BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: Gizmo823 on September 17, 2014, 02:52:32 PM
-
I've got an issue. I have a customer who is 56, very old school bowler, loves buying new stuff, but still brings his old reliables from the late 90s and early 2000s. Over the last several years he's had a really tough time holding on to stuff. Here's the real issue, he has 1/2 reverse in his thumb on a span of 4 1/2. Here's the aggravating issue, all his old stuff he can hang onto, the new stuff he can't. He won't let me change his fit at all, because, "well if I can hang onto my old stuff, you should be able to copy that." He's a self admitted gripper, says he'll never change, and is just beside himself with irritation that he can't hang onto anything, and we all know who is to blame here . . However, he's had numerous people drill for him, including some really big names in the industry, and nothing works.
The most critical issue to me is that I can feel what he's feeling, and somehow his old balls he can hang onto have super tacky surfaces. He uses slugs, but his old ones are polished, they're really shiny and really tacky, but they're also 15 year old slugs too. I've tried all kinds of things to make the newer slugs tacky, I've tried wet sanding, polishing, etc., but nothing seems to work, just makes the slug slippery. I know what the real problem and solution is here, but he wants nothing to do with it. If he was having issues hanging onto his old stuff I could work with that, but he goes right back to them and has no problems, so in his mind it's a driller competence issue . . I just have no clue what I can do to tack up a thumbhole, because usually that's the opposite direction that you want to go.
Maybe massage some non-slip cream in there? High gloss it and then do that? Freakin pine tar? Fishing here . .
-
What about a vinyl insert that has been sanded to give it some texture? I used to use one back in the late eighties.
-
However, he's had numerous people drill for him, including some really big names in the industry, and nothing works.
I know what the real problem and solution is here, but he wants nothing to do with it. If he was having issues hanging onto his old stuff I could work with that, but he goes right back to them and has no problems, so in his mind it's a driller competence issue
These things make me question if you want him as a customer. I mean really, can this type of cat be satisfied?
-
I don't remember who made it, but my ex brother in law. Had a problem hanging unto the ball and they put a vinyl insert in that had big nub in it. Your thumb like locked over it.
-
vinyl slug. if they are too slick rub some acetone on it. anything you do to a urethane slug will make it slicker.
-
Has to be an adjustment to the thumb slug. He won't take it rougher, he wants it like his other slugs. And Good Times, this guy is a long time friend and customer . . yeah he's difficult and stubborn, but he's also really entertaining lol. The fact that nobody else has been able to make him happy keeps me sane, but I'd still like to figure something out for him. Very well may be impossible . . but he has older stuff that works so some stars had to align at one point. I'm sure there's differences in the way slugs are made now, but I wish I knew the process that went into getting them that way . . could be just a ton of use, and back 15 years ago when he was barely 40 and still had a lot of grip strength, he may not have noticed that they weren't tacky back then. Could be skin oils built up, I have no idea, but the inside of his slugs in the older balls feel like the surface of a brand new pearl ball.
-
I'm not sure I could get away with that . . he uses urethane slugs, his old balls have urethane slugs, and he's convinced there's some way to make it work. Like I said, won't let me change ANYTHING.
vinyl slug. if they are too slick rub some acetone on it. anything you do to a urethane slug will make it slicker.
-
Tell him new urethane slugs are harder than they were back then and vinyl will be closer to what he's used to.
-
Or just reslug a ball with vinyl and tell him it's your experiment to see if it will work for him. You aren't going to make a urethane slug tacky.
-
Thanks . . lol he hates the word experiment though. "Shouldn't have to experiment, should just know what to do."
Or just reslug a ball with vinyl and tell him it's your experiment to see if it will work for him. You aren't going to make a urethane slug tacky.
-
He can bicker and complain all he wants but if he wants a solution it will take some experimenting to figure it out. Or in 20 years when he is dead they should be old enough he could use them but would never know.
You can add black tape or white tape to help create a tackier surface. If he says it isn't like his old stuff tell him he is observant but neither is anything else. Blowing hot air like trying to fog a window into any slug will make it tacky. He should have no issues doing that. Eventually he will build up enough oil from his hands it may be fine.
