Cal, you mean every ball is 1/2" too long in span? How can that happen?

No wonder you strain to bowl.

I just came back to the game after 28 years and I'll be working on my fundamentals all summer: grip, stance, approach, release, hitting my mark, etc. I'll be using a plastic ball and will be concentrating on hitting my target consistently. I'll be doing this at as many different houses as I can so that I don't get too comfortable with one particular lane condition. If all goes well, I might even join a league in the fall.

I'm pretty sure it will be every ball. The one that is there now is the only ball that was drilled by a different person than all of my other equipment. It was copied from a ball that all the rest were drilled or re-drilled by the same guy. When the original adjusted span and pitches from last summer were done I didn't know that much about properly fitted ball and it felt good. It was shortened at that point too, but I think I would stretch my hand some and it wouldn't be that noticeable. I could have also been not putting my thumb all the way in at first. I think some of the thumbs were a bit snug and I couldn't get the thumb in all the way to the base of the thumb either which allow the hand to not seem so stretched out.

I wrote this little speech on targeting earlier. Well then I went bowling. I focused on hitting my targets, had some good balls and others??? Once I figured out my timing had gotten early and fixed that, the accuracy improved. I take 5 steps and if I get too quick taking my 2nd.step leading the ball out and down to soon I get the ball too early and feel rushed at the line. My normal timing needs to be working and when I feel a good slide then I will be ok.These things can sneak up on you.Those of you lucky enough to have a coach be sure you understand the difference between early and late timing. Timing can be the cause of a lot of our bad shots, fast feet,pulling to left and too far to the right ect. So I guess my summer project is keeping good timing and improving accuracy.Can't have one without the other. Also try to have fun!
Dianne

I know how that early timing can affect a bowler. I had a time earlier this season with early timing and my ball was constantly left of target by several boards, but I had less on the ball so it would still hit the pocket most of the time, just skidding as it got there most of the time. I've never seen a righty leave a 5-8-10 while hitting the pocket, and I did it twice in three weeks as well as some 5-10 and 5-7 splits. This has been just one strange season as I've seen three different bowlers leave the 5-7-10, and one of them was me.

Cal, that sounds like a pretty good shop, do yourself a favor and do not squeeze the ball when you try it for the first time, just let it swing and tell the guy if it feels like it is slipping. It would suck to have to do all of those balls plugged and redrilled more than once.

This is what I have been telling you, it is an epidemic with ball drillers in my area, they can't get over the fact that stretching the span is wrong.

NYDave, you don't need to worry about lane conditions with a plastic ball, they are all going to play the same, lane conditions matter if you are throwing one of the modern hook monster balls which I still think you would do better with even a low end one just because it is a different game and you might as well learn to play it.

Wow Dianne, that is great, most people can never tell if their timing is early or late at least without a video camera. There are several things that affect timing beyond starting the ball in motion at the right point:

1. bad fitting ball causing you to control your swing and walk robotically to the line.

2. forcing the swing

3. Fast feet

You can video tape yourself from the side to check your timing. Your timing is right when the ball is at the bottom of the down swing on the second step of a 4 step delivery, at the top of the back swing on the third step and your foot has come to a complete stop and are in a stable balanced position at the line before you release the ball.

Jim, I had a good feeling about this shop when I went in there around January looking at some of the old Urethanes they have in there for sale, and today confirmed it for me. The guy said he wouldn't drill a ball for someone they have never sold a ball to without watching the person bowl, a first for me and I've used 5 different shops since I started hooking and then a different one from before I started hooking. I think this is because they have an Armadillo and layout using the PAP. Others have looked at the Track but never actually measured anything other than the grip layout. Since these balls are already drilled and its just making them fit right they didn't need to see me bowl. When this shop first opened, as it took over the space of a different shop that was having problems with the center management(AMF), I was a bit weary of it when I heard the price for a ball and that didn't include drilling. Of course these balls were Lane #1.

I will try my best not to squeeze, its been something I've been working on with the current grips but it's hit and miss due to the stretch and amount of tape in some of the balls to try to give me a snug thumb.

As for getting all the balls done, thats why I want to start with just a couple to get things right. The first ball getting done is the Liberator. I've never been able to really use it between the span and the inserts being too large and I'm sure I'll love it once I can use it without any fit issues. I had six balls with me in case they wanted to check out any of the others. Those included my plastic ball, the Groove, my beloved Purple Ogre, the Radical Inferno, and the Jazz that has the same issue as the Liberator. My Scorchin' Inferno I've been think of cutting for a while since its reaction is inconsistent like my Absolute. Both balls are over two years old and well used. That leaves the Fury and Super Carbide which I rarely use, the Fury isn't quite stacked leverage with at 500 and the Carbide is leverage with a weight hole and I think at 500, maybe even 360 as I might not had time to take it up last time I used the spinner. Oil and lots of it is needed for those two, and thats why I don't use them much.