Now you are telling me that both middle and ring finger are too long. Please get your span fixed so the EDGE OF THE INSERT WHERE YOUR FINGERS GO INTO THE BALL IS HALF WAY BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND KNUCKLE. I don't need pictures, your ball driller might, it sounds like he has no clue.

Read this: http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/btm03_files/btm3.htm
Then This: http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/btm04_files/btm4.htm
And especially this: http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/btm05_files/btm5.htm

If your span is not right then it doesn't matter what pitches you have in the thumb, you will never get out of the ball properly.

Are you bending your thumb now? If so, that means that you have more than a slight span/pitch/hole size issue.


My thumb is the same way and I don't have a problem. Actually I used to have a problem and I needed to bevel the snot out of the front edge to get out of the ball, but shortening the span fixed it. I didn't shorten it to less than it's supposed to be, but I had a stretched span and that was causing me the problem. Now I just have the edge broken on the ball so that it doesn't cut me.

I also have an oval thumb hole which helps a ton as well.

I have read those articles. Ron C's articles are the reason I got so into the ball fit thing. And then I read what you are saying on these boards and I really got interested in looking for the right fit.

He mentions airways and ventholes, I was wondering if that's really necessary. I'm told that more than 1-2 pieces of tape is affecting span and pitch too much so I'm kinda curious.



That's good to know, I'll talk to my driller.

By the way, does it matter how your hand/fingers lay on the ball after you've put your hand in the ball? It seems like if I shorten my span like you said, my fingers would be raised too much off the ball.

Your fingers should be raised off of the ball. If the fingers are in contact with the ball then your span is stretched. I just had balls done with the correct span from a stretched span and its a lot better on the hand.

This is the gap between my hand and the ball when I pick up the ball like this. The gap is probably more, but it was hard to actually lift the ball in the air and take a picture of it at the same time


And here's a pic that shows where my fingers are. I've probably got my hand stretching just a touch and that's why I'm past center here.

Thats similar to how my new fitting looks. Even with my hand under the ball, the only part of the hand that touches the ball is the base of the index finger, the index finger and the end of the pinkie.

Huh, that's interesting Lefty. I could take a pic of mine but obviously you'd all agree that it's stretched.

However, I mentioned the span thing to my driller today and we took a used ball he had and he punched that up with a bit of a shorter span. My driller was taking me when doing the span test the grip should actually be about 1/4 past the second knuckle instead of 1/4. The ball he drilled was about there on both fingers. He also mentioned that I have a dropped ring finger so my span is 4 1/8 for the ring and 4 3/8 for the middle(if I remember correctly).

He had the pitch at 1/8 forward when we were done and next time he said we'll go to 1/4 because it feels like I'm lossing the ball a little bit in my swing.

The gap between my hand and the ball isn't as big as yours, lefty. I'd say it's half that, maybe more or less. I have some questions for you too. What's your pitch? Do you use any tape in your hole or any other sort of grip accessories, hand conditioner, etc? How relaxed is your hand in that pic?

I actually have an 1/8 reverse, but my span is 4 3/4 and my thumb is over 2 1/2 inches long. I will probably move my thumb pitch to 0.

I use anywhere between 2 and 5 pieces of tape at the front of the thumb hole, depending on weather, time of day (my hand is more swollen in the morning), season, etc. I also use Vice "Hada Patch" tape on the back of my thumb to get out of the ball consistently.

As for how relaxed my hand was, which picture are you talking about?

I mean the one you're holding the ball up in your hand, the first one. In the second one I think that looks fine as long as 1/2 between the knuckles is how it's supposed to be. My driller says that would be a little short for me, and that I should be around 1/4 or so past the first knuckle. Anyways, if going more forward in the test ball doesn't work I guess we'll be forced to try an even shorter span huh?

Oh yeah, and I was wondering if you could show a pic of your ball so I could see how your thumb hole is beveled. I'm wondering if less bevel is necessary to keep the ball on your hand because in some cases less bevel has made the base of my thumb sore. That might be a sign of gripping but that wouldn't be necessary if my pitch/span was right, correct? I'm also wondering if I will know if the fit is right when I put the ball in my hand and hold it to my side, or if it's something I'd have to throw a few times to know.

I was also wondering what color you use. It probably varies for each person though. When you say consistent release do you mean so that you don't hang, come out early, etc on some shots? If you didn't use it, would you struggle with your release? I imagine it also makes the thumb hole smaller because it's about 1/8 inch or so thick I think, so you have to make room in your thumb hole for it, right?