Lateral finger hole pitches for thumbless bowling

[sprocket]

Hi all. I bowl thumbless and do not intend to change back to using my thumb anytime soon. I only say that because whenever I have seen someone on a forum ask for advice about thumbless bowling one of the first responses they get is someone telling them to use their thumb. That is not the advice I am after.

What I am wondering is what affect adding right lateral pitches to my finger holes would have on the balancing of my ball during the swing and staying more inside the ball at the release point. I have seen so many thumbless bowlers that come over the top of the ball at release and it is very easy to do. When I do it, it is a mistake and a wasted shot. If I attempt to place more of the balls weight over my index finger it puts stress on my wrist and forearm. It feels like the ball is "twisting" my hand. With my normal grip I have no pain or discomfort but there is the tendency to come around the ball too soon and let the ball fall to the inside.

So...I am thinking of trying a right lateral shift in the finger holes to put more weight over my index finger, yet keeping a comfortable grip. For example, I think my current lateral finger pitches are 1/4" left on the middle finger and 5/8" right on the ring finger. I am thinking doing a 1/4" right shift, so I would end up with zero pitch on the middle finger and 7/8" right on the ring finger. I'm not positive I have stated my current pitches correctly because I can't find my drilling specs right now. Whatever they are I would like to try a 1/4" right lateral shift.

Does this sound reasonable? Any advice or comments would be appreciated.

[bowl1820]

That's a kind of technical question on pitches, I would suggest asking it also over on bowlingchat.net. to Mo Pinel and the others there. I believe they can give you more expert information on that kind of fit change.

[AZBowla]

I don't know how you thumbless guys do it, to be honest... when I attempted that I dumped the ball on the ground in front of me and it scooted like a wounded banshee right into the gutter. I'd love to learn the technique though, just for fun.

Welcome to the forum, we won't run you off and tell you to use your thumb if you don't wanna.