sore fingers

[JohnN]

Any of you senior bowlers get sore fingers ? I use a fingertip grip and my fingers get sore by the last knuckle. Think I have lost some flexibility there. Been getting what looks to be a blood blister under my ring finger for several years now. Probably should get the pitch changed but wouldn't that reduce roll potential ?

[RobLV1]

Any of you senior bowlers get sore fingers ? I use a fingertip grip and my fingers get sore by the last knuckle. Think I have lost some flexibility there. Been getting what looks to be a blood blister under my ring finger for several years now. Probably should get the pitch changed but wouldn't that reduce roll potential ?

As we get older and less flexible, it is very important to have our hands and ball fit checked frequently (every year or two). No, getting the pitch changed will not reduce your "roll potential' (whatever that is), it will just allow you to bowl without pain, and that's a good thing!

[Amyers]

it may even be something as simple as your fingers have increased in size slightly and now the grips are too tight. Have it checked by your PSO. Properly fitted equipment is the first step in bowling better.

[JohnN]

Guess what I mean by "roll potential" is will I reduce the amount of roll I can produce if I start using a more negative pitch on my finger holes.

[scottymoney]

Exactly what Amyers said if your grips are too tight. I liked my grips tight until recently when I changed them and went to a bigger size. Going bigger I was able to stop using finger tape and my fingers are pain free. I can now bowl however many games I want without any pain.

I also agree with Rob, make sure to go have your PSO check it out and see if your hand has changed. A small change can make a big difference.

[Mike White]

Guess what I mean by "roll potential" is will I reduce the amount of roll I can produce if I start using a more negative pitch on my finger holes.

The most roll you can get is 100%, and with a modern ball, it kinda hard not to achieve 100%.

Think of the pad of your fingers like the tread of a tire.

If you have the wrong pitch, less of the tread is making contact with the road (inside of the finger hole)

The lower area of contact, the more likely the spot that is contacting is doing too much work, and getting blistered.

[fokai73]

That's why I don't like forward pitch for the fingers. A lot of bowlers have this finger position and pitch /| instead of having ||....

/ - finger pad
| - finger pitch

Low budget illustration lol

[JohnN]

I have a Brunswick Mastermind that I don't use anymore with a cracked bridge. Going to take it in, have it plugged, and re-drilled with new finger pitches and see how it feels.

[Jessiewoodard57]

My PSO suggested I go from the lifts to ovals and that helped a lot

[RobLV1]

In modern bowling, we don't "lift" the ball, we rotate through it, feeling the ball on the palm of the hand as we roll it. This release is actually easier with a little away pitch on the fingers.

[Mike White]

In modern bowling, we don't "lift" the ball, we rotate through it, feeling the ball on the palm of the hand as we roll it. This release is actually easier with a little away pitch on the fingers.

What you call modern bowling is a joke.

With people using the lack of lift technique, you find balls "burning up" when they encounter too much dry area.

With a little more fingers in the ball, the ball would make it back to the wall of oil before losing all of the axis rotation, and once there, the oil reduces friction, and guides the ball down the lane.

USBC should deem all bowling on a THS to be a game, not a sport, and therefore not worthy of any awards or records.

Before the THS came along, the record for 5 man team series was about 3500, by a team of 5 professionals.

Since the THS, it's been beat many times, and just recently a team of 5 amateurs shot 3986.

[Aslan]

Never had finger pain. One time...I had a ring finger insert that must have been just a smidge too small...that league night it hurt like the dickens...changed it out the following week...no problems.

[djp1080]

I've experienced stiffness of the fingertips after a session of bowling, but no blistering. First shift was to go away from grips with lifts and go to ovals (i.e., just turn the grips upside down). This helped for a while. Several months later I had my grip examined and it was recommended to go with a reverse pitch for the fingers as I was getting some pretty bad stiffness in the fingers. The stiffness was bad enough that trying to bend my fingers the next morning was difficult. Ended up with a 3/8ths reverse pitch of the fingers which has helped. Even bought an aid called steel fingers which might give more help. Now I feel like I can rip the cover off the ball and yes, I'm a senior bowler... :)
Going with some reverse pitch on the fingers didn't seem to effect anything regarding the release of the ball. Just relieved the pain. Good luck and hope this helps...

