Tips and Tricks to Help with my Thumb?

[BowlingNewbie]

Good afternoon bowling buddies! :)

I am having trouble with bending my thumb too much and not gripping with the base of my thumb like I've been told I should be doing. My thumb hole was drilled a little big so it's not the best fit but I have put some tape to try and help with it, but to no avail.

Any tips or things I can do to cut that nasty habit out? Maybe my ball is too heavy? It's a 15lb and maybe I should use a 14lb to cut down on the need to grip so much?

Thanks!

[noeymc]

its hard to say if u cant hold your ball with your arm at a 90 degree angel for 10 secs theres a good chance its to heavy i am not really sure what the question is tho could try to explain it better please

[striker12]

ok 1 thing do you use a thumb slug at all.

if you dont use a thumb slug at all then get one and have it set perfectly for your thumb and in over time when your thumb starts to get bigger from bowling you can open it up abit but i use to have the same problem you are having and i never used a thumb slug but when i put one in the ball it all changed over the last season because a thumb slug helps your thumb out because it gives abit of a grip in it.


but if you do have a thumb slug best way to learn how to get the base of your thumb holding the better is when your at home holding the ball put your fingers and thumb in the ball them try to pull your fingers toward your thumb it will create pressure on the fingers but when you do that lift the ball in the air above your bed and then just to releave presser from the fingers so then your not sqeezing the ball with my fingers but try to keep your thumb in the same spot with out moving and then when you releave to much pressure of your fingers the ball will drop on the bed... ok so do it again but from the first time you should now right where the pressure is thats when you pull your fingers to your thumb again but leave ball still on the bed then releave pressure from the fingers untill you find that spot that was before the ball dropped then lift the ball up... at this time move the ball around my moving your wrist but not moving your thumb at all.

i did this and it helped me

[mike_thomas93]

Hey, Striker12. I wanted to add to that. I posted a thread about having trouble with coming out of the ball thumb first. I still tend to grab it at the bottom, and my thumb tends to want to stay in the ball when I get ready to let go, causing me to full roll it. I've recently gotten out of that. I still need to work on clearing the thumb out first, but I feel afraid of the ball slipping or me grabbing it at the bottom, putting too much force on the fingers. And I don't have much hand or lift at all. I tested using inserts in one of my balls, and I had planned to start using grips and slugs. Would you say that what you said to the bowlingnewbie would benefit me, as well? What would your admonish me to do?

[dnhoffman]

^^^ I don't even...


Seriously - thumb issues are the most frustrating in bowling. Go see a IBPSIA certified pro shop with a pro who will work with you on a lane and get you fitted right. Once your fit/pitch/span is right you'll still deal with thumb swelling, and there a lot of options to deal with that (cheaply with tape or expensively with about six IT thumb slugs for suckers like me!) but you need to work with a good pro because with the thumb it's usually fit, in my opinion anyway.

[striker12]

Hey, Striker12. I wanted to add to that. I posted a thread about having trouble with coming out of the ball thumb first. I still tend to grab it at the bottom, and my thumb tends to want to stay in the ball when I get ready to let go, causing me to full roll it. I've recently gotten out of that. I still need to work on clearing the thumb out first, but I feel afraid of the ball slipping or me grabbing it at the bottom, putting too much force on the fingers. And I don't have much hand or lift at all. I tested using inserts in one of my balls, and I had planned to start using grips and slugs. Would you say that what you said to the bowlingnewbie would benefit me, as well? What would your admonish me to do?

yes it would help you out also just remember in your case to always have your thumb nail touching the back of the thumb hole but one thing i was just like you afriad i was going to drop the ball or it would slip off my hand but when i got thumb slugs it actually helps me alot and i'm not afraid of it anymore it just takes time to use to but dont go instently in league trying to throw the ball with out grabbing just dont grab as much and every week put less grab on the ball with your thumb untill you get use to it then less and less and less and you will be perfect.

[Bunny]

One thing that helped me not grip with my thumb and gave me a nice little hook was to hold the ball "suitcase" style. Kind of like you're going to pick up a suitcase at your side. Have your thumb around the 10 o'clock postion rather than around the 12 o'clock position. Your fingers will be on the "outside" of the ball rather than underneath.

The thumb hole on my spare ball is a bit big. I use two pieces of tape inside next to each other, so it basically wraps all the way around the inside.

Good luck!!

[mike_thomas93]

Sounds fair. Thanks

[BowlingNewbie]

Thanks all!

Noeymc, Mike explained it perfectly. I grip too much at the bottom of my thumb and sometimes have a hard time getting my thumb out first and putting a weird side roll on it the ball. But I can hold the ball out 90 degrees so that is probably not the problem.

From what Striker and dnhoffman were saying, its more than likely because my thumb hole was drilled out too big. I will try putting some more tape to try and get as tight of a fit as possible without being uncomfortable.

Thanks again for all the info!

[striker12]

Thanks all!

Noeymc, Mike explained it perfectly. I grip too much at the bottom of my thumb and sometimes have a hard time getting my thumb out first and putting a weird side roll on it the ball. But I can hold the ball out 90 degrees so that is probably not the problem.

