Left hand edge palm soreness

General Discussion
#1

Like I discussed in an earlier post I haven’t been playing a lot of golf over the last 20 years. That has changed much more recently with a lot more practice and playing. Even before this year when I did play golf I would find that when I played I had pain in my left palm. The pain is on the outer edge of my palm just below my pinky finger. I have always assumed this is due to one of the following:

  1. Gripping or tensing my grip either during or before my golf swing
  2. Bad grip
  3. Impact with the ground

I have leaned more towards the first 2 because I typically do not take a divot and my normal swing pattern is to hit the ball on the upswing.

Has anyone else ever had pain there? If so what causes it or any ideas on how to diagnose this better?

#2

Do you have a pretty weak (open) grip with your left hand? I could see how that could lead to some pain there, especially at address. Could also explain why you tend to cast and get a little scoopy.

#3

I have been spending some time gripping and re-gripping with my left hand. I have always thought that my left hand grip was neutral to weak. This was on purpose. Where I played when I was growing up, you wanted to hit a fade. Left was mostly trouble. I also watched some videos to recalibrate by today’s standards what that terminology meant. The game as far as the grip hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years.

I have always tried to put the grip of my left hand more in my fingers and make sure I have the thumb extended down the shaft. After spending some time looking at how I grip today, it appears I have gotten away from that. My grip is more in the palm of my hand than in the fingers. It is only a slight shift, but it has shifted.

As I hit balls more I will do some experimenting to see if they helps.

Thanks for the suggestion.