Do you ever release the ball too late and throw your ball 10 feet into the air? lol

[Bendial]

Like it gets stuck on your thumb or something? Just curious if this happens to anyone else. It keeps happening to me and it is SO embarrassing because the ball crashes into the lane so hard and so loud lol. It seems to happen whenever I consciously try to "stay behind the ball", and I end up staying behind it for too long and throwing it up into the air lol. Last week in league I was on my way to a 200+ game, first 5 frames I had XX / XX and then it happened, got a open frame 3 pins down. My game was pretty much ruined after that and went down hill (open frame after open frame) because I was so embarrassed and afraid to throw the ball my normal style. A few funny quotes from other lanes:

<3 Lanes Down> What the ****?
<Next lane over> YEAH GAME TIME BABY!!! WOOOO

lol

[J Anderson]

My first ball was bought when I was 16 and weighed less than 120 lbs. Until I was about 24 i would have to periodically have the thumb hole reamed out a bit. Only once however did I send it 10 to 12 feet up.

[DLP]

My "thumb swelling over time" thread has some great advice that was given to me on dealing with the sticky thumb issue. While I've never lobbed it 10 ft into the air, the audible indicator is usually enough to elicit a "DOH!" and the feeling I'm going to put a hole in the middle of the lane.

[j1boomer]

a good drill for that is keeping your thumbnail against the back of the ball. makes it harder to squeeze the ball. the new thumb socks have been popular at my center and aid in a quick thumb release. also have your pro shop owner check the pitch on your thumb hole. but the easiest thing to remember is relax your hand.

[billf]

And project the ball OUT ONTO THE LANE. Not up and onto the lane. Creating a bigger flat spot at the bottom of your swing will help with this also.

[GeoLes]

Had that happen to me when I was first learning to throw a finger tip grip. I buried my thumb as directed but really grabbed the ball throughout the entire swing resulting in the either pitching 12 feet down lane or not coming out of the fingers at all. I was getting lessons from a gold certified coach at the time too. He did nothing more than say "relax your fingers" and cringe every time I pitched the ball. That really screwed me up for a while. I started half-inserting the thumb for a while after that.

I learned on my own that I could do release drills and one step drills. Why didn't my gold-certified coach show me that?

I guess there's gold and then there's fools gold :)

[got_a_300]

My first ball was bought when I was 16 and weighed less than 120 lbs . Until I was about 24 i would have to periodically have the thumb hole reamed out a bit. Only once however did I send it 10 to 12 feet up.

WOW!!!!!!!!!! it would take quite a man to throw a 120lb. bowling ball LOL!!!!! :cool:
I take it that you meant less than 12lbs.

[JDHamm85]

I've lofted a few in my day. Bought a Roto Grip Cell about 5 years ago, went to throw it after it was freshly drilled, and POW! Sounded like a gunshot. Never went back to that pro shop.

Have had inserts fly out of the ball and into the gutter too, but I have to say the worst is having your thumb stick inside the ball after you want to release it. Feels like your arm is going to pull out of your socket as gravity wants to send you down the lane with the ball ala Fred Flinstone. :cool:

[JPbowl]

I've lofted a few in my day. Bought a Roto Grip Cell about 5 years ago, went to throw it after it was freshly drilled, and POW! Sounded like a gunshot. Never went back to that pro shop.

Have had inserts fly out of the ball and into the gutter too, but I have to say the worst is having your thumb stick inside the ball after you want to release it. Feels like your arm is going to pull out of your socket as gravity wants to send you down the lane with the ball ala Fred Flinstone. :cool:

I was a fan of the Cell too, had the pearl and the mutant.
I don,t understand why the proshop is at fault ? The thumb hole is hardly ever perfect from a fresh drill.
It usually needs to be sanded down in areas. They hand you the ball so you can keep checking it till you think its right.
Then you hit the lane, if it needs more work go back in the shop.....

[JDHamm85]

It really wasn't the pro shops fault, but the overall experience wasn't good, which is why I didn't go back. The driller wasn't too conversational; his response to the ball sticking was for me to go home and roll it off my hand on the carpet. That helped a little, and I used the ball exclusively up until a few weeks ago, but the shop closer to home had a guy much more informative and friendly, so I think I'm going to stick with that shop.

[J Anderson]

WOW!!!!!!!!!! it would take quite a man to throw a 120lb. bowling ball LOL!!!!! :cool:
I take it that you meant less than 12lbs.

Sorry for the confusion, I meant to say that I weighed less than 120lb. I'm not sure what my actual weight was but 120 is what I weighed when I graduated from high school. The ball weighed 15 lb.

[GeoLes]

When you find the thumb shape that is just right, see if your pro shop will be able to take a mold and keep it on file with your drill measurments. I was unaware that was possible until the pro in The Sports Shop at Brunswick Zone Hazlet offered. I was having similar problems for a while. I had one ball drilled when weather was warm, another when cold, I didn't know how to relax my hand through the swing. As a result I had more thumb hole demensions than I knew. I could bury the thumb relax and roll with one ball. Another fellt snug and I tended to half bury the thumb, tobbien me of revs. Another the hole was too big and I tended to grab the ball.

Now they are all identical. Same delivery for every ball.