Thumb Snugness vs Ball Speed?

[bobforsaken]

I've recently had some success after reducing my ball speed to be more in line with my sub 300 rev rate. What I noticed, however, was when I reduced my arm swing my thumb had major issues exiting the ball that I didn't when i had a more pronounced and faster arm swing. (I've essentially removed all thumb tape in order to get the ball to get cleanly off my hand where I had 4-5 pieces of thumb tape before)

Does this make sense or am I just dealing with a thumb swelling issue and the arm swing speed and thumb snugness aren't really related?

[Aslan]

It could be that at the higher speed there was more force and thus your thumb was coming out...now with less force it's not coming out. So, yes, it could be related.

[bobforsaken]

It could be that at the higher speed there was more force and thus your thumb was coming out...now with less force it's not coming out. So, yes, it could be related.

That makes sense.. Thanks!

[foreverincamo]

Absolutely related. If your thumb it's really snug, see about getting a " vacuum hole " drilled. That's a very small hole drilled from the ball surface to near the bottom of the hole at an angle. This allows air to escape and stops that popping sound you can get from your thumb being so tight it seals and creates a vacuum.

[Amyers]

I've recently had some success after reducing my ball speed to be more in line with my sub 300 rev rate. What I noticed, however, was when I reduced my arm swing my thumb had major issues exiting the ball that I didn't when i had a more pronounced and faster arm swing. (I've essentially removed all thumb tape in order to get the ball to get cleanly off my hand where I had 4-5 pieces of thumb tape before)

Does this make sense or am I just dealing with a thumb swelling issue and the arm swing speed and thumb snugness aren't really related?

Are you certain that after removing the tape you aren't gripping the ball now? Lots of times when we think its one thing its actually another in this game.

[bobforsaken]

Are you certain that after removing the tape you aren't gripping the ball now? Lots of times when we think its one thing its actually another in this game.

I'm not certain of anything. LOL. I will say that the way my thumb hole is if I completely relax with the ball at my side and a broken wrist. Fingers and thumb completely relaxed.. the ball stays on my fingers until i straighten my wrist. then the ball falls off my thumb as I start to straighten.

Likewise if I stand with the ball at my side with a straight wrist and fingers relaxed except for my index finger keeping pressure, the ball will stay on my thumb until I relax my index finger and then the ball falls off my thumb.

Its like this whether I have tape or not. The thumb in the thumbhole is wedged between base of my thumb (near the web with index finger) at the top of the hole and the fleshy part to the left of my thumbnail in the bottom of the hole. the right wrist angle (slightly broken) is where the thumb slips out. It sticks when completely straight or completely broken.

[Blomer]

Take it in to the pro shop and ask. They know a lot. Show them how you hold it,see if they will watch you bowl and see if they can help u out.

[Kegler300]

You should be able to change speed without having release issues. Be sure you are doing it correctly. Hold the ball a little higher in your stance and move closer to the foul line. Do not change your speed by slowing your arm swing. I can change speed in the middle of a game and not have a problem with my release. Conversely, if you want to speed up, hold the ball lower and move back on the approach.

[axslinger99]

One issue that was pointed out to me when I recently had my thumb issues resolved was that, even though the thumb hole was big enough, it would sometimes stick on release. This issue was two-fold; first, I was grabbing the ball. Even though it was slight, I was grabbing it enough to mess up my release. Second, I was "throwing" the ball or trying to "muscle it" instead of relying on momentum/inertia.

If you saw my original post, I was having major issues with my release/thumb hole size. Once the fit was resolved the pro-shop guy watched my release. I used the "pendulum" effect to generate arm speed rather than "muscle" it and I just relaxed my hand throughout the entire motion. It took a little getting used to as you have to trust that the ball won't fall of your hand in the middle of your swing. Once I did that, it came off cleanly.

[bobforsaken]

Thanks.. a big part of it was a callus that had developed on the inside of my thumb (facing the index finger). It actually created a lump the ball was getting stuck on. I bought a thumb sock and used a dremel to sand my callus down and had much better success. One thing that confuses me that was mentioned in this thread is moving the ball up to slow down and moving it down to speed up. I thought it was just the opposite. I thought starting the ball lower would create less of a back swing so a slower ball speed.

What I've been doing to is moving up on the approach to shorten my steps and holding the ball lower. that seems to slow my speed down.

In any event, with the thumb sock my release has been clean and even with the absence of tape the thumb hole is snug now. I'm going to give that go now. Last Sunday I had my first official 600 series since taking the tape out. This Sunday, yesterday, (first with the thumb sock) I had a 570 series despite a really bad second game (150's).. my other two were 200 plus and I left some pins out there due to botched spares. Unfortunately I got in my own head during the second game trying to figure out the lanes. I'm doing an adult/youth league and they don't bother oiling the lanes, so both lanes played very different.. and some open-bowling yahoos from the night before had oil all over parts of the approach on one of the lanes causing sticking in spots.

[Amyers]

Congrats on finding a solution to your thumb issues. I think it took me almost a year to figure mine out.

[Aslan]

I bowled yesterday after taking a rare 6-day break from bowling and my callous had healed up enough that I had to add a couple pieces of tape (probably should have added more) to compensate.

The only warning about moving the ball up or down in your stance for speed compensation is you're going to mess up your timing. I used to hold the ball very high in my stance and then lowered it a great deal. BUT...I had to also move about 7ft forward on the approach to compensate because my timing would be way too early otherwise. Recently I've raised to ball up to chest level and have had to adjust about 3ft backwards in the approach to avoid late timing. And now I'm taking shorter steps...so I've moved a foot closer on the approach.

The point is, remember, timing is more important than speed and changing your ball height in your stance and/or your backswing height will almost always require a re-adjustment in your approach to compensate.