I met with the coach/driller today, and he decided that we should move the thumb pitch in the reverse direction to make sure I could get the thumb out. He agreed that my thumb tends to have a sticky texture, and also it may have an abnormal amount of stretchy loose skin.

After changing the pitch it felt a lot better. I'm not sure if it makes sense, but I definately felt like I was grabbing the ball less after going reverse pitch...maybe there was another factor that lead to that. i don't know.

So, I bowled a little while with him watching and had no trouble getting the ball off the thumb, and I felt pretty relaxed and smooth swing.

Then, after he went to work with someone else, my wife and I decided to get some lunch, and I washed my hands with some hand sanitizer, and it resulted in my thumb not wanting to come out again. I'm telling you there is something about my skin or something that really hangs up in the ball. I put the thumbsaver on and things were smooth again. I think I will just have to wear it permanently to insure a consistent thumb feel and to eliminate any problems with the loose skin.

I think I may be able to gradually go back more forward pitch after using the thumbsaver or taping my thumb as well. But, I feel okay with it for now.

Main reason I go to the rest room right before I get ready to bowl. So I don't have to go during the set and risk having to wash my hands. Sometimes the going gets pretty rough that last game, but I gotta hold it.

You are just experiencing some normacies in the game. And some of the little things that many people do by habit. God Help me if I cannot hold it. I do whatever it takes to avoid washing my hands during a set of bowling.

There's a lot about this game that you can do to put the odds in your favor (that have nothing to do with your physical game). This hand washing thing is one of them.

Erin

I agree with some of the others about squeezing or "knuckling" the ball. I did the same thing when I was getting started.
I was hanging up badly, and would open the hole bigger, which would make me knuckle it more and hang up more. This became a cirle of hanging up, and opening the hole bigger, only to hang up more.
Finally a new guy that took over the Pro Shop spent some time with me.It took 13 pieces of tape to get the hole back to the proper size, some instruction on a proper release, and a 1 step approach with an easy delivery to get me to trust the ball will stay on my hand,and release on it's own without grabbing it.
It also took alot of practine "rolling" the ball off of my hand and onto the couch at home.

After getting a new thumb hole drilled,everything was fine.

Did you have to take tape out when you put that on? If not, you're definately bending your thumb and/or squeezing the ball. There should be no room for that thing if you keep your thumb straight, or better yet, arch it backwards. I'm still thinking this is technique.

Well, now, that is a good point. I would say with the thumbsaver on, the fit was perfectly snug. I'm not sure why he didn't have me snug the hole up more with tape. He seemed happy with how the thumb was fitting in the thumb hole and he examined it closely. I just figured, he's the USBC silver coach, so who am i to disagree.

The thumbsaver is pretty thin material..I'm not sure how many pieces of tape it would equate to.

With that said, even with the hole too big, and just holding the ball in my hand and carefully rolling it off my bare thumb, it would still hang up sometimes...i have no idea why. It seems like maybe on the sides of my knuckle or something. Maybe I need more space on the sides of my thumb..i don't know.

At any rate, I feel pretty good about using the thumbsaver, as it gives me a consistency to my thumb, and eliminates any loose skin, wet skin, etc. kind of issues.

I think I will try it a few weeks like this and concentrate on not squeezing the ball, and then try to move my thumb pitch forward by 1/8 and see what happens.

Thanks for the help though. It is great to be able to get so much input from people with experience.

If it was to snug on the side, wouldn't it be even more so once you put the thumb saver on?

Next time you practice, bend your thumb backwards in the hole so your thumb nail touches the back of the hole and focus on keeping it that way for the entire swing. Now make sure you hand is completely relaxed and you have absolutely no pressure or grip at all. Keep it completely relaxed and with your thumb nail touching the back of the hole the entire swing. If the ball feels like it's going to fall off, let it. If it does, you know you need a snugger thumb. If you can't get it snugger, you need more forward pitch.

I think the key will be keeping your thumb arched backwards and a completely relaxed hand.

i did something today that i normally do not do. i put a thumb slug in a ball i got from a guy that i bowl with. ball didn't cost me anything but i just put a thumb slug in it and he just drilled it out and the fit on the thumb is amazing. just a drilled thumb slug nothing else. its not like my normal thumb hole. with tips in it. but i just noticed how much more slicker it is than the normal thumb hole is. mite help to see about it or it just worked for me but it mite be something to ask about. good luck.

Fury, so none of you other balls have thumb slugs? You might want to look into putting them in all of your equipment now as it will give you a consistent feel from ball to ball as opposed to the different coverstock material and core filler.

I know the first time I had a slug put in and used it I decided I was going to use them for now on, it made a huge difference.

Yea, I am using a thumb slug as well. In addition to the consistent feel from ball to ball, my understanding is it makes it a lot easier to make small changes to thumb pitches and possibly span without having to plug a ball.

yup first one to have a slug. i'm pretty impressed with the way it feels. the ball i got from the guy at the alley just had a hole drilled for his thumb. nothing in it. so i put a solid slug in and drilled it for my thumb. first time. and i think i'm going to do that from now on.