Serious bowlers, how do you keep your arm from hurting?
Let it be known, I'm a filthy casual. The filthiest of casuals. I enjoy the sport of bowling, but I admit I've never been particularly good at it. I think the best score I've ever had was about 150.
I used to bowl for an hour or so almost every weekend, but I stopped for a couple years. Nowadays, I go bowling about every 6 months or so, or just whenever I'm bored on a day off since the alleys here run good weekday specials. I'm trying to get back into it.
I don't know what exactly happened, but nowadays, after bowling about one game, my middle finger starts to hurt and swell, and the pain goes up my entire right arm. My arm is then sore for weeks. I feel like this probably isn't supposed to happen. Maybe my mistake here is that I acknowledge that I'm in pain, I'm dropping the ball and leaving frames open because of it, but then I still bowl for another hour.
I admit my technique isn't the best, I don't really know how to describe it, though I have followed YouTube how-tos and at least try to emulate the pros. As for a ball, I just use the crappy house balls, and I almost always have a hard time finding one that's comfortable to use long term. I'm the jerk bowling alone with a full ball return.
Is this a technique issue, a ball issue, or something else entirely? Could it be because I try to launch the ball as hard as I can every time I go up (like I said, my technique sucks)? Is this a matter of just bowling more often and getting my body used to it again?