Not to add fuel to the fire, as I read many messages on this board before committing to a change in thumb pitch and I know it is a heated debate at times. Suffice it to say, each person is different.
I have bowled for two years now, and wish I had started earlier than 33 years old, but have made up for lost time, and bowl 4-5 nights a week, or about 70 games. I have had 10 strike balls and have retired 5 of them.
My first ball driller, knowing that I was brand new, started me with 1/2" reverse thumb, probably based on the fact that I have a long span (not sure exactly what it is, but I'm 6'4" 220 lbs, with thin, long, piano player fingers), and under the assumption that I would probably need reverse to come out of the ball.
Ok, I was new, so I squeezed the hell out of the ball, and knuckled my thumb. Which caused blisters, upon callouses, upon torn callouses, upon pain and not too great a release. And so I started searching for answers, because I wanted to get better, and it was a distraction when my thumb was constantly bleeding. First came the thumb slug, along with the thought that the thumb must be too tight. "Open it up". First mistake. Other band-aids (literally, hehe) including trying the Brunswick Thumb Saver (useless), and protective tapes of various types. And lots, and lots, of Nuskin, I might add.
The protective tape on the nail side of the thumb was useless for me, but it took more than a year to realize it. It A) caused me to hang in the thumb by creating more friction, hampering my release, B) created a nice gooey residue on the inside of the thumbhole, reinforcing A), C) would give me another thing to worry about, as it would often peel back, especially when I sweat, and D), actually create more friction on my thumb. There is nothing more delightful than pulling the tape off of your thumb and peeling off the top layer of skin. And once I did that, which happened all the time, btw, I had no choice but to apply more tape to protect the bleeding hole that resulted.
I learned to hide my thumb as much as possible from dates. It never worked, btw. And my girlfriend now frequently comments on it, and doesn't like to touch it. LOL.
Anyhow, my first ball was a Roto-Grip RS-1. Than I started drilling higher-end stuff, Hammer Big Deal, as well as a spare ball. Every time I went back to the pro shop, he told me that it was a matter of me learning to let go of the ball properly. Then I tried dropping the ring finger on my Legends NS2 because I saw someone else do it, thinking it was cool, and figuring that might help. Nope.
Then came white tape for the inside of the ball. A definite improvement, especially given the fact that I had my thumbholes opened up entirely too much to make up for my swollen, calloused, scabbed up thumb that screamed in a tight thumbhole. As many of 10 pieces of 1/2" tape went into the thumbholes of my bowling tape from there on out. Ebonite and Master love me.
The faithful pro shop operator remained confident that it was a matter of my technique. And to a degree, he was right, I had to stop gripping the ball. And to a degree, him asking questions, and making changes to have the equipment laid out better in the first place might have been some help. Me, as the neophyte bowler, who knew nothing about thumb pitch and yet had bowled the entire time with 1/2" reverse by default, was frustrated, but chalked it up to growing pains. Then I got a Dynothane High Energy, and an Ebonite Black Ice. I figured lengthening the span might be the solution. Which, I later found, was not what the driller did. He drilled the same span on these balls and went to 0 thumb pitch. Instantly, I wondering why I could not pry these new balls off my hand, or get them to hook, and why my damned hand and fingers hurt. Still, this was an improvement.
Then I changed jobs and one of my bosses was a bowler, a good one, president of his Thursday Night Mens league. Who, upon inspection of my thumb, recommended a different pro shop, a nice guy at the house he bowled at for 15 years. And so, I finally stumbled into what patients often need, a second opinion.
Now, this guy actually inspected my hand, measured my thumb's flexibility, and spent a lot of time asking me questions, explaining things, and watching me bowl. He plugged and redrilled a Legends World Class for me. The solution was going back to my original span, and using 1/4" lateral pitch away from the palm along with the 1/2" reverse.
Sigh.
Now, I was still operating under the simple belief that I needed to make changes to get out of the thumb more quickly and cleanly. Which was not completely accurate. In retrospect, what is more accurate is that I was gripping the bejesus out of the bowling ball, and when I tried relaxing, I would have to regrip because I would feel the ball slipping off my thumb in the backswing. Partly because the reverse, partly because of the big thumbhole.
Adding the 1/4" lateral, while it felt more comfortable, made the ball come off my hand even more freely. Luckily, I had discovered the joys of thumbhole tape, and how to properly place it to a degree. However, 10 pieces of tape to the pad side of a thumbhole, I have since learned, adds even MORE reverse.
I am very stubborn, and love bowling. So I made the best of it. I finally got my thumb in good enough condition that I stopped using protective tape on the thumb. After adjusting, this was an improvement.
Then I stopped into another pro shop at a center I visited, Steve Jaros's shop, J and J Bowling Supply, in Wheaton, IL. The ball driller was a young guy who seemed to know a lot. I asked him what he thought. After measuring my pitches, he recommended lowering the reverse and lateral, if at all possible. This confused me, because it ran contrary to everything I thought I knew. He talked about needing the fit to lock the ball on my hand. I told him that I thought the idea was to let the damned thing go. The last thing I wanted to do was to come out of the thumb less easily. But, he was patient, and we compromised-- 1/4" reverse, 1/4" lateral away from palm. And the oval slug, which is nice, but has it's drawbacks, like anything else.
So he drilled a Hammer No Mercy and plugged and reslugged a Columbia Action Attack for me, as well as a new spare ball. My scores went up, and my thumb stopped bleeding, although it still peels and bruises.
Then warm weather came, along with a Legends Black Pearl, and my thumb swelled up. Then I started experiencing over/under with tape-- one more piece was too much, and one less piece and it felt the ball was going to take out a ceiling light on the backswing. And I get videotaped lessons. Holy smoke. "I'm that out of square at the foul line? I open my hips that much? My backswing is that high? My feet are that fast?"
So, two months ago I learned how to drop the ball into the swing and not muscling as much. Which I'm still a long way from mastering, but I'm working on it.
I read, watch people play, and try to learn the game. And so now I read more about thumb pitches. And I want to make a change. So I get a new Total NV today (nothing like throwing a brand-new piece!), and go for-- shorter span by 1/16", 0 pitch, 1/8" lateral towards the palm.
I wonder if I'm going to get out of the ball, but will relax or die trying.
And tonight, I averaged 186 over 14 games, 16 pins over average with a brand new ball, 1/4" less reverse, and 3/8" different lateral, from away from palm to into palm. and did not have a problem getting out the ball. I hook it more, with less effort, and more consistently.
Now again, different things work for different people. Jake told me that Steve Jaros still messes with his thumb pitches in the summer, which was comforting.
Thanks for reading my book. Here is everything that I've learned.
1) Be open to suggestions and advice from fellow bowlers, but get coaching by someone you respect and trust, and definitely pay for videotaping. Become a student of the game, and mold your game to things that work for you. Work with your coach, and learn to ignore any loudmouths who think that everyone should bowl like them. If you want to bowl like Chris Barnes, it might not help to listen to (no offense) someone who grew up watching Dick Weber and uses a wrist brace to hook the ball.
2) Only practice as much as you can concentrate. Otherwise, you might be reinforcing bad habits.
3) You won't necessarily get better by simply buying new equipment. But by all means, if you like to bowl, go ahead and buy it. Buying bowling balls every few months is still cheaper and healthier than other things you can spend money on. And new bowling ball smell is cheaper than new car smell.
4) Bowling and golf are great games because they are truly against yourself. I feel pretty good losing 258-237, but not 213-149.
5) Have fun!
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Just call me the rifleman... but god help any innocent bystanders!
Anybody got any finesse for sale?