[JohnN]

Took the Mastermind in today and after the PSO looked at my fingers and the ball he recommended changing the pitch and the span slightly. If that works will bring the balls in one at a time to fix. Can't remember what the change in pitch will be but the span was a 1/8th shortening.

[RobLV1]

What you call modern bowling is a joke.

With people using the lack of lift technique, you find balls "burning up" when they encounter too much dry area.

With a little more fingers in the ball, the ball would make it back to the wall of oil before losing all of the axis rotation, and once there, the oil reduces friction, and guides the ball down the lane.

USBC should deem all bowling on a THS to be a game, not a sport, and therefore not worthy of any awards or records.

Before the THS came along, the record for 5 man team series was about 3500, by a team of 5 professionals.

Since the THS, it's been beat many times, and just recently a team of 5 amateurs shot 3986.

Modern bowling is what it is. Throwing plastic and pretending it's 1985 doesn't make it. Of course balls burn up when then encounter too much dry area. That's why bowlers who insist on playing the second arrow and using plastic or urethane ***** and complain because they refuse to accept the fact that finding oil is now a good thing, and not something that is going to keep the ball from hooking. It's not going back, Mike, regardless of how much you want it to!

[billf]

What you call modern bowling is a joke.

With people using the lack of lift technique, you find balls "burning up" when they encounter too much dry area.

With a little more fingers in the ball, the ball would make it back to the wall of oil before losing all of the axis rotation, and once there, the oil reduces friction, and guides the ball down the lane.

USBC should deem all bowling on a THS to be a game, not a sport, and therefore not worthy of any awards or records.

Before the THS came along, the record for 5 man team series was about 3500, by a team of 5 professionals.

Since the THS, it's been beat many times, and just recently a team of 5 amateurs shot 3986.

Mike, while I agree with 99.9% of this I wonder; WTH does this have to do with the question? And as far as amateurs go Matt McNeil is still an amateur (by choice) yet even the pros admit he would win on tour.

[billf]

Another option to consider

www.steelfingers.com

[Mike White]

Another option to consider

www.steelfingers.com

A friend of mine tried the steel fingers thingy..

It was a waste of money.

[Mike White]

Mike, while I agree with 99.9% of this I wonder; WTH does this have to do with the question? And as far as amateurs go Matt McNeil is still an amateur (by choice) yet even the pros admit he would win on tour.

I don't think Matt McNeil should be lowered into the same category as the 5 amateurs that just set the team record.

Matt I believe has won 1 or more events at Nationals, where as of the 5 amateurs, I was able to identify 3 who have bowled at nationals.

While their home averages are 220 -> 240, their national averages were 170 -> 190.

I'm pretty sure 170 -> 190 is going to be far below Matt McNeil's Nationals average.

But I couldn't find any info about Matt on Bowl.com.

The connection to the original question was according to Rob, the fingers wouldn't hurt if the OP was properly playing the modern game of bowling where you don't lift the ball. Which is crap, because if you don't lift even resin ball, it dies.

This comes from Rob not understanding what lift really is.

Lift is just another way of saying apply torque to the finger holes to increase revs compared to just dropping the ball and requiring friction to create revs.

Since the fingers are supposed to be below the center of the ball with the release begins, torque is applied in an upward direction, and therefore known as lift.

But torque is a physics term, which is WAY over Rob's head.

[JohnN]

All I know is that when I properly apply lift with my fingers I can feel it and I can see the improved reaction of the ball. I have been working on keeping my hand more behind the ball and lifting more and my last 4 series really show the improvement.

