pain in outside of hand (pinky) above wrist

[Brocolt]

Recently I have switched rackets from a Babolat pure drive to a new Wilson Blade 98 (always using a Multi string no polys). I hit for a few weeks no problem then one day I hit with my son for about 3hrs hard and I started to develop a pain in the outside of my hand in the pinky about an inch above the wrist. It almost feels like a broke bone on impact it is right were the racket handle sits in the palm.

Over a year ago I broke my wrist and had to take 8 months off and when I started playing again this is the same spot I would get pain in my hand. I have been playing for the last 6 months or so pain free in the hand and wrist.

Do you think the pain is a result of the new racket? It feels a lot nicer on the arm than my pure drive. Anyone else have this issue switching rackets and any suggestions?

[Hi I'm Ray]

It happens very, very rarely to me, I got that from extremely harsh rackets or if my poly dies/stiffens up too much on court and I end up playing it too long. I've never broken my hand but the pain is in the same area, in the bones of the pinky & ring finger right above the wrist.

Are you mistiming the new frame and framing it or hitting outside the sweetspot often? How high is your tension?

[Brocolt]

I mishit sometimes and that is definately when I feel it most. I have the pain in the hand now throughout the day when I move it just right. It is strung at 54lbs with Discho Mutifibre. Wondering if I need to take a week off or if it is something that will desensitize over time. Will the new blade always agravate it. I thought the blade was going to be easier on the arm than the pure drive. It sure felt nice when I demo it. I can hardly stanf the feel of the Pure drive after playing with the blade for a few weeks.

[TheCheese]

I think I've had similar pain. I've had pain almost everywhere around the wrist.

Does the wrist hurt if you manipulate it when you're not playing tennis? A lot of times for me it's caused by stiffness and if I stretch it out by manipulating my wrist the pain will go away.

[Brocolt]

The wrist does not hurt thru full range of motion but I have point tenderness if I push on the spot.

[Hi I'm Ray]

Yup, that sounds exactly like what I experienced. I felt that for the first time maybe 2-3 months ago, in many years of playing tennis . I was switching to a 2H backhand that I hadn't hit in 12yrs & was kept contacting the ball low in the stringbed where the sweetspot is on very old frames (an old habit I guess) but the Extreme 2.0 Pro I was demoing was very, very harsh there. Was also mishitting that 2hbh every few shots which didn't help. Anyways it is definitely from harsh shocks. It was in my left/non dominant hand but recently I felt it in my right hand from poly that gradually stiffened up while playing. You really should take at least a week off to let it heal or you can do some damage there. I took a 2 week break (got sick anyways) after playing on it for 3 days (counting the first time I felt the slightest hint of discomfort). Most of the pain went away in the first 2-3 days but some pain lingered for 1.5 weeks.

Are you using the 18x20 or 16x19? If the new 18x20 is anything like the previous one, then the sweet spot isn't huge. I think you just need to give your hand some time to heal and adjust your timing & getting used to finding the sweetspot on your new frame.

You can stand to lower the tension a bit too. I don't find multis to be the rocket launchers that most ppl think it will be at lower tenions. I played NRG2 @ 52lbs on a 16x20, 98sq inch in college & did not find control issues. If you have the 18x20 you can go even lower.

[Brocolt]

I have the 16x19 version

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Hi I'm Ray

Yup, that sounds exactly like what I experienced. I felt that for the first time maybe 2-3 months ago, in many years of playing tennis . I was switching to a 2H backhand that I hadn't hit in 12yrs & was kept contacting the ball low in the stringbed where the sweetspot is on very old frames (an old habit I guess) but the Extreme 2.0 Pro I was demoing was very, very harsh there. Was also mishitting that 2hbh every few shots which didn't help. Anyways it is definitely from harsh shocks. It was in my left/non dominant hand but recently I felt it in my right hand from poly that gradually stiffened up while playing. You really should take at least a week off to let it heal or you can do some damage there. I took a 2 week break (got sick anyways) after playing on it for 3 days (counting the first time I felt the slightest hint of discomfort). Most of the pain went away in the first 2-3 days but some pain lingered for 1.5 weeks.

Are you using the 18x20 or 16x19? If the new 18x20 is anything like the previous one, then the sweet spot isn't huge. I think you just need to give your hand some time to heal and adjust your timing & getting used to finding the sweetspot on your new frame.

You can stand to lower the tension a bit too. I don't find multis to be the rocket launchers that most ppl think it will be at lower tenions. I played NRG2 @ 52lbs on a 16x20, 98sq inch in college & did not find control issues. If you have the 18x20 you can go even lower.

Multis can play well between between 50 and 60 depending on a lot of factors to the ideal tension.