I took the summer off for the most part. Last year I had nice tough skin at the base of my thumb where I couldn't cut it with a knife. This year, I get little callous built up, and the next time I bowl it rips completely off in a game or two, and creates some crazy pain. I practiced yesterday, and the same thing happened. I need to bowl tomorrow, and I guess I'll drench it in nu-skin and see how that works. I need advice on how I can save my thumb.. whats going on!? I don't really think I'm gripping any more than normal, its just where my thumb rubs no matter what.

On the front of your thumb? I had that problem until I un-stretched my span.

I would have to agree with CG. Your span may be stretched, wrong pitch, or both. I would definately get your hand re-measured.

Def get that looked at by a trusted Pro Shop'er :-o You should not be experiencing all that trouble.

Perhaps not enough bevel? And as a short fix maybe you can wear protection tape on your thumb. Any of Turbo's tape is good for that but if you don't want to mess with your grip much I'd get the Black one. The purple, beige, and green are more textured and a bit thicker.

Nu-skin is also pretty much worthless for bowling. It is just not heavy duty enough. Robbies and Brunswick make some nu-skinesque products that you might want to look into. I found the Vise tapes to be the best solution for me.

Super glue is the best if you can stand the sting of putting it on an open wound. Put it on, then a patch, then more super glue. Then light it on fire for a second, blow it out. Repeat until dry. Hardens it up nice.

LOL General. Glue it down, patch it up and light it on fire eh? Yeah.. that sounds fun!.. in all honesty I'm crazy enough to try it.

LOL General. Glue it down, patch it up and light it on fire eh? Yeah.. that sounds fun!.. in all honesty I'm crazy enough to try it.

Sounds crazy but super glue holds the best. And, when it is lit on fire, it hardens a lot better than if you let it air dry. Nu skin acts the same way. Light it on fire and it works better too. There were guys I bowled with who had a lighter in their bowling bag just in case they had to use nu skin/crazy glue. Basically you light it and let it set for about a second and blow it out. Do it again and then touch it to see how dry it is. 2-3 times is all you need.

General is correct. If it wouldnt be for super glue and electrical tape alot of us construction workers would be side lined. Give it a try you will be impressed at how well it works.

MJA:

A buddy of mine is an ornamental plasterer. He has his hands in plaster pretty much all day long. Because of it, his hands get dried out and crack like you would not believe. He buys super glue in bulk. It is the only thing that keeps his hands together. Literally.

I'll have to do the super glue next week.. I ripped my thumb up more tonight, even with about 8 layers of nu-skin type stuff on and tape over that.

I'm using drywall compound at work most days, which has some of the same chemicals/ingredients as plaster and have mildly drierd out hands. For me its nothing using lotion on a regular basis won't cure, I couldn't imagine what my hands would be like doing plaster. I've heard some of the old time plasterers would urinate on their hands while taking a shower to help counteract the lime.

On a similar note, I dodged the figurative bullet today. I took a huge chunk of my thumbnail off today on the side that would rub exiting the hole today. Luckily it was my non-bowling hand. ::Wipes sweat off of forehead.::