Grip it and rip it, or relaxed hand release?

**75lockwood** · 11-09-2012, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by AZBowla

As always Bill you're the sage voice of wisdom.

I also had some additional confirmation this evening when I picked up the ball and attempted to do some armswing drills. My fingers and thumb were all sore from not holding the ball right last night and I could barely hold the ball, plus my thumb was too swollen for the drills to do any good. I put the ball away shortly after getting it out. I will have to give my hand a break and wait for the soreness and swelling to go down before I can try this again. Even if I chose not to listen to anyone here, my hand won't let me get away with holding the ball incorrectly for long. So there's my answer.

As for the old ball, I'm going to have it plugged and redrilled, but not for me. My teenage son wants to get serious about bowling too, so the ball is going to be handed down to him since it's a good beginner's ball. I've got the new plastic ball I won here that I am going to be using for those left side spares and (sigh) I'm going to have it drilled just like the Marauder so it's one less thing to think about.

I guess after all the reading I've done I should know better, so I will just have to keep practicing once my hand will allow it again.

OOOO get your son an account on here as well! i can give him a few suggestions on what equipment to get....

**Mike White** · 11-09-2012, 09:13 AM

Originally Posted by 75lockwood

OOOO get your son an account on here as well! i can give him a few suggestions on what equipment to get....

75lockwood, that has to be the worst advice EVER!!!

Another new account on here means yet another week before I can be a repeat ball winner.

**Cochese** · 11-09-2012, 09:54 AM

More good advice from our experts! I have been trying to mess with my grip and swing, trying to get more revs and crank it up a little more instead of just working on consistency. It hasn't been working out so good. I practiced yesterday and instead of messing with grip, I concentrated on mainly hitting my mark and also on keeping my shoulder low. Amazing how good timing produces such a better throw than trying to "force" revs on the ball by messing with cupping and wrist cock.

**scottymoney** · 11-09-2012, 10:02 AM

Something I am going to try that I saw in a training video on youtube from Norm Duke. I never thought of it before, but after seeing it I thought wow that probably makes a huge difference. The thing I am talking about is he teaches to use your non bowling arm to hold the ball weight up until the armswing. This makes sense as I think it may take pressure off the bowling arm until it is truly needed allowing for the bowling arm to stay a bit more relaxed and "freash". I had always put most of the weight on the bowling arm as soon as I picked up the ball. I will be giving this a try this weekend when I go practice with the wife. I am guessing it will reduce strain on the arm and make me grip less as I my arm won't be holding as much weight to start off with.

At least that is what I think it might do!

**75lockwood** · 11-09-2012, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by Mike White

75lockwood, that has to be the worst advice EVER!!!

Another new account on here means yet another week before I can be a repeat ball winner.

Hold your horses! i still haven't won once! LOL

**GoodGorilla** · 11-09-2012, 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by scottymoney

Something I am going to try that I saw in a training video on youtube from Norm Duke. I never thought of it before, but after seeing it I thought wow that probably makes a huge difference. The thing I am talking about is he teaches to use your non bowling arm to hold the ball weight up until the armswing. This makes sense as I think it may take pressure off the bowling arm until it is truly needed allowing for the bowling arm to stay a bit more relaxed and "freash". I had always put most of the weight on the bowling arm as soon as I picked up the ball. I will be giving this a try this weekend when I go practice with the wife. I am guessing it will reduce strain on the arm and make me grip less as I my arm won't be holding as much weight to start off with.

At least that is what I think it might do!

Norm says one of the top 3 things he can teach somebody. I tried it out, not very seriously. It didn't seem like it did anything, I'll probably try it again later. I do however put more than half the weight in my non ball hand.

**GoodGorilla** · 11-09-2012, 11:17 AM

Normally the ball will stick to my thumb if I turn the ball early, or accelerate the follow through when my thumb is still in the ball. I have had good thumb drills for several months now so I know what it should feel like. I had a ball drilled 2 days ago, and I asked the operator to open it a little right after I put my hand in it the first time.

**AZBowla** · 11-09-2012, 11:31 AM

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I'm going to have him open up the thumbhole just a tiny bit more when I go down there next weekend and then drill my spare ball to match the Marauder. After that, it's practice,practice, practice until I get this right. Going to spend alot of time working on armswing and release as those are my two big weaknesses right now.