Does the Thumb Straight product by Ebonite really helps keep your thumb straight in the ball.. I have read about it and seem pictures and it looks pretty promising. I have big time thumb issues and I have tried for years to keep my thumb straight in the ball with no success. I have changed pitches and went to a smaller size and still no luck. Some people has said part of the problem is the knuckle of my thumb is bigger than the bottom of my thumb so that causes me to squeeze at times.. So can someone tell me about this product and can it help me with the thumb problem...

hey man, i have the same prob as you(knuckle size,squeeze,etc) and i tried the thumb straight and it did nothing for me . . .

I think that once a bowler has been squeezing for long enough, it becomes a mental issue. A little pad under the thumb will not convince the bowler that they no longer need to squeeze. If you really want to stop squeezing, you need to make your thumb hole so small that the ball will come up and hit you in the face if you hold on to it. Then, go up to the foul line, get in your finish position, take a quarter swing and just let the ball fall off. If it falls off early, great! You weren't squeezing. Put more tape in the hole. If it doesn't fall off early, you're probably still squeezing. Cut it out - have someone stand behind you to catch the ball if it falls off your hand, and *try* to let it fall off. Work your way up to a full swing at the foul line, then try a 1 step drill. The point is to take your muscle memory out of the picture - if you do your full approach with your full swing, muscle memory will kick in, and you will squeeze.

one thing i started doing recently was when i put my thumb in the ball i always try to keep my thumbnail against the back of the ball it has caused me to drop the ball a few times, but it was because i wasn't squeezing. . . give that a try!!!

People say make the nail of the thumb touch the back of the ball in the thumb hole.. The problem with that is it just does not feel natural doing that.. Also it creates more space for me at the bottom of the thumb hole. The top of my thumb fits perfect but the bottom of my thumb hole the problem area.I can put tape til the cows come home but still have that space at the bottom of the hole. If the bottom of my thumb hole could be one size and the rest another I think that would work but is that possible to do...

Yes it is possible, a bit of a pain, but possible.

it may feel un-natural but if your nail is on the back of the thumbhole it will keep you from crooking your thumb and squeezing that way.. and if you do squeeze it will have you squeeze in a better way in that it will be at the base of your thumb but your thumb will be straight and should still release from the hole. The bottom of the hole does not matter for gripping.. the ball grips the the skin/webbing just below the hole.. the contact of the ball there and the back of the thumb is what holds the ball on..
maybe some people's grip is different but that is what I feel when I swing the ball.

thats exactly where i grip now with my right hand....it will feel uncomfortable the first few games cause it did for me, but it helped me from gettin hung up quite a bit...

yeah.. you should really not have to grip at all.. but like I said.. gripping with a straight thumb is better than a crooked thumb.. maybe try to push your thumb to the back .. so instead of squeezing .. expand your hand a bit.. this takes some getting used to as it is hard at first to keep your fingers in contact with the inserts and push the opposite way with the thumb..
The ball should really hang on to you.. not you hang onto the ball.. your thumb pitch should be so that as the weight is off the fingers the thumb should basically wedge itself at the corner of the thumbhole and the back of the thumb.. then as the weight of the ball is transfered to the fingers the thumb should free up and come out..

I have recently discovered that if your span and pitches are correct you can have a pretty tight thumb hole and still get out clean. I had a span that was too long forever.. this caused me to have alot of bevel, a really loose thumbhole, and a ton of reverse just to get out of the ball cause my hand was stretched so tight..
Just went to a shorter span and with how tight my thumb is now I would have never been able to come out of the ball before.. but the tight thumb keeps the ball steady on my hand during the back swing and as soon as the weight transfers to my fingers my thumb comes out like butter. Some would say that I still have alot of reverse for my span but I have checked and checked and I do not squeeze during my backswing..

Everyone's thumb is smaller at the bottom. That's not where the ball holds on to you. The ball holds on to the webbing of your hand, with the snugness of the thumbhole keeping the thumb from wiggling around and falling loose of the thumbhole.

If you hold your thumbnail on the back of the hole and the ball falls off your hand, you need to tighten the thumbhole, or re-examine your drilling.