Finger hole sizing

[Morgan]

As a newcomer to bowling, I just bought a ball that was fitted for a conventional grip. The fitter used a device that was similar to a Bill Taylor Ballfitter. It may indeed BE a Bill Taylor Ballfitter, I don't remember. My concern is that the fitter, who is very new to running a bowling pro shop, may not be using the fitter properly. He had me insert my thumb in the various holes to determine the proper hole size. We shoved my thumb through the holes until we found one that allowed the knuckle to slide through without snagging but with no extra space around the knuckle. This all seemed to be proper to me, but I don't know anything, so what I think doesn't mean much.

Here's what really concerned me about the fitting: He had me do the same thing with my middle and ring fingers, but had me slide my second knuckle through the device, fitting it the same as the thumb, loose but no slack or space at the knuckle. I got to wondering later why, if the second knuckle is going to remain outside the hole, are we measuring the second knuckle. It seems to me that we would want to measure for fit at the FIRST knuckle, which is the only one that will be IN the hole.

I'd love to hear any opinions about this by anyone who knows more about this than I do, which is probably everybody at this point.

He has not actually drilled the holes yet, so there is still time for me to correct this if necessary.

Thanks.

[bowl1820]

Most peoples fingers taper from the hand to the fingertip. If you Drilled the hole at just the size of the first joint, you wouldn't be able to insert your finger all the way to the second joint.

So in a conventional grip, the bowler's ring and middle fingers are placed into the ball up to the second joint, while in a finger tip grip the ring and middle finger holes are made to accept the bowler's fingers only up to the first joint.

[Morgan]

If you Drilled the hole at just the size of the first joint, you wouldn't be able to insert your finger all the way to the second joint.

So in a conventional grip, the bowler's ring and middle fingers are placed into the ball up to the second joint,

OK, thanks. This is where I am confused though. It seems to me, being someone who knows nothing about this, that if the fingers are placed in the ball up to the second joint that the second joint size wouldn't matter since it stays outside of the hole. My fingers do taper down from base to tip, but the largest part of the finger that falls between the second joint and the tip is the first joint. I don't know without trying, but I think that if the hole were fit to the size of my first joint that I could slip my finger in the hole up to the second joint.

Actually, what got me concerned about this is I was looking at a video somewhere which showed a person explaining how these measuring devices work and briefly stuck his fingers in the holes and he didn't insert the finger past the second joint He inserted the finger only up to the second joint. The demo was very brief though and this may not be what he intended to demonstrate. If I could find the video again, I'd post it here, but I so far I can't find it.

[Morgan]

Well, in case any other bowling upstarts ever read this thread and want to know more, here is what happened. Fortunately, I was able to cancel the order before any equipment was ordered, so no major harm was done to either of us. Later, I was driving through Denver and went to a pro shop that was highly recommended and was obviously more experience at fitting bowling balls. He measured the thumb exactly as the fitter before had done, but when measuring the fingers he inserted each finger in the measuring device up to the second knuckle. In fact, he was very careful about choosing a hole that went only so far against the second knuckle. None of them came even close to clearing the second knuckle completely, as with the original fitter. I didn't want to interfere with his process so I didn't mention anything about my previous experience. He put a lot of effort in choosing the exact hole size to get the fit he was looking for. He apparently was using this as a starting point for determining hole size, but as it turned out, the only adjustment needed was to the thumb hole. He opened it up a bit but left the finger holes as they were.

I have not actually used the ball yet, so there may be more to this story, but I don't think so. Now it's time to see if this ball will actually knock down some pins, I guess. Time will tell.:)

[billf]

The second pro shop did it correctly judging by your description. My only real question at this point is; why not use a finger tip grip? It does feel very odd at first but does produce more ball reaction hence better entry angle and pin carry.

[martin]

well my opinion is that since Morgan is a beginner to bowling, a conventional grip is a better way to start.. helps practice accuracy.. maybe only after a few months then go to a fingertip grip..

[Morgan]

well my opinion is that since Morgan is a beginner to bowling, a conventional grip is a better way to start.. helps practice accuracy.. maybe only after a few months then go to a fingertip grip..
Yeah, that's what I was told by others too. Use a conventional grip at first. Even though I know practically nothing about it, the finger tip grip has an appeal to me. I'll be looking at it in the future.

To switch to a finger tip grip, do you refill the holes and start over or can the original holes be converted? It seems like the hole spacing would be different for the two grip types.

[Morgan]

The second pro shop did it correctly judging by your description. My only real question at this point is; why not use a finger tip grip? It does feel very odd at first but does produce more ball reaction hence better entry angle and pin carry.

Yes, that appears to be the case. After a minor adjustment to the thumb hole, the fit seems to work great. I'm investigating the finger tip grip option, though. Thanks.

[martin]

Yeah, that's what I was told by others too. Use a conventional grip at first. Even though I know practically nothing about it, the finger tip grip has an appeal to me. I'll be looking at it in the future.

To switch to a finger tip grip, do you refill the holes and start over or can the original holes be converted? It seems like the hole spacing would be different for the two grip types.

i'm not too sure about that.. for me, when i started bowling and used the conventional grip, i was using house balls.. so when i switched to a fingertip grip, it was a new different ball altogether.. but i guess the holes can be filled up and redrilled..

[bowl1820]

To switch to a finger tip grip, do you refill the holes and start over or can the original holes be converted? It seems like the hole spacing would be different for the two grip types.

Yes to change to fingertip they fill in the holes and redrill it. Yes the span (the distance from fingers to thumb) is longer.

[billf]

Here is my coaching philosophy about finger type although I always let the customer make the final decison. If you are wanting to just bowl occasionally, go with conventional and stay with a house ball. If you are serious about becoming a better bowler, there are already so many changes that will be made that adding fingertip grip isn't that much more of a big deal. With conventional a lot of people try to generate revs with their wrists, elbows and all sorts of other improper form/techniques while switching to fingertips and allowing the bowl to roll off correctly is possibly the single biggest natural change to increase revs, hook potential and pin carry.

[billf]

When you do go to the fingertip grip, get use to the feel by holding the ball by your side and letting it seem more naturalswing naturally back and forth. This will help the "feel" seem more natural and help develop/keep a nice, fluid, free arm swing.