Sanding them up with 1000 and 2000 grit sandpaper on a bevel sander will make almost any slug feel like it has been polished. You can work it up to 4000 if you like. Not sure if it will create a tackiness or not but it will shine up like polish without the residue.
-
I don't remember who made it, but my ex brother in law. Had a problem hanging unto the ball and they put a vinyl insert in that had big nub in it. Your thumb like locked over it.
A guy on the opposing team in league last week had one of these inserts. I couldn't figure out he he cleared the "nub" without the thumbhole being larger than it should. I'll ask him about it tonight.
-
The grips with the bump are Contour. He probably wouldn't try one, but if he does be warned that you have to use a few sizes larger sleeve because of the bump. -- JohnP
http://www.buddiesproshop.com/p-722-contour-power-grips-power-taper-thumb-sleeve-white.aspx
-
The grips with the bump are Contour. He probably wouldn't try one, but if he does be warned that you have to use a few sizes larger sleeve because of the bump. -- JohnP
http://www.buddiesproshop.com/p-722-contour-power-grips-power-taper-thumb-sleeve-white.aspx
Thats it!
I couldn't see how he bowled with it, but he bowled good with it.
-
Might be old fashioned, but how about the old Master Cork Thumb Inserts. They still have them.
-
I HAVE EXTREMELY DRY HANDS DUE TO BEING ON DIALYSIS. i USE A SPRAY FROM sTEVE hOSKINS WHICH GIVES MY HANDS A LITTLE TACKY FEEL TO HELP ME HOLD ON TO THE BALL AND i'M AT 1/4 FORWARD. iT'S sTEVE hOSKINS hsp. i GET IT FROM gRAN pRIX BOWLING SUPPLY IN sT lOUIS
-
I HATE the caps lock button!!
-
If he has 1/2 Rev on a 4 1/2" span and you have advised him to try more forward then there's not a huge amount you can do. Maybe, take a sanding disc to it or advise him how to tape his hole so that he can get more tack. One company makes a brown sand paper like tape for people with extremely dry hands who need to hold on to the ball more.
Also with his older stuff, are they slugged with vinyl slugs. Very rare that people use vinyls anymore as they are tough to drill and super tacky so not a lot of people like the tack. That could be the difference in his stuff. In his old stuff he's feeling that tack of the vinyl and his new stuff he's feeling slick urethane. Just a thought as I have had customers like this.
-
He's never used vinyl, all his old stuff has urethane slugs. I think we made some progress last night, and not how I thought it would happen. He finally said his old thumbs feel like craters, and the new ones are all tight. I've just been using what my old boss had on the drill sheet for his thumb, which fits perfectly, but he doesn't like it. I guess he really bends his thumb crazy, and a thumb that fits doesn't allow him to bend his thumb enough to get the grip on it he wants to. He opened it up and all the sudden can hang onto it. So apparently the texture didn't have much to do with it. I tried his old slugs again last night and although they have a smooth surface and SOME grip, they're not near as tacky as I thought they were.
If he has 1/2 Rev on a 4 1/2" span and you have advised him to try more forward then there's not a huge amount you can do. Maybe, take a sanding disc to it or advise him how to tape his hole so that he can get more tack. One company makes a brown sand paper like tape for people with extremely dry hands who need to hold on to the ball more.
Also with his older stuff, are they slugged with vinyl slugs. Very rare that people use vinyls anymore as they are tough to drill and super tacky so not a lot of people like the tack. That could be the difference in his stuff. In his old stuff he's feeling that tack of the vinyl and his new stuff he's feeling slick urethane. Just a thought as I have had customers like this.
-
Lots of "rosin", the little jars of grip cream, or if all else fails try some pine tar...
Haha....
-
Some people just do not want to make changes. I am not a big fan of reverse pitch and 1/2 reverse is a bunch. The cork insert was mentioned and that might be a cheap option for you to try. I have used them and if they become too sticky just add a piece of white tape over the cork and this changes the texture. It is a security blanket for some people. A read that a pro bowler was using cork inserts several years ago in a tournament and I thought at the time, this may set bowling back 30 years (LOL).
jodyk24
-
Are you sure his old balls that work have slugs in them or could they be sleeves? Sleeves are all vinyl. A sleeve doesn't have the vent hole a slug has. -- JohnP