Because of arthritis I have problem gripping the ball sometimes. I remember long time ago I saw someone had the finger holes drilled at an angle facing more to the thumb, thus making it easier to grip, and possibly enable more lift.

I wonder if anybody has tried this and if it would cause the release to be not as clean( hanging up)? How many degrees is the "norm" for this?

Is this what they mean by "pitch in fingers"?

Thanks !

Pitching the fingers forward without changing the thumb pitch will generally put the pressure on the joint of the finger instead of the pad of the finger.  The thumb and fingers should be set for each other, matching is a bad term.  There is a few exceptions like double jointed thumbs but fingers and thumb should go the same direction forward and reverse.  If the thumb and the fingers are pitched away from each other you will drop the ball.  If they are pointing inward towards each other you will squeeze or grab the ball.  When a ball is drilled correctly you should not even be able to tell you are holding it except for the weight.  There should be no pressure on any part of the hand.  When you put it down by your side it should just hang there and not fall off.  You should not have to squeeze it in any way.  Once you take a deep breath and totally relax it will fall off the hand.

I guess the way to describe finger pitch would be:  Bend you finger tip without  using the other hand to help.  Then try it with the other hand helping.  You should notice that your finger does not bend at a 90 degree angle.  There is a simular example for thumbs.  If you cannot bend your fingers and or thumb 90 degrees then you should not drill the holes at 90 degrees.  Thus the pitch in the holes.  Holes should be drilled for proper span and flexibility of the fingers, thumb and hand.  

Smash49
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Smash49

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Edited on 12/30/2007 11:26 AM

Thank you very much!

What you guys have said are right on. I do feel my thumb hole is a little big and my span a little wide( actually it's right but since one of my fingers is hurting it's a little hard to hang on).

I had also thought of lighter balls as a last resort.....I'll talk with my ball driller.