Sunday night, I decided that I wanted to stop muscling the ball as much as I do, and also stop squeezing the ball. I made a conscious effort to let my arm swing be natural, and I noticed a huge improvement, with the only muscle I noticed being when I accelerated through the ball and my follow through. I also tried to stop squeezing the ball, but that did not go as well. I felt like I kept wanting to drop the ball if I didn't squeeze it. I switched to my smallest thumb insert to try to force myself to keep my hand relaxed, knowing that if I squeeze the ball, I will never get the ball off my hand. On my first ball attempts, I pulled most of my shots, and I did not get the ball off my hand cleanly, and my rev rate was reduced based on what it was with a larger thumb hole. I would attribute this to the thumb just being too small, but on my spare shots, the ball felt much more clean off my hand and my rev rate was back up. This happened every frame but the ninth frame. I was all spares except for a strike in the ninth frame, which was an unlucky strike. I was shooting for an all spare game, and messed up lol  anyway, what would cause the ball to be much cleaner on my spare shots than my first ball shots? any tips for trying to not squeeze the ball? My fit as far as span I assume is accurate, as I go to a very accomplished driller.

get grip re-check, maybe too much of something..

oh have i ever been down his path
starts with a competent experienced shop operator/coach in my case
once that was fixed and i learned how to properly tape a ball, then i learned to relax my grip and have the ball come off properly

we did one ball at 1st, made sure that was right and then it literallyu changed my game
i could now get the ball down the lane through the heads
needed stronger equipment/layouts/surfaces

the light bulb definitely went on at this point.
the key was going to the right person

See if this article is of any help:

http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/btm04_files/btm4.htm

In reading this article I sure would like to know how many on here has a "clean" thumb hole and how many have 3 or more pieces of tape on one side of their thumb?

Also, the comments about the suction that a "clean" thumb hole causes, he failed to mentioned the use or suggestion of finger tape to avoid the suction if it did or did not. I did notice that "riding the magic carpet" was mentioned many times, but never finger tape.

Based on this article, I bet that I am squeezing the ball myself because I have never had at least 3 pieces of tape on one side of my thumb that I can remember and if I did, I would have kept it like that if I was scoring better.

Currently, no tape (oh boy) and only finger tape on both sides has felt the best for me this year. I am open to trying new things, but a poll on how much tape do you have in your ball and then your average would be interesting I feel to confirm the article.

Quote from: MI 2 AZ on December 30, 2014, 05:33:02 PM

See if this article is of any help:

http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/btm04_files/btm4.htm

In reading this article I sure would like to know how many on here has a "clean" thumb hole and how many have 3 or more pieces of tape on one side of their thumb?

Also, the comments about the suction that a "clean" thumb hole causes, he failed to mentioned the use or suggestion of finger tape to avoid the suction if it did or did not. I did notice that "riding the magic carpet" was mentioned many times, but never finger tape.

Based on this article, I bet that I am squeezing the ball myself because I have never had at least 3 pieces of tape on one side of my thumb that I can remember and if I did, I would have kept it like that if I was scoring better.

Currently, no tape (oh boy) and only finger tape on both sides has felt the best for me this year. I am open to trying new things, but a poll on how much tape do you have in your ball and then your average would be interesting I feel to confirm the article.

I think that article may have been written before the common use of thumb tapes so I would just substitute one piece of thumbhole tape for one piece of thumb tape but that might be off a bit depending on the thickness of the used thumb tape.  Since I don't use thumb tapes, do bowlers use more than one piece on their thumb?  If not, you might have to put a couple of pieces of tape in the thumbhole to avoid the suction or use a vent hole.  Supposedly, there is a built in vent hole in thumb slugs but it should be checked to ensure that it is clear.

Since I started using tape in the thumbhole, I have actually had my thumbhole go down in size.  I was obviously squeezing or bending my thumb before. 

I use a butt load of white tape and completely relax my thumb...due to the grip I know its not going to fall out..and I always get the same feel regardless of where I'm at.  I dont use interchangeable thumbs either

i didnt use tape for many years. i guess i didnt know the difference
had 20+ honor scores over those 15 or so years

decided i wanted to get better, bowl on tougher patterns, etc
lead to lessons, better fundamentals, grip change and also learning how tape thumbhole.
i had never done it before.
thought process taught to me by a gold level coach - any flexing of the thumb towards the pad causes the knuckle or joint to get wider in the thumbhole, if you can keep the thumb straight and relaxed, theoretically, it will come off the same every time.
i use layering, 1 full piece and several half pieces placed on top of each other lower in the hole to basically almost have my thumbnail touching the back side of the hole
this took some doing to get it to feel right.
it doesnt mean i still dont want to grab it sometimes, but when its right, it comes off so nice.
if i can get the ball through the heads and get it to roll properly, there is a huge difference in my game and scores.
based on this experience and the coaching i have had, i think its a large overlooked part of the game. proper taping of your thumbhole
just my .02$ worth

In my mind it did at the time, that's how most people measure success.
what is it, 5% of all bowlers have 1 honor score. so yes, to a certain degree, it is a measure that we are judged by
is a hole in one a measure of success? it would to a skilled player, i also know a 30 handicapper that has one.
1/2 full or 1/2 empty, debate that has many opinions.
MY opinion of it has changed over the years, it doesn't mean as much as it used to for ME.
i have a 175 average friend who had a 300, super big deal for him and im very happy for him, he believes that its a level of success for him