New Grip...

[bubba809]

After about a year or wrist problems and a couple cortisone shots, my PSO has advised me to get a new fitting. Since it's been many years since I've had one I agreed. He said I pretty much needed all new possible adjustments made from my hand changing over the last 15-20 years. He also suggested I get my new ball drilled WITHOUT inserts. This will take pressure of my wrist that has caused me pain. He said there is so much added pressure to the fingers and wrist with fingertip grips. I must admit, I am concerned in changing my entire grip and going to no inserts in one swoop. But what do i have to lose?

Has anybody else heard of converting to no grips to easy the pressure?

[RobLV1]

Are you currently using the grips with the flat lifts? If you are, I would suggest turning the grips over to the non-lift side before getting rid of them all together. With no grips at all, you could be handing yourself a who new set of problems with your fingers.

[bubba809]

Yes, I am using the flat lifts. I can only go by what my PSO has told me, but he has said he has done this (no inserts) for many of his bowlers with arthritis, carpel tunnel, tendonitis (which is what i suffer from). He said many bowlers bowl "pain free" from the stress and force that is incited from the grips.

Now you have my curiousity up of the new set of problems for my fingers I may encounter. Could you please elaborate Rob?

[RobLV1]

Yes, I am using the flat lifts. I can only go by what my PSO has told me, but he has said he has done this (no inserts) for many of his bowlers with arthritis, carpel tunnel, tendonitis (which is what i suffer from). He said many bowlers bowl "pain free" from the stress and force that is incited from the grips.

Now you have my curiousity up of the new set of problems for my fingers I may encounter. Could you please elaborate Rob?

Pretty straight forward; the ball is hard, and the grips are soft. If you simply use the other end of the grips without the lifts, you still get the benefit of the soft grips without the added stress of lifting. From a coaching standpoint, I advise my students not to use the lift end of the grips for the simple reason that lifting is not something you want to do with modern bowling balls. Personally I use grips without the lifts, and I have no problems despite the fact that I have so much arthritis in my body that it sounds like a bowl of Rice Krispies when I get up in the morning! LOL

[Amyers]

It's not hard to change back to grips if the nongrip fit is causing problems. It's much easier to add grips than to change from grips to no grips

[got_a_300]

I've tried using the no finger/thumb grips before and each ball has a different feel to it
and it makes for some sore fingers sometimes as each cover stock usually has a different
texture to it.

Some of the coverstocks have a rough feel to it and sometimes you'll be able to feel a
slight ridge between the cover and the filler/core inside the ball which gets your fingers
sore sometimes when they slide over the junction of the cover and filler/core.

I decided the extra cost of the finger/thumb grips is well worth it so I've used them
from then on and never looked back.

[billf]

It took me approximately eight pro shops over ten years to find one that fit my hand and it didn't hurt to bowl. A friend recommended Bob Kelly a PBA50 competitor and event ball driller as well as Shannon Pluhowsky's father-in-law. Given how much he drills for seniors with arthritis from bowling I figured it was worth a shot.
I brought my doctors diagnosis with me and we discussed it. Bob checked the pitches in my balls. He said the finger pitches were so severe that he believed that's what caused the tendons to ball up in the knuckle (looked like rhumatoid arthritis). Finger and thumb pitch changed along with an increase in span I have bowled the last two years pain free. One day I mentioned how I wanted to try no grips. He response, "Don't be stupid". I dropped it then.

Changing finger pitches from 1/8 forward to 1/16 rev and finding my thumb oval angle was 40° and not the standard 45°. My rev rate did drop as expected but I was so rev dominant it didn't matter.

[bubba809]

One day I mentioned how I wanted to try no grips. He response, "Don't be stupid". I dropped it then.

That's interesting because I've been told (by my PSO), that eliminating the finger grips has helped many of his customers that have arthritis or tendonitis. That the grips exert a tremendous amount of force on the hand/wrist area, compared to bowling with no grips.

[Amyers]

That's interesting because I've been told (by my PSO), that eliminating the finger grips has helped many of his customers that have arthritis or tendonitis. That the grips exert a tremendous amount of force on the hand/wrist area, compared to bowling with no grips.

Opinions are like a-holes everyone has them. From what I've learned, about every ball driller has some weird ideas. I've never tried a ball without grips so I can't really comment on it although I can't think of a single person I know who bowls without them under the age of 40. If you trust the guy and want to give it a shot it's inexpensive to change it back over but make sure he drills the finger holes with enough room for the bridge if you decide to switch back to grips.

[ytlas]

Some of us started bowling before grips became readily available
I switched to grips because they were more comfortable, but I had to make changes in my finger pitches because of the added lift. I went from 1/8" under with no grips to about 1/2" reverse.
I may go back to no grips at all. I punched up a grip with no inserts, in a dummy ball and it feels pretty good.

When using a ball with a sticky coverstock or odd core, an old trick was to paint the inside of the holes with nail polish, either partially of completely.