Pain in Pinkie

[hanoncs]

I'm new to bagging and have been going strong for 5 days now, I'm becoming much faster. The thing is my pinkie has started hurting when I strech it back and it's a little swelled. I have been using no wraps or gloves. My bag is big but the packaging says medium(4210 Everlast). The only thing I could think of is the bag is to inflated. Any ideas?

[Speedbag]

I'm new to bagging and have been going strong for 5 days now, I'm becoming much faster. The thing is my pinkie has started hurting when I strech it back and it's a little swelled. I have been using no wraps or gloves. My bag is big but the packaging says medium(4210 Everlast). The only thing I could think of is the bag is to inflated. Any ideas?

The Everlast 4210 is an 11x8 but seems to be bigger than that with a broad fat belly. Your pickie pain could be from over inflation. If the bag is over filled it will be too hard and feel like hitting a brick. The outer edge of the pickie is located on the side of the hand, which takes a lot of contact during a workout. You should be able to hold the bag and press in with your thumbs, feeling the bag give a bit. When you hit, you should also see and feel a bit of give in the outer wall.

It could also be that your are punching with a loose fist, and the pinkie is banging into the ring finger. I used to get that a lot, and the pain would be on the inward side of the pinkie finger middle joint. This loose fist punching can also be made worse by doing it on an over inflated bag. I have had it bad enough that I would wrap a piece of gauze around the joints of the pinkie and ring finger, padding both. I also found a lot of Downward Triple Elbow Strikes would aggravate it, because the third contact part in the technique is the 2nd fist coming downward into the bag, hitting the point of that middle pinkie knuckle. If you do this with a loose fist, you can predict that area will be irritated.

The best defense to this is hand protection, preferrably hand wraps that hold the fingers tight togther. After the pain starts, I personally did not find hand wraps helped. At that point only rest would let it subside for me. You can also toughen your hands to repetitive speed bag punching by starting out (beginner) hitting easy and letting the hands adapt over time. When new folks start out by pounding a bag as hard as they can, they really increase the odds for finger and hand pain.

Good luck and back off a bit if it keeps getting worse. I think it is better to quit for a while and let it heal than to try and adapt your hand positions while punching to avoid hitting that finger. That can cause some bad movement habits that are hard to break down the road.

[hanoncs]

Thank You Very Much, Do you make a real fist or one like with boxing gloves on? I'll make sure to check the pressure. I have wraps i'll try, If that doesn't work i'll just have to take a break...............Do you know of a cheap pressure guage that will work with needles?

[Tim]

............Do you know of a cheap pressure guage that will work with needles?

You can probably go by feel, which is what I do. The bag should have some give to it. It shouldn't be like punching a rock. Anywhere in that range should be fine.

If you lay off for a few days hopefully your hand will get better quickly. Also make sure you aren't over using that part of your hand. Are you hitting with front straight punches, front circle punches, etc? That's helps spread the stress throughout a workout. See the diagram here for some details on the points of contact on the fist: http://www.speedbagcentral.com/ssp/introduction (scroll down a bit)

[Jordan]

You can also find a pressure gauge on a lot of pumps actually, just go to your local sporting goods store

[spinsmashpop]

The thing is my pinkie has started hurting when I strech it back and it's a little swelled. Any ideas?

I would just get rid of thing. Pinkies are pretty overrated anyhow! They usually get in the way! You will be the first on your block to say "Gimme 4" and "High 4" with true meaning!
Leave the knuckle though; you'll still need that for bag control!

Haha.... this is pretty funny to me right now.....
Anyhow.... I had similar problems. You just need to wrap it or wear gloves for a bit. Ice it down and even soak it in some Epsom salt if it is real bothersome.

I accidentally punched a cymbal too close to the center of it with my bare fist last year. (The punching was intentional, hitting too close to the center was not.) My pinkie knuckle swelled up something ridiculous! I thought I broke it but it was just a bone bruise. I had to wrap up for weeks due to this. The knuckle is now pretty much permanently nearly double the size of the other one, but it is fine.
Just don't bag in pain and protect it!
BAG ON!

[hanoncs]

I would just get rid of thing. Pinkies are pretty overrated anyhow! They usually get in the way! You will be the first on your block to say "Gimme 4" and "High 4" with true meaning!
Leave the knuckle though; you'll still need that for bag control
BAG ON!

Funny Stuff, Thanks guys

[Speedbag]

.. be the first on your block to say "Gimme 4"

HA! that's hilarious. I'm trying real hard to control myself on this one...