I had the same pain; turned out to be tendonitis.
I dropped the ring finger span by 1/8", making both finger spans equal. (5" & 5 1/8" to 5" and 5") This made the grip feel loose and uncoordinated.
I had to compensate for this by tucking my pinky, only up to the first joint. Since the tendons for the ring finger and the pinky work together, this tightened my grip just barely enough to make the grip now feel comfortable again.

Been doing this for 12 - 15 years or so now. I carry a set of Steel Fingers with me, just in case, the pain re-occurs, but it hasn't.

Until you have this (dropped ring finger) done or some other fix to stop this pain, I strongly suggest using a set of Steel fingers to reduce the potential for ongoing or permanent injury.
http://steelfingers.com/

FYI See a doctor and make sure of the cause of the pain, before doing anything else!! Unless you're sure of the cause, any cure is just a stab in the dark.

Quote from: charlest on March 22, 2017, 08:26:49 AM

I had the same pain; turned out to be tendonitis.
I dropped the ring finger span by 1/8", making both finger spans equal. (5" & 5 1/8" to 5" and 5") This made the grip feel loose and uncoordinated.
I had to compensate for this by tucking my pinky, only up to the first joint. Since the tendons for the ring finger and the pinky work together, this tightened my grip just barely enough to make the grip now feel comfortable again.

Been doing this for 12 - 15 years or so now. I carry a set of Steel Fingers with me, just in case, the pain re-occurs, but it hasn't.

Until you have this (dropped ring finger) done or some other fix to stop this pain, I strongly suggest using a set of Steel fingers to reduce the potential for ongoing or permanent injury.
http://steelfingers.com/

FYI See a doctor and make sure of the cause of the pain, before doing anything else!! Unless you're sure of the cause, any cure is just a stab in the dark.

This season I started tucking my pinky because I feel I get a much better grip and release. I will be getting a doctors opinion in a few weeks once the season ends. I'll wait till I got his thoughts before making the change.

I recommend that you have your "pro" actually measure the distance of BOTH fingers when drilling a ball. There are some drillers out there that only measure the middle  finger. This is a hold over from conventional grip day when the ring finger span was a little longer than the middle finger. I have seen this happen much too often. I find that my ring finger is a little shorter than my middle.  My span is actually 4-3/4 x 4-5/8.

Quote from: AlonzoHarris on March 22, 2017, 01:41:07 PM

Quote from: strikeking12 on March 22, 2017, 01:22:46 PM

I recommend that you have your "pro" actually measure the distance of BOTH fingers when drilling a ball. There are some drillers out there that only measure the middle  finger. This is a hold over from conventional grip day when the ring finger span was a little longer than the middle finger. I have seen this happen much too often. I find that my ring finger is a little shorter than my middle.  My span is actually 4-3/4 x 4-5/8.

He did. I remember us running through the two fingers measurements individually. I'm wondering if since I switched to tucking my pinky, and I tuck it to the second joint not just the first, that maybe I've created a less than healthy alteration. I'll have to run this discussion with him as well next week for his thoughts.

Is a 1/16th adjustment very noticeable?

That was my other thought: if you're using the pinky tuck, maybe 1/16" would be enough to reduce the pain and stress.

Yes, 1/16" is noticeable. I am not saying this to brag but one ball my PSO drilled felt slightly short to me. I used it a few times and it just didn't feel right. I took it back to him and remeasured it 3 or 4 times in front of me before telling me the ring finger span was off 1/32", as near as he could tell. Needless to say I didn't ask him to fix it; it was too slight, too small to ask him to do that.

Quote from: charlest on March 22, 2017, 01:50:17 PM

Quote from: AlonzoHarris on March 22, 2017, 01:41:07 PM

Quote from: strikeking12 on March 22, 2017, 01:22:46 PM

I recommend that you have your "pro" actually measure the distance of BOTH fingers when drilling a ball. There are some drillers out there that only measure the middle  finger. This is a hold over from conventional grip day when the ring finger span was a little longer than the middle finger. I have seen this happen much too often. I find that my ring finger is a little shorter than my middle.  My span is actually 4-3/4 x 4-5/8.

He did. I remember us running through the two fingers measurements individually. I'm wondering if since I switched to tucking my pinky, and I tuck it to the second joint not just the first, that maybe I've created a less than healthy alteration. I'll have to run this discussion with him as well next week for his thoughts.

Is a 1/16th adjustment very noticeable?

That was my other thought: if you're using the pinky tuck, maybe 1/16" would be enough to reduce the pain and stress.

Yes, 1/16" is noticeable. I am not saying this to brag but one ball my PSO drilled felt slightly short to me. I used it a few times and it just didn't feel right. I took it back to him and remeasured it 3 or 4 times in front of me before telling me the ring finger span was off 1/32", as near as he could tell. Needless to say I didn't ask him to fix it; it was too slight, too small to ask him to do that.

Interesting, I'm surprised you noticed 1/32" difference. I guess when we get accustomed to a very particular feel, the smallest of differences are noticed. I'll discuss a 1/16" change with him and go from there for the drilling aspect.

Still planning on the doctor opinion as well.

What about altering pitches? Did you venture down that road too?