I started bowling about 6 weeks ago, and had a new ball drilled by an IBPSIA driller. Immediately after he fitted and drilled the ball for me, it would not come off my thumb at all. Finally, he kept making the thumb hole bigger and bigger until it would come off. Of course, this didn't really solve the root of the problem, but temporarily worked.

Since then, I have been to 3 other drillers, and still haven't really found a good fit. The guy I saw today, I could tell really new his stuff. He was very thorough and used a fitting ball to adjust pitches and span, and checked and double-checked everything. Well, after he was done I went out to the lane and threw the ball about 6 feet into the air.

He continued to work with me to try to get me to get he ball off my thumb, with little success.

I told him how long I've been trying to get this figured out and what all I've done. He said that he has drilled over 9,000 balls and this is a first for him. He is very determined to help me solve the problem, but I can't help feeling bad for taking up so much of his time, and frustrated as well that I can't figure it out. He spent about 2 hours with me tonight and charged me $12 for the thumb slug. He wants to see me Saturday to see what we can figure out.

I've been thinking that since I seem to be having a lot more trouble with this issue, that maybe there is something about my hand/thumb that is different than most, and is causing this. I came home tonight and just worked with the ball for a while trying to figure out what is happening, and the only thing I can come up with is that it seems like the skin at the bottom palm-side of my thumb is pretty loose and flexible and it sometimes bunches up when the thumb tries to come out, and this results in the thumb not coming out at all. Maybe I have an abnormal amount of loose/flexible skin on my thumb or something. I tried a thumbsaver that I had in my bag and even though I have to really jam my thumb in there because of the extra thickness, it came off a lot smoother.

Well, sorry to ramble on about this, and I don't really have a question I guess, I'm just a little bummed about this as it has really kept me from focusing on my game when all I can think about is getting the thumb out of the ball all the time.

Check your span, many times people hang up in the ball because their span is too long. Many ball drillers still stretch the span so the crease of the first knuckle of the fingers is over the center of the finger hole with the thumb in the ball, the edge of the finger hole closest to the thumb should be 1/2 way between the first and second knuckle on each finger hole.

If the span is right, your thumb hole may not have enough bevel if you have that much webbing at the base of your thumb, this may cause you to hang up.

Post back with your pitches in your thumb hole and let me know if your span is right. Make sure your hand is not stretched or scrunched when you check your span. You can also tell if your span is too long if you put your hand in the ball and your fingernails are pressing hard into the back of the holes then your span is too long.

Thanks for the response CoachJim.

I am confident that he got the span right. He took a pen and marked across the centerline between the two knuckles on my fingers, then made sure they were at the front edge of the finger holes when my thumb was in and hand relaxed.

He also beveled the thumb hole A LOT..he kept beveling and beveling and the problem got somewhat better, but still had the hangup.

Here are the measurements I just took:

Span: 4 7/16 & 4 5/8

I'm pretty sure the thumb is 1/8 forward and 1/8 under the palm.

How long is your thumb from the base to the tip?

If I measure from the tip to the lower crease on the palm side it is 2 3/8.

I'm not 100% sure if this is defined as the base.

Do you have a double jointed thumb? If you do I'm not sure if there is anything special you are supposed to do different than a normal thumb, maybe someone else could chime in.

If you don't have a double jointed thumb, then you might need a vent hole drilled into the thumb hole to prevent suction at the bottom of the hole, Magic Carpet also vents the thumb and prevents suction, but you may need your hole opened a little to use magic carpet.

If suction is not the problem then you have to be bending the thumb in the hole causing it to hang up. Keep your thumb straight, if the ball feels like it is going to fall of if you don't bend your thumb, then you need to go forward more with the thumb pitch until the ball stops slipping. If it slips even the slightest the thumb will clench the ball so it doesn't fall off.

It does sound to me like the only piece of the equation left to look at is the bowler... You may be knuckling without knowing it.

