varies depending on what the injury is and how bad it is. It can be as short as two days of no use then small weight (sub 100 grams) weights for all the day, eating soft foods and normal toilet stuff for a week or two then a little more. But if is bad more rest and medication might be necessary.

What people don't realize is that disc golf can be very stressful to some parts of the body like the fingers. In Big D 8 the winner Jussi Meresmaa didn't participate for the next day world record attempt event because his throwing hand index finger had split open from just throwing. I have had too much grip pressure and too many field practice shots in too short of a time before and i'm not totally out of the woods with my index finger after 3 years. Tendon damage takes a hell of a lot of time to heal. Ville Piippo said to me that a doc had said to him that a serious tendon damage takes at least 6 months of light use to heal as much as it can. There lies the reason why my finger hasn't healed totally. I've never had that long of a recuperation period.

I recommend taking things easy and returning to throwing extremely smoothly with reduced power and no field practice and at most one round per day. Possibly even a visit to a doctor if the problems don't go away with one week of taking it extremely easy. Blood flow is the key you don't want to leave any tissue without oxygen to start inflammations. So it is a good idea to do slow walking to get the blood flowing and taking away all the gunk from the finger without shaking and using the finger related muscles and tendons.