Good to know igonto. At the very least, I feel like I'm getting somewhere with my fit. A few tweaks with my span and thumb pitch, maybe a couple other things, and I should be good to go.

I'm wondering how short is actually too short. I read in an article by Ron C that there's a safe zone. And as long as you're within that zone you won't injure yourself. But I'm sure there's still the optimal span. I just find it really hard to find that span becauseI'm probably putting my hand on the Bill Taylor wrong so I don't get it accurate(like you have to put your have on it an exact way). For example, the middle finger hole that's midway between my first two creases at the edge is one distance but when I use the Bill Taylor I'm too far off that. That's why I feel it's more trial and error(for me anyways).

The only problem I haven't had is actual bleeding. I have ripped skin and it becomes unbearable to bowl.

Yes, they're molded slugs, but they have to be cut down when you use them because they sit up higher than the surface of the ball. What about the bevel strikes you as odd? It was just quickly hit with a flap sander and then I used a workout tool on it very lightly on the front edge. It's as smooth and shiny as it is from how much it gets used.

Amateur, the pic you posted shows a span that is at least 1/2" too long. The edge of the grip is right at the first crease, it needs to be no longer than 1/2 way between the first and 2nd.

That's about as stretched as mine used to be. The weird shape my thumb was getting has actually gone down since I got mine fixed.

My current span was done off of the Bill Taylor Ball Fit disk. Only the middle finger was done on this. Then the guy had me just lay my hand across a ball to get my fingers contoured to the same shape of the ball and then measured from mid line to mid line and subtracted that measurement from the middle finger span for the ring finger span. With a relaxed hand the edge of the inserts fall right at those points when doing the span test which was the first thing we did on one of my old balls when I walked into the shop. I guess its a matter of someone knowing what they are doing.

After my driller drills a thumb hole, he puts the ball on the tape and uses the bevel sander to make the hole bigger in the right areas so that the bowler's thumb can fit inside. Between the bevel sander going in and out of the thumb hole, it becomes quite a bit more beveled than the slug you're using now, but there's still more than the other one. Except for the pre-made slug my driller showed me yesterday, I've never seen a thumb hole with that kinda bevel. the amount of bevel I normally see is more than that but less than the one you don't use anymore.



Yeah, I agree with you. How much shorter can it be than 1/2 though? I know there's such a thing as too short as well. Also, your thumb wasprobably swollen and wide huh? I'm hoping with the right fit and not having to grip very much will decrease it and make it look more normal.



So the Bill Taylor was accurate for your middle finger? Then you just used an actual ball to measure the difference in span, pretty good technique. I was having a hard time doing that; what did you use to measure the difference? A span ruler wasn't really working for me because my fingers were always in the way, but I think I figured out how to do it now. But anyways, even the Bill Taylor was off on my middle finger when I compared it to the ball the has the edge at midway betwen the creases.

I didn't do it but the Pro Shop guy did, I just followed his orders. The ball was just used to have my fingers the same contour of a ball and then I lifted it off of the ball holding the fingers at that contour. He used a pin to mark both creases on both fingers then used the span ruler to measure the mid way point and then used the pin to mark that point on both fingers before even starting to use the Bill Taylor. You can have a span that is too short and it causes some of the same problems as too long, and then has some issues of its own.

On the topic of bevel, usually a bevel knife is used before the sander. The sander just rounds off an sharp edges that are left.

Ah, so you actually got your fingers to the same contour of the ball and then put your hand on the Bill Taylor? I'm curious what that does as opposed to holding your fingers together out straight. Does it really change the distance between the first crease of your fingers? And just for clarification, do you have your fingers together or spread apart naturally when you measure the distance from midway to midway?

Sometimes my driller doesn't use the bevel knife and just lets the sander do it. Comes out pretty smooth too, appears to be close to how much bevel you use Cal because it's in between the ones Lefty showed us.

No, the Bill Taylor was used on the middle finger, as far as I know of its similar to the contour of the ball. My thumb was put in and just let the middle finger go around it. Then with the middle finger we did the contour. It does change it from being completely straight. The fingers were close together. My thumb hole on the new set up is pretty close to being right in the middle of the finger holes. My old grip had it offset under the middle finger.

You can put the sander in the hole before you turn it on and then sand it. You really shouldn't be trying to make the hole bigger. You drill it to the right size and then sand it to make sure it's smooth.

I know guys who don't use slugs and don't bevel the edge at all. Their finger and thumb holes are sharp.

This is true. I actually think he catches the top edge of the thumb hole with the sander on purpose. I don't know how much bevel is necessary for me though. Is there something I can go by or is it just trial and error? And will more bevel be enough to make it so I have to grip the ball even though the pitch is correct?

By the way, in regards to span, there's another method I'm hearing about. If the first crease of your fingers are halfway or so through the finger holes(when you put your thumb in and lay your fingers over the holes) that's a correct span, is the other method. However, if people went by this, wouldn't the edge of the hole only reach somewhere around 1/4 between the two creases? Out of curiosity, where did people get that idea from and why isn't it used instead of the span test you guys are all going by?

Also, with the experimental ball my driller is using to find my right fit, doing the pencil test seems off. My middle finger meets the edge at midway, but my ring finger isn't there yet(about 3/16 or 1/4 too short). Even so, when I do the pencil test it seems like there's too much room for a pencil. I haven't tried it, but I think I can fit my index finger in there. Is there something wrong with this?