I agree with Coach Jim; it sounds like a case of a bad fitting grip. Seriously, I think you should go back to your Pro Shop and have them correct your grip fit. Adding tape when your span or the pitch angle of your thumb is incorrect is only a stopgap measure. Once your grip is set up properly, you'll be able to work on eliminating the kung fu death grip i.e., squeezing the ball and achieving the free armswing. This will positively affect & improve your timing, release, speed and accuracy. Also, try to avoid overturning your wrist; it won't necessary if you can keep your hand behind the ball and finish with a ring finger lead.

First, great response, yeehayashi.

Second, confused, most people seem to like white tape in the front if they want more of a secure grippy feeling, and black tape in the back if they want a tighter feel with a cleaner release. I do black, on the side of my thumb and back my thumb, alternating between pieces. In the end, once you get your pitches right, it comes down to personal preference. Also, if you go for black tape, get the Ebonite stuff. The "Bowlers tape" version is terrible.

To add to what cg said, when taping a ball, the white tape is three or four times thicker than the black tape, so if you need to build up tape in the back of the hole, to tighten the thumb, do it with the white tape then put a piece of black tape over the white for comfort.

If you build up the tape to the point where the hole is so tight that you have to force your thumb in the hole, and the ball still feels like it is slipping from your hand to the point that you have to squeeze the thumb, then you are going to have to start pitching the thumb toward the palm 1/4" at a time, until you get to the point where you hang in the thumb, then you back off 1/8". This may take some time to get it right and several trips to Pro Shop. I have found that pretty much everyone can get out of a 3/8" forward thumb pitch as long as they don't squeeze the thumb, so you may want to start there, the only exception being is if you have an unusually long thumb, longer than 2 1/2".

So when I push of the ball from my fingers, am I suppose to exert more force from my ring or middle finger?

Confused: try focusing on using more pressure on the ring finger. Leading with the ring finger allows your hand stay behind the ball during your armswing. You also need to avoid muscling the armswing, just let gravity do its thing and be sure to follow through long & low. The long follow through will give your wrist the right amount of moderate revs that will be good on most lane conditions. If the lanes are extremely dry or oily you may need to reduce or increase your rev rate. There are good books by John Jowdy that really explain the ring finger lead and armswing.

Also, there is great info on Ron Clifton's and Joe Slowinski's websites which covers ways to alter your rev rates. Clifton's website is www.bowl4fun.com. Slowinski's site is www.bowlingknowledge.info. Also, Coach Jim's advice on the use of bowling tape is on the money. I use one piece of white tape on the pad side of my thumb and one strip of white tape as a base and two strips of black tape on top of the strip of white tape on the back side of my thumb.

yeehayashi, I don't remember you posting before, obviously you have, so let me welcome you to the site, great advice so far, you will save me a bunch of typing.

Confused, I'm not sure your ball fits, so check that first and fix your grip either with tape or thumb pitch before you go messing around with advanced releases and hurt yourself. Post back and let me know what you did to fix the thumb so you don't have to knuckle it to hang on. Word of warning, if you try leading with the ring finger and turning your hand at the bottom of the swing if your thumb has not released the ball before your wrist rolls around the ball, you risk injuring your wrist and hand tendons.

Thanks for the answers. I'll try going to a Pro Shop asap. Unfortunately, I wont be able to bowl until Friday, so hopefully I'll post a video of my release and stuff.

Thanks CoachJim. I've been following this site for at least a couple of years. I really appreciate all the insight & knowledge you've provided here on the site. I've gotten lots of great feedback from you, Erin, CGeorge etc and it has really helped me improve my game.

I totally understand Confused's challenges because I had to work through all those same issues. My first ball was drilled poorly which caused me to develop tennis elbow, callouses, etc. It wasn't until I found an excellent Pro Shop with IBPSIA certified techs that I got the right fit and started to learn to deliver the ball properly. I still have lots to work on but really love the sport.

This is only true of the Bowler's tape kind of black tape. Ebonite's black tape is as thick as white tape, and very rigid as well, which makes it very easy to add and remove. Once you try it, you will hate the site of that red and white box.