weight holes

[Keithalw]

I have a friend who bowls with two fingers only but also has a thumb hole. He just learned on one of his balls he has too much side weight. The proshop Guy who drilled his ball also bowls two fingers and was trying to drill it so it wouldn't need a weight hole. He said that since he don't use his thumb then by usbc rules he can't have a weight hole and a thumb hole. Is this true?

[GeorgiaStroker]

The way I understand the rules you can have 5 holes for gripping purposes regardless of how many you use. ( just so long as they could be used by one hand) in addition you can have one hole for balance purposes. So just because he doesn't use the thumbhole does not prevent him from having a hole used to bring the ball into legal tolerance. Maybe someone with more knowledge of the rules will correct me but that's the way it looks to me.

[Keithalw]

I tried looking it but was on my phone plus I know someone like BillF or Bowl !820 seem to know the rule book pretty well lol but I read something to the same effect that you care telling me GeorgiaStroker.

[bowl1820]

Yes you can have a balance hole also.

Holes
The following limitations shall govern the drilling of holes in the ball:
1. Holes or indentations for gripping purposes shall not exceed five and shall be limited to one
for each finger and one for the thumb, all for the same hand. The player is not required to
use all the holes in any specific delivery, but they must be able to demonstrate, with the
same hand, that each hole can be used simultaneously for gripping purposes. Any hole that
cannot be reasonably shown to be used with a single hand would be classified as a balance
hole.
2. One hole for balance purposes not to exceed 1¼ inches in diameter. This hole may not
exceed 1¼ inches at any point through the depth of the hole.


also regarding no thumb bowling, is that your palm must rest over the thumb hole. (This is a PBA rule ((As far as I know)), not usbc rule. If your driller is in the PBA that might be what he's thinking about.)

But there is a USBC rule on grip center and balance holes, that might be applied to that. It's a little vague (like a lot of USBC rules), So better safe than sorry,.

[RoccoRock]

I have three balls drilled for bowling without my thumb. They are drilled similar, the thumb hole is just for balance, and they are completely legal. There is no slug, in fact my thumb barley fits in the hole of two of them, the other the hole is huge. They look just like any other ball, except the thumb holes are shifted to the right of the centerline a little bit on all of them. They do work better than any ball I've had drilled with a reg thumb hole, and a balance hole on the side. If you ever catch a pic of Belmos bowling balls, they look the same as mine.

[Keithalw]

You know bowl1820 I told him I figured you would be one of the first to know exact rules... I tried to look it up last night but so hard to actually find it on my phone

[bowl1820]

You know bowl1820 I told him I figured you would be one of the first to know exact rules... I tried to look it up last night but so hard to actually find it on my phone

It's not in the USBC Rule book, it's in the USBC "Equipment and specifications Manual" and has to do with balance holes and grip centers. Here's a post I made in another forum talking about this same thing. As long as you cover the thumb hole with your palm, you can have the weight hole.

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I agree it doesn't exactly say that in the USBC Rule book or the Equipment Spec. Manual. (Talking About covering the holes)

But I've read in other posts/articles where they mentioned covering the hole's.

(One said it this way "By strict rule the thumb is a gripping hole if covered, weight hole if not covered. A second weight hole would make the ball illegal (or shot illegal) if thumb hole isn't covered.")

And after looking at the Manual I figured out where it came from.

In the Spec. Manual page 8 under "Two-Handed Techniques--->Determining the Grip Center" (Which covers two handed and thumbless bowling.) it says:

Note: the ball must be in specification for balance and hole requirements as the ball rests in the bowler’s hand. A
ball may be in specification if oriented one particular way but not another. Compare Figures 11 and 14.

The example in Fig.14 is the not allowed orientation. It's a ball with 2 fingerholes, 1 thumbhole and a balance hole.

The ball is turned so that only the fingers are in the fingerholes. the thumbhole is away from you. In this example they consider the thumbhole a new second balance hole.

So it violates the rule for only having one balance hole and being able to demonstrate, with the same hand, that each hole can be used simultaneously for gripping purposes (Because holding the ball that way you can't get your thumb in the hole).

[Keithalw]

I also have another question to weight holes... I know it makes the ball legal to bwol with as far as too much weight being in one place and what not but does it matter on where the driller puts the hole as far as performance or what not

[billf]

Depends on the depth and size of the hole. Generally speaking it does affect performance http://www.morichbowling.com/Education/GradientLineBalanceHole/GradientLineBalanceHole.htm

[Keithalw]

Thanks BillF

[Tampabaybob]

Keith.....If you read the link to Morich and really read it, you'll notice that a P3 and P4 hole really do make a big difference. This takes a lot of experimenting to find out which one will benefit you the most depending on your style of bowling and release. Generally, a P3 hole would be the safest to go with.

Bob