well i myself stop'd using inserts in Jan 2002, and wish i would have done it earlier. I had the problem for two yrs of having my ring finger tear open at the first joint, it would litterally be a deep cut. And it would take a while for it to heal. I tried every thing from using liquid vitamin E all the time to help it heal faster and to toughen up the skin. i would even try superglue to keep the skin together no luck either. i would even during the off season soak my fingers in liquid vitamin E too, still no luck, so at the middle of the season, i had two weeks off cuz of holidays, so i had all the balls i was using at the time 6 of them plugged and redrilled, and went with none insert fingertip, and right away my proshop friend who had been drilling all my equipment for the past couple yrs and myself, could tell that my release was smoother and more consistent. My proshop friend told me i might lose about 1-2 revs lol, but having 20+revs he said i wouldnt really notice it, but he said my game would be alot better cuz of more being more consistent, and not having to use inserts again! And its the best thing i have done for my game, along with lowering my backswing lol! But yes, if you are thinking about going back to inserts i would advise against it. I mean i can remember when i couldnt bowl over 6 or 8 games cuz my fingers would be on fire, but now i can bowl as many games as i want without my fingers bothering me. Plus in the long run, it will save you money too, you might not notice it. When i did use inserts i used soft ones, and would tear them up after one week. so for me it saved me tons of money.
