I can't win

[billf]

You know what they say, "if you think you can or can't, you're correct". You know how good you are thumbless. You have nothing but doubt about your ability with your thumb. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Send me a vid with thum and see if I can find a flaw causing an issue bowlerz_score@yahoo.com

[RoccoRock]

Thanks Bill, next time I bowl I will try to remember my camera. I will also take some video without my thumb, just to see what you think of that delivery, and the biggest differences between the two, other than rev rate. I'm going to work really hard on my spare ball with my thumb in. If I can get that working, I'll be pretty close to even with both styles.

[RoccoRock]

So, for now, I am going back to thumbless. I am willing to bet within 3 weeks I bowl at least one 600 series.

Hey look at that, I'm Nostra frekin damus. 633 tonight. First 600 of the season. To be fair, I bowled the first game with my thumb in, and actually felt good about it for a while. Here's what happened.

Bowled 3 practice games before league. Thumb in first game, drilled the pocket over and over, kept leaving 10 pins. Struggled with easy spares again, but started making a 10 pin here or there. Second game, bowled the first 4 frames no thumb, didn't feel like doing it any longer went back to using thumb, same results as game one. Third game went to the Nano, and moved right 2 boards. Money. 242. So I took that to the league.

Warmups went well. Started out the game well, double to start the game. Then, gutterball. I was baffled. I did make the spare though. Another strike, then I left the 4 pin. Hit my leg, missed. Strike, 4 pin, whiffed it. 9th frame left the 10 pin, did not think I had a shot at it with my thumb so I went no thumb, made it. Put my thumb back in, 3 ugly strikes in the 10th, 195. Second game, spare, strike, gutterball again. This time pulled out the 607A, no thumb, made the spare again. No thumb next ball, split. Back to thumb, and damn near threw another gutterball. That was the end of that. Used no thumb rest of the night, after finding the line I ran 4 in a row, made spares, 208. Third game spare, open (1-2-8) 6 pack, shaker 10 (missed cause I was laughing too hard.) Another double, 230.

I feel friggin great. I'm excited for the rest of this season. The other team has a thumbless bowler as well, who I know very well. I never noticed until tonight, he uses a pinkie hole. I've been thinking about trying that for a while now. I threw his ball in warmups, and I loved it. I'm gonna have a pinkie hole put in my 607A, and the Rising Star when it comes. I would suggest thumbless bowlers give it a try. It will help keep the ball stable.

[RoccoRock]

I can't help but laugh when I read the first post of this thread. I was all set to go back to this style months ago, but one night of wrist soreness derailed me. I even mentioned dropping to 14. So here we are, 5 months later, and after all the switching back and forth between 3 styles, I am right back where I started. The funny thing, I have absolutely no wrist pain at all. I've been doing this again for three weeks, and not a hint of wrist issues. As I think back, I think I know what happened back then. It was the drills I was doing at the time during the day. That;s what made my wrist sore, not bowling. I wish I would have stuck with it, but at the same time I'm glad I tried something different. If I'm ever in a situation where I can no longer bowl thumbless, I have a reference point now. I'll still practice from time to time with my thumb, but when it counts, the glove goes on and the thumb comes out.

[billf]

It hasn't been a waste of time though as now you have a very unique ability....to shoot a 200 game with either style. That's not something most bowlers can do.
Now when you hit a tournament you can choose your style based off how you feel and the lane conditions. The only thing stopping you is, well, you. (a problem we all have at times)

[RoccoRock]

Rising Star came the other day, tried it out last night. The good, a 14lb ball seems to be the way to go. It hit as hard as any 15 I've ever thrown. Didn't leave pins when I hit the pocket. The bad, the ball is in rough shape, but nothing a deep cleaning and resurfacing can't solve. The undecided, I drilled the pinkie hole. I'm not sure, and I'll try it again, but I don't think I liked it. It didn't give me the control I was looking for.

As usual, my spare ball was money. I was throwing it so well, I started messing around trying to throw a straight end over end shot. I haven't tried it since I went to a 14lb spare ball. I think I have it down pretty good. If I didn't have the glove, and throwing a 14 I don't think I could do it. I'm only planning on using the end over end shot for 10 pin, and maybe 6 pins.

As far as the scores, not great. I was trying things for the first time, like the straight shot and the pinkie hole. That's not the time to bowl on a sport pattern for the first time. It was a good learning experience, and even though I don't remember the scores I know I beat my friends every single game.

[RoccoRock]

Did not do all that well in my league Thursday night. I left the 10 pin 7 times, the 7 pin once, and a solid 9 pin. I started thinking maybe the 14 just won't carry the same way. However, I thought about my practice game, before the league started. I strung 5 in a row, and 3 in a row in that game. The difference was the lane conditions. The league was freshly oiled, and the practice lanes were not. The Rising Star worked well on the dryer lanes, but struggled in league conditions, which I would term as Med, maybe a little more to the heavy side. My 607A was always great in my league, so now I need to find a ball similar the 607A and see how it does.

[RoccoRock]

Maybe I should start a new thread, call it "I can win, if I stick with what I know I am good at." Picked up a new ball today, I went with a Frantic. I wanted something stronger than the Rising Star. I also wanted to try no grip, fingertips into bare ball. First impressions, very nice. I am happy I went and bought a new ball, and I love the feel without the grips. In my 3rd game, I went into the pro shop to see if my driller can come out and watch a few frames. This is my usual guy, so he knows my whole story. He is the one I did the hour lesson with when I was trying to use my thumb. I've also show him video of when I was bowling well with my thumb. This is the first time he has seen me throw thumbless in a year. He told me the way I am throwing the ball right now is the best he has ever seen me throw, and by far. He liked how hard I was throwing it, but without trying to overpower the ball. He liked my consistency, and the way I was throwing my 10 pins, straight end over end. So I am happy, and I am only going to bring my thumbless balls to the lanes for a while. None of them, aside from the spare ball, even have a usable thumb hole.

[aussiedave]

I'm thinking of giving in, and getting a wrist positioning device. It couldn't hurt right now. They just look sooooo goofy, then again so does bowling with two hands lol.

I think two handed looks good if you can do it well, and Jason Bellmonte wouldn't give two hoots what you thought of his style!
I know a guy who bowls in the 130's with thumb in ball, but when he bowls two handed, he immediately gets much better scores, yet he also was torn between the two. Like you he has an injury - that prevents him from comfortably bowling two handed. He wants to go that route, but can't.
I am leary of trying two handed - it looks like a very physical way to bowl and I ain't getting any younger!
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