Quote Originally Posted by AlexNC View Post
I am familiar with the Ron Clifton articles, and it was part of the reason I wanted to move my pitch slightly forward in the first place. I went from 1/4" to 1/8" reverse pitch and it worked great for a while. At the same time, my new PSO slightly increased my span and we changed to an oval thumb. When I had this work done, the weather was cold and dry. Right now, I can't clear my thumb even rolling into a pillow at home. I am not bending or squeezing and I can feel my thumbnail contact the back of the thumbhole. I can feel my thumb stick between the joint closest to my hand and the middle joint while maintaining a straight but relaxed thumb. If I don't use any tape and apply rosin I can get out, but then I don't have any snugness.

It is worth mentioning that my thumb falls under the 90 degree average tight class and on the thumb angle pitch conversion chart my recommended starting point is between 1/4" to 5/16" for my span. I think to make the current 1/8" reverse work on the stuff I had changed I would probably need to shorten my span.

So I guess when it was super dry out it worked great. As soon as there was any humidity/friction I started hanging up. I still like the oval thumb, for me it means a more reasonable amount of tape (i was between 7-10 pieces on my old stuff). Oh, I do also use the Vise Hada tape. Its just that the issue again seems to be on the front side of thumb catching.
If I you're sticking between the thumb joint closest to your hand and the middle joint, your PSO might just need to bevel the thumb hole a little is my guess. With my forward pitched thumb hole while swinging the ball here in the basement, I can feel pressure just above the knuckle joint engage with front of the slug. I've got no sticking at the joint closest to my hand. I've been using Hada tape on my thumb for quite a while and I've added a piece of Teflon tape to the back of the slug (i.e., Shur Out tape). I've likely made it a tape nightmare, but it works for me. Consider just beveling the thumb hole a bit and get your thumb joint clear. Glad that you're not squeezing the ball while trying to roll it into a pillow. Some Easy Slide powder might get rid of the tacky feeling on your thumb, too. Good luck!