Then what he is doing is NOT bevelling your thumb hole. Just because he's using the bevel sander doesn't mean that what he's doing is bevelling your thumb hole. Bevelling is rounding off the sharp edge of the thumb hole.

When you're asking your question "how much bevel do I need?" or "how much bevel do you have?" I think that you're really wanting to know how much adjustment should be (or has been) made to my (your) thumb hole with the bevel sander.

These adjustments are very personal and change with each bowler. That question can only be answered by yourself, working closely with your ball driller.

As regards to span, the method for fingertip drill to say that the first crease should be in the middle of the hole was taught back in the day (when everyone had a stretched span because they needed to 'hit up' on the ball). Because people no longer need to 'hit up' on the ball, the stretched span was found to have more inconveniences and was left by the way side in favour of a relaxed span where the edge of the grip should be midway between the first two creases.

When I first started bowling (ah, the good ole days....) finger grips didn't exist. The finger holes where only drilled as deep as you needed them. Because of this it was impossible to put your fingers too deep into the finger holes. This is why, now, you should always ensure that your thumb goes completely into the thumb hole because if it is not correctly inserted, then you may have your fingers inserted too far into the finger holes, causing inumberable problems.

I refer to it as bevelling because by the time he's done there's no more sharp edge. I could be wrong and I could just be missing him using the knife, but I don't think that's the case.



And my fingers don't even go that far. So I'm stretched by another 3/16 to 5/16 or so(depending on the finger) from what you already consider stretched. That doesn't seem too stretched though. That puts the leading edge of the finger holes at about 1/4 past the first crease of the fingers. And when I think of the pencil test, that method seems right, and according to the guy that brought it up his span is relaxed(using that method)

If you're using a stretched grip now then you're doing the right thing in trying to get a more relaxed grip. You could probably use it stretched OK because you're only 19 years of age, but watch out when you get older!

When I returned to bowling after a long layoff (in 2005) I asked my driller for a stretched grip (because it was all I knew about) and I could effectively bowl well with it but wow, the pain in my hand the next day. I quickly went back to him and asked hime to put me a 'relaxed grip' on my ball like he had advised me in the first place!

Jock is right. The span measurement method you described is an old and outdated method that will cause you problems.

All right. So now I just gotta figure out the right span for me. By the way, if you use grips, are you supposed to make the span shorter the make up for the thickness of the grips? I would guess no but I have to be sure.

It doesn't matter where you measure, as long as it's consistent. There's a "cut to cut" span. There's an "edge of finger hole to edge of thumb hole" span. As long as you note whatever it is you're measuring, so that when you drill a new one you can drill it the same, it doesn't matter what method you use.

All right. I'm sure my driller always measures by the edge of the holes. I'm going in today and hopefully we'll be finding the exact right span at least. Pitch might take a couple tries.

So I just got back from the Pro Shop. Don't know my span but now I'm too the point where I'm very close to passing the span test. The ring finger is good and the middle finger needs to be lenthned back up by 1/16 or 1/8, and we'll be good to go as long as it stays consistent.

I had 3/8 forward in the thumb and still had to squeeze a bit. We're going to try 1/2 forward but it's likely that I'm going to need more, probably 5/8. Does this seem like too much and out of the norm or does it seem like I'm on Track?

JUMPS UP AND DOWN IN EXCITEMENT, thank you for finally getting it fixed.

My span is 3/4" longer than yours and I am at 1/2" forward, so don't be surprised if you don't end up at 3/4" or more forward, you need to learn to feel if the ball is slipping from your hand and if you are squeezing the ball to hang onto it, if so then go 1/4" more forward until you don't have to squeeze it and the ball still comes off your thumb clean, if you hang up in the ball, make sure you are not squeezing the thumb before you move the pitch back 1/8.

Post back and let me know how it goes.

Hey Jim, quick question about the span test. I've had some troubles staying consistent with it(sometimes I don't go as far as I should or I go too short with the fingers). So I was wondering if this would be a good way to do it: Put your hand in the ball like normal and then take your fingers out with the thumb still all the way in and lay them over the holes. If I do that I know I'll have the same result every time.

Other than that I normally try to keep my hand firm so it's not so relaxed that it appears stretched, but so that I'm not actually stretching the hand. I judge the firmness by poking the skin at the base of my skin to feel for loose vs tight. This way seems to work okay but I'm iffy on it as I don't feel consistent in my ability to position my hand the same every time.