# What causes hands to sting on poorly struck golf shots/batted balls when its Cold?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hands-to-sting-on-poorly-struck-golf-shots-batted-balls-when-its-cold/646364>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 7, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hands-to-sting-on-poorly-struck-golf-shots-batted-balls-when-its-cold/646364 "2013-01-07T17:24:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hands-to-sting-on-poorly-struck-golf-shots-batted-balls-when-its-cold/646364/1 "2013-01-07T17:24:43Z")

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Most of us who played baseball or golf have experienced the painful sting from a poor contact. And the pain seems to get exponentially worse as the temperature drops.

I have not played baseball in years but I remember getting my hand stung with wooden bats, not so much with aluminum bats especially in cooler temperature

But I have played a lot of golf in 40-50 deg temperatures and I get the same pain when I struck an iron thinly.

What vibrations are transmitted through the golf club/bat to my hands to magnify the ‘sting’ so intensely?

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**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hands-to-sting-on-poorly-struck-golf-shots-batted-balls-when-its-cold/646364/2 "2013-01-07T19:07:05Z")

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As tempertures drop, all the cushioning materials stiffen. You can google vibration dampners for temperature effect. On a golf club, the adhesives, tape, and grip composition all stiffen. The grip has the most effect. On a human level, your hand gets reduced circulation and less dampening between the grip and bone/nerves. Less blood = not so fluffy fingers. There is a condition related to this called Raynauds Syndrome. They make special gloves for sufferers.

I wear thicker gloves and use my graphite shafted irons in the winter. I also have some nifty microwaveable hand warmers that work well for the first 5/6 holes each nine.

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**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hands-to-sting-on-poorly-struck-golf-shots-batted-balls-when-its-cold/646364/3 "2013-01-07T19:14:21Z")

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There is something for sure that makes nerves send stronger pain signals when cold.

Where I have noticed this the most is when working on cars in the cold. When a wrench slips and your cold hand slams into a automotive frame member it hurts WAY more than in the summer.

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-hands-to-sting-on-poorly-struck-golf-shots-batted-balls-when-its-cold/646364/4 "2013-01-07T19:27:39Z")

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It also helps to make sure you’re hitting at the Sweet Spot if you want to avoid stinging hands:

[http://www.angelfire.com/ia3/littleleaguerules/sweetspot.htm](http://www.angelfire.com/ia3/littleleaguerules/sweetspot.htm)

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They always told me this was the same as the _Center of Percussion_, but the Wiki page castrs doubt on that:

> **[Center of percussion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_of_percussion)**
>
> The center of percussion is the point on an extended massive object attached to a pivot where a perpendicular impact will produce no reactive shock at the pivot. Translational and rotational motions cancel at the pivot when an impulsive blow is struck at the center of percussion. The center of percussion is often discussed in the context of a bat, racquet, door, sword or other extended object held at one end.
> The same point is called the center of oscillation for the object suspended from th...