This year has been a big struggle after taking a few years off from bowling. I haven't had a comfortable swing all year but not until the last month or two have I really tried to improve om things so I can take my bowling to another level, hopefully. I posted a thread a few weeks ago about rolling over my thumb and finger holes, which was fixed for a week or so, but now i'm back to it again. I've been trying to study and read all the information I can, and take notes from other people's critique threads, but i'm struggle quite a bit. Although I'm looking into finding a coach, I would like any imput I can get.
Thanks



The video is a little dark, and that was the best angle I could get, because of the lighting to one side and a team on the other.

madaba, the first thing I noticed was your timing. Your feet get to the line ahead of the ball. You then pull the ball through to catch up, pulling it across in the meantime. You also seem to grip the ball by hanging on to it too long resulting in a late loft.

I see your biggest problem is that you follow the ball down from the push away. As the ball drops into the swing, so does your upper body, you have to let the ball swing from your shoulder and not with your upper body. The usual reason for this is a ball that doesn't fit your hand so that it will hang onto your hand instead of you having to squeeze it to hang onto it.

When I see people who follow the ball down with their upper body, they have trust issues and control issues mentally, they have trouble just letting the ball swing without helping it along. The usual culprit is a bad fit with too much reverse pitch in the thumb hole. What happens if they just relax their hand and swing the ball from the shoulder, the ball falls off their hand, this causes them to squeeze and catch the ball so it doesn't fall off their hand, and is a never ending cycle until they get their grip fixed.

I know my thumb has a reverse pitch of 3/16", what would you suggest I go to? I have a span of 4-1/2" / 4-5/8" to the middle of my 1st and 2nd knuckle.
I really appreciate the comments/help

When I had my thumb pitch looked at by my driller, I asked him what the current pitch was. He told me it was something reverse( I don't remember exact number). I told him I wanted to try some more forward pitch in the thumb to free up my armswing. He looked at my thumb and told me I could goto 1/2" forward. I love it now and it seems to have improved my grip a bunch. The forward pitch in your thumb is dependent on your specific thumb so, I would have a trusted driller look at your thumb and suggest a pitch.

I was reading a website or in an BTM article, don't remember which, and it suggested that most people can goto 1/2" forward with a little bit of coaching. I think it was Ron Clifton but, I'm not sure.

I know Ron C recommends having a foward pitch. Should I try to make a big jump to 1/4" foward, for example, or try moving up in small increments?

I have not seen anyone that couldn't get out of 3/8 forward, so I would start there, you need to keep going forward with the thumb until your thumb hangs in the hole, then back off 1/8". You can go forward in smaller increments, but it will take longer and cost you more money and you will probably still end up at least 3/8" forward or more by the time you are done.

I have found that 3/8" forward gives you a good starting point and prevents you from knuckling the thumb in just a few shots, after that your hand will learn to relax, then the thumb might start slipping again, when this happens you need to go at least another 1/8 to 1/4 forward. Just make sure your span is right, it may measure out different than it fits, so make sure your fingernails aren't pressing into the back of the finger holes, if they are, shorten the span a little.

One more reminder that if and when you go forward, relax your hand and make sure you don't knuckle the ball or you will injure yourself, so be careful the first few shots maybe do a one step delivery until you get comfortable with it.

I appreciate the help Jim. I will hopefully try and have one done this week or weekend. I will post back with the results and new a vid to see where I need to go from here.

Be careful I don't want to see you with a Hammer ball for a hat. If it comes off your hand one time then the next time it hangs, that is because you squeezed it, you may experience this for a while until your subconscious stops squeezing the ball. Good Luck and post a video, good or bad so I can see how you are doing.

Ok, Will do
Thank You