Other option - I have pretty sweaty hands, and recently started using tape on the front of my thumb, because I have a hard time getting a consistent feel in that area. It has helped me immensely. I did have to open up my thumb a bit more to make room for it. Something to consider.

Bry,

Are you sure you're not gripping the ball? This could be the cause. Also, use some resin/powder if needed, to keep moisture from creating friction.

Resin will only make the problem worse as it aides in gripping, and powder can cause the ball to come off too easily and too soon as well as lead to more bending of the thumb if this is the issue.

I don't doubt that I am gripping the ball to some degree. I don't really know how much I am gripping or squeezing it, because I am so new to bowling, that I don't really know what it is 'supposed' to feel like.

At this point I don't really know what to do. I'm gonna try to work on it at home and see if I can figure anything out. Other than that, the only solution I can see is start moving the pitch in the reverse direction until I can get the ball off my thumb. That may make me squeeze the ball to hold onto it, but at least I will be able to let it go. I may have to revisit the squeezing issue later on down the road after I have more experience.

I recommend getting a coach and address the issue now. No sense in creating more bad habits that will take longer to to fix once they become "muscle memory."

humm. i would try the tape thing also. slick tape mite help. see if you can put black tape in hole and maybe tape on the thumb. i hope you find the problem and i hope it dont get ya down too bad. good luck!

Well, my latest driller is a USBC silver coach. He is the one that drilled the ball and was trying to help me with the issue. He is also the one that said this is a first for him in over 9,000 balls drilled...

But, I am supposed to see him again Saturday, so we will see how that goes.

Yea, I'll give that a try. I know the thumbsaver helps too. I think the tape would probably work similarly.

If I had to put money on it, I'd bet you're squeezing the ball. You said you don't know how it's supposed to feel. It's supposed to feel like you're not trying to hang on to the ball at all. If you're trying to hang on in any way shape or form, it's to much. If you keep your hand dead-fish releaxed and the ball falls of when you swing it, then you know it's either to loose or you need more forward pitch.

i'd bet on squeezing the thumb too. i used to squeeze the thumb too even though i could have sworn it was relaxed. try this: when you go up to the approach purposely squeeze with your fingers a little bit and make sure the weight of the ball is on your fingers. you'll notice it being taken off the thumb and you'll immediately realize if you're gripping the thumb. throw the ball while squeezing the fingers like this for awhile until you train your thumb.

this worked for me tremendously and since i've relaxed the thumb i have to start moving to more forward in thumb pitch cause i come out so fast!

also, do u use a urethane thumb slug? if not, try that. that will let you release very fast!

bryfree, head to this link: http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/tip20.htm

Stand next to your couch (or something soft) with your bowling ball in your hand, so the ball is over the couch. Straighten your wrist like the 2nd picture. Completely relax your hand, keeping your wrist straight. What happens? If the ball comes off, you're grabbing it.

Thanks for all the info guys. I will see what happens tomorrow when I meet with the coach/driller again.

yup good idea bryfree. the coach should be able to help. i know mine did. mike is my coach and driller all in one its a good thing when they're both. i'm glad mine is. he can watch and see whats wrong and can fix anything thats wrong with me and ball. good luck with it and i hope you get it figured out. try the tape with the thumbsaver if anything else just to see if it helps but let your coach try first. :thumbs:

Reminds me of what my girl just went through getting her first finger tip ball. No matter what she did she couldnt get her thumb out of the ball upon release. The Pro Shop that drills all of my stuff drilled hers up and I was there to watch so I'm sure fit was good. It ended up being her grabbing the ball.....big time. It left her frustrated to no end because she didnt know what it was suppos to feel like she only knew what she saw me and thers do. I got some help from a few female bowlers I know and they got her to get out of the ball the way you are suppose to and that's all it was, technique.

This may not be the case for you but it sounded similar with your non exiting thumb issues.

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.