Inerchangeable thumb systems? your thoughts guys needed

[Hobbit]

Hi guys,

I have gone back to re learning how to bowl one handed traditional hook at the beginning of January... At present, I'm a very slow stroker kinda style, painfully slow in truth (14mph with the hope of definitely upping that speed).. Have bowled about 70 games thus far, ave 175, so very happy with that....However my thumb seems to swell and shrink faster than I care for.. I heard about interchangeable thumb slugs/inserts.. Love some feedback on bowlers who use these? also how many different inserts do u need?

Thank u in advance guys for any advice
Cheers
Hobbit

[Stormed1]

I use the Vise IT system and am very pleased with it. Since you say you both shrink and swell I would recommend 3 slugs . Your normal size and 1 larger and 1 smaller. For myself I have 6 due to large weight variations due to being on dialysis so the day of the week and time of day has an effect on my thumb size

[fortheloveofbowling]

Hi guys,

I have gone back to re learning how to bowl one handed traditional hook at the beginning of January... At present, I'm a very slow stroker kinda style, painfully slow in truth (14mph with the hope of definitely upping that speed).. Have bowled about 70 games thus far, ave 175, so very happy with that....However my thumb seems to swell and shrink faster than I care for.. I heard about interchangeable thumb slugs/inserts.. Love some feedback on bowlers who use these? also how many different inserts do u need?

Thank u in advance guys for any advice
Cheers
Hobbit

I went to the vise system about 6-7 years ago and wish i had done it when it first came out. I have 2 just in the event one breaks. If you have a good pro shop guy they should be able to get them close. With or without this system though everyone should start with a thumb hole at least 1 piece of tape bigger then your thumb ever swells to. That way you can adjust your tape up and down to compensate for the thumb changes.

[Aslan]

I am trying the VISE IT system on one of my balls right now. I am up to 4 inserts now because initially I got sized and then got a larger and smaller one. Well, a few week later, the smallest one felt too loose...so after struggling with it I decided to get an even smaller one. I have yet to use the medium or large ones yet. I may even need to get a 5th one that is smaller yet...because the inserts are slippery so if they are at all loose...sometimes the ball will start slipping off my hand during my swing.

[ALazySavage]

I would recommend having two thumb slugs in the instance that one breaks. It is much easier in my opinion to get the proper fit by using tape rather than having a wide variety of thumb slugs.

In regards to tape I have the 1" white tape and then 1" Johnson and Johnson medical tape (this feels like the standard black tape that pro shops sell in my opinion). The thing that is so nice about the tape is that I can adjust the size of either type of tape to get that perfect fit and remove when needed.

[Aslan]

I use tape as well, and you can use tape with the IT inserts if you wish.

But for me, having a handful of different sized inserts cuts down greatly on how much tape work I need to do each night. I have some balls that have as many as 9 pieces of tape in the thumb-hole. White and black. But as I've progressed in this early stage of my bowling career/journey...thumb fit has become more and more and more crucial to my success. It's a very fine line between a thumb getting stuck and the thumb feeling loose causing you to "grab" the ball during the downswing. And whether its the thumb gettng stuck or grabbing it...both are main culprits when I make a bad shot.

[Jaescrub]

One of my teammates my wife and I both use the ITs thumbs love them she has 2 and I have 4 now never had trouble finding the right thumb.

[bowl1820]

Just a tip about getting fit for thumb and finger size.

You should try and get your fit about the same time of day as you would normally bowl.

Your size can change drastically throughout day. What fits good in early afternoon can be different that evening.

[classygranny]

I went to the ICs about 2 years ago, and wish I had done so many years ago.

I started with 3 different sizes, but when I hurt my thumb I went and got the next size larger. Last year I was going to go to Vegas for a tournament and I was afraid that bowling every day or twice a day for 4 days would create a thumb swelling issue, so I went for another size up - just in case. I've never used that one, but knowing it's in my bag is a good feeling.

I'm rather lazy, so I had two of each size made, so I can put one in my strike ball and one in my spare ball, so I don't have to take it out and put it in all the time.

I got so tired of the tape issue. And with the heat here in AZ, it would melt and get sticky. Like Aslan says, you can still use tape if needed with the ICs, you just won't use as much if any. I so like not having to mess with the tape....just pop one thumb out and put the bigger/smaller one in. My sizes are so close together, it would probably be like two pieces of tape or so.

[Hobbit]

Awesome replies here guys, very much appreciated..

The main reason I stopped using my thumb, was due to taking tape in and out of my balls, sticky yucky and just plain annoying!!

I am using just the one ball for everything at present, but have noticed that my tip of my thumb is kinda pins and needles over last two weeks or so,, very weird feeling!!!! Thrown quite a few games , so perhaps overuse, or I'm holding too tight, which I'm guessing is the real culprit... Was going to put tape in, then remembered my experience years ago using tape....

I'm wondering if the PBA bowlers use IT slugs???

How strong are these IT slugs? As my center , balls have been damaged quite regularly through poor maintenance at times.. Will these things last for a long time? Or should I grab spare slugs, of different sizes ??

[Blacksox1]

I use turbo switch grip for my thumb. Have three made at this time, one for the spare ball, two for the strike ball. Each one is sized differently, by choice. I like the product it is very durable.

[nomad1721]

I use its and haven't had any problems. I've been using them for close to a year. I have one in my spare ball,and one i use on the rest of my arsenal.

[epiepenburg]

I'm wondering if the PBA bowlers use IT slugs???

How strong are these IT slugs? As my center , balls have been damaged quite regularly through poor maintenance at times.. Will these things last for a long time? Or should I grab spare slugs, of different sizes ??

Watching the shows this year, I can say that I have seen a few players that have had them and could be seen on camera switching the grips from their first ball to their spare balls.

I would venture to guess that a lot of the guys have them, but have multiple inserts that are the same size and that way don't have to mess around with switching back and forth.

[Aslan]

How strong are these IT slugs? As my center , balls have been damaged quite regularly through poor maintenance at times.. Will these things last for a long time? Or should I grab spare slugs, of different sizes ??

From what I've heard from people that have used them longer, the main negatives are cost and durability. Obviously, if you're traveling or at a tournament and suddenly you have a problem where the part that holds the insert in (similar whether it's Turbo/switch or VISE/IT) comes out…it's not as simple as just putting tape in…you now have an unuseable ball until it can be repaired.

But so far, I've seen one of those come out as often as I've seen a finger insert come unglued. Very unlikely.


Like Aslan says, you can still use tape if needed with the ICs, you just won't use as much if any. I so like not having to mess with the tape....just pop one thumb out and put the bigger/smaller one in. My sizes are so close together, it would probably be like two pieces of tape or so.

Yeah, the only time I use tape with the ball I have the IT system in is if I know my thumb is abnormally "smaller" and I don't have an insert quite that small. But if it becomes a routine thing or where I need to add more than one piece of tape to the insert…it's time to go have a smaller insert made. My mistake was getting my first few inserts sized after I finished bowling so my thumb was a little on the bigger side…and now I have 3 inserts where 2 are rather big and I had to have a 4th even smaller one made. And I "may" have an even smaller one made eventually as I quest to get a very, very snug thumb fit and get that darn thumb to come out clean and smooth.

[FireCapt782]

Great information, I will be upgrading soon.

[Blomer]

Last week my thumb swelled like crazy. We had a sudden heat wave with it being 50 degrees here. Lol but with the weather getting nicer, my thumb is more likely to swell so have pondering the ITS as well. Great post. Enjoyed all the comments.