[NewToBowling]

Isn't Matt McNeil a PBA pro now?

[JohnN]

Picked up my ball today. What a difference. Shorter span and less pitch. Threw a practice game and was still getting good roll. Felt like I could actually get a little better grip with the fingers. Dropped off the Thug Unruly and the Guru Supreme for the same.

[Mike White]

That's why I don't like forward pitch for the fingers. A lot of bowlers have this finger position and pitch /| instead of having ||....

/ - finger pad
| - finger pitch

Low budget illustration lol

Someday, someone will invent a way to photocopy the image we have in our mind.

[RobLV1]

I don't think Matt McNeil should be lowered into the same category as the 5 amateurs that just set the team record.

Matt I believe has won 1 or more events at Nationals, where as of the 5 amateurs, I was able to identify 3 who have bowled at nationals.

While their home averages are 220 -> 240, their national averages were 170 -> 190.

I'm pretty sure 170 -> 190 is going to be far below Matt McNeil's Nationals average.

But I couldn't find any info about Matt on Bowl.com.

The connection to the original question was according to Rob, the fingers wouldn't hurt if the OP was properly playing the modern game of bowling where you don't lift the ball. Which is crap, because if you don't lift even resin ball, it dies.

This comes from Rob not understanding what lift really is.

Lift is just another way of saying apply torque to the finger holes to increase revs compared to just dropping the ball and requiring friction to create revs.

Since the fingers are supposed to be below the center of the ball with the release begins, torque is applied in an upward direction, and therefore known as lift.

But torque is a physics term, which is WAY over Rob's head.

Oh, yes, those physics terms are WAY over my head, however, how is it that I get dozens upon dozens of emails each year from bowlers thanking me for helping them to develop a modern release by learning to do NOTHING to the ball? I may not understand all of the psychics terms that Mike understands, but neither am I forced to throw plastic and urethane spare balls for my strike shots like Mike does for the simple reason that he still thinks you have to "lift" the ball. Welcome back, Mike! You've had your 15 minutes, so please crawl back under your rock and let these people get some information that is actually helpful to them, rather than just your outdated opinion. Bowling is not going back to the glory days of the eighties, so please GET OVER IT!

[Mike White]

Oh, yes, those physics terms are WAY over my head, however, how is it that I get dozens upon dozens of emails each year from bowlers thanking me for helping them to develop a modern release by learning to do NOTHING to the ball? I may not understand all of the psychics terms that Mike understands, but neither am I forced to throw plastic and urethane spare balls for my strike shots like Mike does for the simple reason that he still thinks you have to "lift" the ball. Welcome back, Mike! You've had your 15 minutes, so please crawl back under your rock and let these people get some information that is actually helpful to them, rather than just your outdated opinion. Bowling is not going back to the glory days of the eighties, so please GET OVER IT!

Those emails are from people who think you helped them, but it was the wall of oil that helped them.

If I remember even Aslan gave you praise after getting a lesson or two, and how has that actually worked out for him?

It sounds like I teach (hands on) more people than you how to play the modern game.

I don't teach people how to throw the ball like I do, because they prefer the easy way to score, which is pay $1000 for a few balls, then bounce them along the wall of oil.

What I'm not interested in doing is turning my strong release into a weak release just so I can then pay $1000 for a few balls when I can get the same number of low end balls for $150.

Yeah my scores might go up if I could constantly throw the ball like crap, but what value do high scores on walled conditions have?

You have what $2000-$3000 worth of equipment and struggle to average 180-190 on a house condition, how well do they work for you on a condition like Nationals.

Well now that Bowl.com includes that information we don't have to take your word for it, we can look it up.

USBC Open Championships 129 9

129 average for 9 games.

Ouch, maybe you should try using plastic, it would be hard to do worse with it.

You like to use age as an excuse for poor bowling, but do you have any evidence of ever not poor bowling, at any age?

[bowl1820]

This thread can stop now