Pretty much what they said, the thing I noticed right of the bat is that your hand is on top of the ball, which is exactly what I used to do. All that does is take most of the hook out of the ball.

Well guys, Ive been working on everything you all have been telling me. I think I am going to try to improve on everything I can on my own before I consult a coach. That is why I post on here, so you all can comment, etc, so I know what to improve. I really appreciate the information given to me here.

Anyway, I havnt recorded any videos recently, although I have been practicing more than usual lately. I have been working on keeping my hand behind/under the ball in the swing and also playing down and in around the 5 board. I am getting more consistent with hitting my targets and the down/in really helps with the carry. I barely leave the washout now, and when I do, I already felt that the ball was released poorly.

On a side note, all of my balls have 1/8th reverse pitch to them. After learning to keep my wrist stiff and keep my hand behind the ball throughout the swing, I realized that I squeeze/grip the ball. While keeping my hand behind the ball in the swing, I feel I have to slow it down towards the bottom of the swing because I feel it is going to fall off my hand, which is why I think I squeeze it.

So because of this, I decided to try out forward pitch, especially after reading a topic about it on here. So I got the thumb pitch in one of my balls moved 1/4" forward, so it is now at 1/8" forward. I practiced with it for two games tonight, and it feels great. At first I thought I was going ot have problems getting out of it, but that is not the case. I can stay in the ball longer and I dont feel like I am gripping it as much!

Do you think I should continue to use it at this pitch or should I increase it to 1/4" forward and try that? Is there an advantage to maximum forward pitch your hand can handle without the ball hanging on it?

Gio

I forgot to mention, I notice that alot of the time the axis rotation of my ball does not have much angle, I would guess around 25degress to the foul line. This is because I am not turning my wrist enough right before the release, right? Any tips to practice releasing around 4 oclock versus straight up the back of the ball?

I wrote an article about changing your axis rotation here:

http://cmgbb.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/axis-rotation/

Depending on your finger position now, you might be able to get away with simply moving your pinkie in towards your ring finger, and moving your index finger away from your middle finger. Otherwise, you might need to work on keying with your middle finger, as explained in the article. Playing out where you are, there is no need to go as far as the "Maximum Rotation" release.

Great article CG,
As stated in your "Maximum release" section,
I also tuck my pinkie finger in, to lay the weight
of the ball on my index finger to create more rev's.

Some people have problems/pain using this however,
and if it doesnt feel comfortable, DON'T do it.

Best of luck.
Practice makes perfect.

Tucking the pinkie will usually change the way your ring finger span fits as well, so if that is already long, you may have trouble getting out of the ball, or you may experience pain in the ring finger tendons.