If you are like many amateur golfers you are likely hitting the golf ball improperly. Almost everyone that plays golf at the amateur level is doing something wrong in their swing. That is why we have days we simply cannot “find our swing”. Unfortunately, unless you have an unlimited budget and all the time in the world, you are always going to have problems with your swing. These problems likely cause different parts of your body to hurt. The most common part of the body that hurts after playing golf is the hands and fingers.

You will need a proper backswing if you want to reduce pain in your hands, back or legs in the golf swing. Here is the proper backswing:

If you find that your ring finger on your right hand hurts after playing a round or two of golf, you are not alone. This is a common issue. One of the reasons it is an issue is the fact that many amateur golfers sit on a computer all day typing. This alone will put stress on their fingers without have the vibrations of hitting a golf ball add on to the stress.

As far as the golf swing, it is likely the case that you are toeing the ball or striking the ground at or before impact causing your hands to jar when you actually hit the ball. Instead of it feeling pure it feels more like a clank. If you tend to hit a lot of weak shots to the right or thin shots, you are not hitting the ball correctly.

The most common issue is the amateur golfer raises up on their downswing. When they rise at impact the toe of the club goes straight into the ground and bounces into the ball. You can see what I am describing in this video:

The way to fix this is to get the hands lower as they are coming down. There are numerous drills for this but think about your hands being at knee level or lower when you get the club back to parallel before getting through impact. Almost all amateur golfers have their hands too high when they get to the bottom of their downswing. In essence, your hands should be so low it feels as if there is almost no way you can get the club through impact without digging a huge ditch. Trust me when I tell you that you won’t dig a ditch as your body will naturally react and get the club through impact.

If you are having issues with your ring finger on your right hand, you must learn to hit the ball correctly and not toe it and hit those lazy shots to the right. You may also find that you almost never hit your driver on the sweet spot. This is something that will be fixed by getting your hands lower when bringing the club back down in the downswing.

While this video is not the best quality, it is the best video I have found to illustrate how important it is to get the hands low in the downswing to create power.