From what Striker and dnhoffman were saying, its more than likely because my thumb hole was drilled out too big. I will try putting some more tape to try and get as tight of a fit as possible without being uncomfortable.

Thanks again for all the info!

what tape are you going topput in the ball white or black because the back of your thumb you should use black for a easy slid with out sticking and in front use blakc then over lay it with white for grip.

[JJKinGA]

I have two suggestions that work well for me. First is I wrap my thumb with a wrap or two of J&J cloth tape so that the joint is somewhere near the middle of the tape (I have been moving the tape clsoer to the base of my tumb lately). this provides a bit of resistance to squeezing. It is also easy to adjust to tget a well fit size. I can remove 1/4 inch at a time to get a great fit.

The other thing i use was suggested by my coach. It is a Ebonite ZL-1 wrist brace. It does help get the thumb out on time. without it I tend to put my wrist in a weaker position and have a very hard time clearing the thumb.

[Stormed1]

1. Have your pro shop check your spans and pitches. Too much reverse can cause gripping issues
2. as mentioned above if you don't use a slug get one. If you do get it replaced and drilled with a tighter fit.
3. The do sell an aid called a thumb straight whuch will position your thumb properly in the hole

[BowlingNewbie]

Small little update here. I took the advice to put some tape in the ball and it seems to be working quite well. I don't feel like I need to grip nearly as hard, thus easing my thumb out of the hole. I put 3 pieces of black tape on the back of the thumb hole, and two pieces of white tape up front. Ended up bowling a 450 series. Not too amazing, but hey, its something!

Thank you all again for the advice! It has helped quite a bit.

[striker12]

Small little update here. I took the advice to put some tape in the ball and it seems to be working quite well. I don't feel like I need to grip nearly as hard, thus easing my thumb out of the hole. I put 3 pieces of black tape on the back of the thumb hole, and two pieces of white tape up front. Ended up bowling a 450 series. Not too amazing, but hey, its something!

Thank you all again for the advice! It has helped quite a bit.

hey not a problem thats what we are here for to help out but a 450 series is good better then me last season i only got 4-8 500 series and 1 600 and my lowest series was around a 360

[Bunny]

Small little update here. I took the advice to put some tape in the ball and it seems to be working quite well. I don't feel like I need to grip nearly as hard, thus easing my thumb out of the hole. I put 3 pieces of black tape on the back of the thumb hole, and two pieces of white tape up front. Ended up bowling a 450 series. Not too amazing, but hey, its something!

Thank you all again for the advice! It has helped quite a bit.



Nice! And you can remove pieces if your thumb swells.

(Five pieces; no wonder you felt like you had to grip with your thumb!)

:)

[BowlingNewbie]

Bunny, yeah I have to use quite a bit. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and get some thumb slugs to save some money in the long run.

And Striker, I think when I get my first 600 series, I'm going to go insane and make people around me mad lol.

[striker12]

Bunny, yeah I have to use quite a bit. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and get some thumb slugs to save some money in the long run.

And Striker, I think when I get my first 600 series, I'm going to go insane and make people around me mad lol.

yeah when you get your first 600 its great feeling i have thrown alot of 600 series and manly my series a 699 14-16 times now just cant get that 700

[Bunny]

That's good motivation!

We had a girl in our last league who was a newer bowler and she said that when she got her first turkey she was going to do a "PDW."

She did end up getting a turkey towards the end of the season and did the whole "Who do you think you are? I am!" with the hand gestures and all. It was pretty funny.

[mike_thomas93]

Haha I remember when he always got a 4 bagger, he would do the chop with his hands to his legs. I've done that a few times, myself. lol And yes I said "4 bagger", not the other word. You know what word I'm talking about, too :p Gotta love PDW :)

[BowlingNewbie]

That's what makes PDW one of my favorite bowlers to watch. He's the Jonny Mac of bowling!

[Bunny]

That's what makes PDW one of my favorite bowlers to watch. He's the Jonny Mac of bowling!

Chalk flew up!!

:cool:

[mike_thomas93]

"Who do you think you are? I am!" lol

[MICHAEL]

"Who do you think you are? I am!" lol

I know who I am MIKE,,, ICEMAN!! lol..... I would rather be me the Pete!! who does he think HE IS!!

Just a short note here on the subject of the thumb! I must be strange, but I can bowl several games practice, and my thumb size gets loser as I bowl.
I never get swelling, never HAVE. So I have the Vise system, and many times as early as midway through the first game I need to slip in a tighter thumb insert!
That's where the Vise system is fantastic IMHA!!!

I wonder how common this is vs thumb getting tighter?

[mike_thomas93]

You and your wicked replies, Ice lol ;p In case you didn't know, Pete didn't really meant to say that . He meant to say "Who do you think you are rooting against me? Cause I'm the man of this tournament." lol He just got caught in the moment when he won his 5th U.S. Open title :))

[striker12]

yeah i watch that video on youtube when pete did that like right when he did it i was like ?????????(craching my head and saying what) so i had to rewind the video and lissen to it again because he said it kinda faster then he normaly talks lol