Thumbtip Issues

[rv driver]

I bought my son his first ball today. He has bowled some over the years, but nothing really consistent until a couple of months ago -- bowls about once a week or so now. He's 23, and I bought him a 15# plastic DV8. He had it drilled up and took it out to the lanes to try it out. I told him to be sure and not crook his thumb, now that he has a ball that fits his hand.

He threw one -- looked pretty good for a beginner, but he said that it "felt weird." In trying to determine what was wrong, I found out that he's used to throwing the ball without putting his thumb all the way in the ball. He only puts his thumb in up to the first knuckle. So, when I told him to just stick his thumb in the ball straight, he did, but the "conventional" thumb position didn't feel "usual" to him.

From the "dumb question of the day" dept.: Is it OK for him to continue to throw the ball with his thumb in that position? Or should he attempt to adopt the "usual" position? As I think about it, if he does that, he's going to have some problems transitioning to a fingertip grip, and it seems like he's going to have problems getting his thumb out of the ball for a good release. OTOH, I've seen some pretty good bowlers throw with some pretty weird grips. Thoughts, long-timers and coaches?

[J Anderson]

I bought my son his first ball today. He has bowled some over the years, but nothing really consistent until a couple of months ago -- bowls about once a week or so now. He's 23, and I bought him a 15# plastic DV8. He had it drilled up and took it out to the lanes to try it out. I told him to be sure and not crook his thumb, now that he has a ball that fits his hand.

He threw one -- looked pretty good for a beginner, but he said that it "felt weird." In trying to determine what was wrong, I found out that he's used to throwing the ball without putting his thumb all the way in the ball. He only puts his thumb in up to the first knuckle. So, when I told him to just stick his thumb in the ball straight, he did, but the "conventional" thumb position didn't feel "usual" to him.

From the "dumb question of the day" dept.: Is it OK for him to continue to throw the ball with his thumb in that position? Or should he attempt to adopt the "usual" position? As I think about it, if he does that, he's going to have some problems transitioning to a fingertip grip, and it seems like he's going to have problems getting his thumb out of the ball for a good release. OTOH, I've seen some pretty good bowlers throw with some pretty weird grips. Thoughts, long-timers and coaches?

First of all, change always feels at least a little weird.
Is it OK? Well, it works for Tom Smallwood.
Should he conform to the "usual" position? With enough practice unconventional techniques can be very effective. However, he should progress faster learning a more traditional style.