Grip and Mallet Finger

[journeygirl]

A few years ago, I tore the tendon in my pinkie finger of my right hand, the hand that I hold my tennis racquet in. Hence, I live with a mallet finger.

I find that while I start out ok gripping the handle and hitting a solid shot, I run into problems as my playing time increases and my hand gets tired, or when the grip starts getting moisture on it -- it becomes harder for that finger to give me the support I need and I begin to have trouble hitting that solid shot - what little support it gives me isn't there anymore and the non solidness of the shot really affects my stroke......

Is there anyone out there with the same problem or who might have any suggestions - I was thinking maybe building up the bottom of the grip to raise the pinky finger up to give me more support??? As the finger gets tired or wet, i sometimes end up hitting with four of my fingers gripping, not five.....

I am a competitive 4.5 woman who plays 5-6 times a week so this is really important to me......

Thank you.

[charliefedererer]

Do you exercise to increase the overall grip strength?

That is, do you use a hand gripper (or even squeeze a tennis ball) or use the Theraband Flexbar?
Do you use a light dumbbell to do wrist curls, reverse curls and pronation/supination exercises similar to the last set of exercises portrayed here as part of the Thrower's Ten Exercises?
http://www.muhlenberg.edu/pdf/main/a...throwers10.pdf

Are you sure you don't tire your hand out by gripping the racquet too tight?

Are you sure the racquet you use is the proper grip size?

How much does your racquet weigh? Is is "head heavy"?

[journeygirl]

Charlie:

Yes I do exercises to increase my grip strength - I work with a trainer and I've done almost all of the ones you sent to me (thank you for sharing those with me though)

That is a great point about gripping too tight -- I know at times I do

Yes, my racquet is the proper grip size - I have a small hand and I use a 4 1/4 size grip (have always been measured by a tennis pro)

I am now using the new Wilson BLX 5 racquet which weighs 9.3 ounces

[gmgpistons]

Hi there, I had a mallet finger injury last September which kept me away from tennis for a few months. It was the same finger...my right pinky finger (i am right-handed). I made the decision to go to the doctor immediately and had to wear a splint for quite some time, followed by physical therapy for about two months. My finger is fully functional now, but it does get sore at times, and fatigues faster now.

My suggestion is to build up the very bottom of your grip so that it takes less effort for your pinky finger to grip. Kind of like how a baseball bat has that large end on it. If that was not there it would be much harder to hold onto the bat while swinging.

What i've been doing is when I wrap my overgrip i go around the very bottom twice instead of once, making the very bottom a little larger than normal. This seems to help me.

[charliefedererer]

Just a thought.

That Wilson BLX 5, like most light racquets (9.3 ounces) is head heavy - in this case 4 pts HH.

I wonder if adding a little lead tape at the bottom of the handle would rebalance the racquet so it wouldn't be so head heavy.

Lead tape is really cheap - so it might be worth a try to see if this helps.

[journeygirl]

Originally Posted by gmgpistons

Hi there, I had a mallet finger injury last September which kept me away from tennis for a few months. It was the same finger...my right pinky finger (i am right-handed). I made the decision to go to the doctor immediately and had to wear a splint for quite some time, followed by physical therapy for about two months. My finger is fully functional now, but it does get sore at times, and fatigues faster now.

My suggestion is to build up the very bottom of your grip so that it takes less effort for your pinky finger to grip. Kind of like how a baseball bat has that large end on it. If that was not there it would be much harder to hold onto the bat while swinging.

What i've been doing is when I wrap my overgrip i go around the very bottom twice instead of once, making the very bottom a little larger than normal. This seems to help me.

Thank you for the suggestion - I will seriously think about doing that! I, too, went to a hand doctor right after it happened and I wore a splint -- unfortunately, after wearing it continuously for many weeks, when the splint came off, the finger had not changed - it did not straighten out and is permanently bent.......

[journeygirl]

Originally Posted by charliefedererer

Just a thought.

That Wilson BLX 5, like most light racquets (9.3 ounces) is head heavy - in this case 4 pts HH.

I wonder if adding a little lead tape at the bottom of the handle would rebalance the racquet so it wouldn't be so head heavy.

Lead tape is really cheap - so it might be worth a try to see if this helps.

Another great suggestion - I will look into this also!! Thank you.