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Thread: Thumb Sticking

  1. #31

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    Can’t say enough about Ron Cs Magic Carpet either. I can’t bowl the same without it.

  2. #32

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    Last night I gave the thumb hole a very thorough cleaning and hit it lightly with a Scotch Brite pad. I didn't expect it to do too much but that is all I had on hand. There was a minimal improvement but today I knew I would have access to the dry wall screening if the Scotch Brite was not enough.

    Headed out to my new PSO first thing this morning to take my old ball to get it plugged and re-drilled and also pickup a plastic spare ball just to see if I thought it would help on the 10 pin and 6/10 pin leaves (it does). Played 6 games with my strike ball and in game 2 the thumb stick issue started to surface. Nothing horrible just enough for it to throw off the shots a little. I resisted the urge to go to the baby powder and instead wiped out he hole with my towel, wiped off my thumb a little and used the air blower on the end of the ball return area to try to get my thumb as dry as possible. It didn't completely alleviate the issue but seemed to help at least somewhat. How I worked through it was to throw the ball a little harder and concentrate on trying to relax my hand. This seemed to help a little more but I am still not 100% there.

    The spare ball I had zero issues with my thumb sticking but I didn't throw it nearly as much and it is brand new. It is also 1 Lbs. lighter as I wanted to know what a 14#'er feels like. I am fine with it.

    So when I got home I stopped to get some of the dry wall screening and gave the strike ball thumb hole a quick hit with that. Playing again in the morning when I meet up with pops for our weekly game. Hopefully no issues tomorrow morning but I won't be convinced until I can get through 2 weeks of league night without issue. That will also be the hardest time to resist using the baby powder as more is on the line than just a practice session. I am just going to have to suck it up if I start having an issue and live through it.

    Funny, to me, thing about my new spare ball is the coloring. The choices were mostly light colors which I wasn't very keen on. There was one that was black and orange that I thought wasn't too bad. I really don't care too much about the color but with a bunch to choose from that was definitely the color scheme I preferred when viewing the other options. The new PSO said 'that is the one you want?' to which I responded 'Yep, that's definitely the one', he said 'Uh, Ok then'. 15 minutes later he comes out with a purple and black ball. It caught me a bit off guard and I was wondering 'what the heck' but as he got closer I realized the other side of the ball is purple and black. On the display shelf all I could see was orange and black and didn't realize the other side was sparkly purple and black. Doh, I'm gonna take some ribbing for that. It's ugly but no worries. It's a bit comical.
    Last edited by grumpter; 02-02-2019 at 06:11 PM.

  3. #33

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    Depending on how exactly your thumb sticks, you may want to increase the bevel as well. I often encountered an issue with the “wrinkle” at the base of my thumb getting wedged in on the release. Just a nice smooth angle on the edges of the thumb hole can alleviate this.

  4. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by GrumpyCatFace View Post
    Depending on how exactly your thumb sticks, you may want to increase the bevel as well. I often encountered an issue with the “wrinkle” at the base of my thumb getting wedged in on the release. Just a nice smooth angle on the edges of the thumb hole can alleviate this.
    I don't see this as the problem in this case but won't rule out anything until fully solved. This mornings session went well. When the sticking issue crept up slightly in the second game, again, I tried some flex tape on the thumb. This worked extremely well for my strike ball for the remaining 3 games. However, it created some minor issues with the spare ball so I will be hitting the spare thumb hole with the dry wall screen tonight to open the hole ever so slightly.

    My non-league play with the new ball I am averaging 170.67 and in league just 143. I am pretty happy as my goal for the first season was a 165 average. 9 weeks in I know I can average 170+ if I get the thumb issue fully solved.

  5. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by grumpter View Post
    I don't see this as the problem in this case but won't rule out anything until fully solved. This mornings session went well. When the sticking issue crept up slightly in the second game, again, I tried some flex tape on the thumb. This worked extremely well for my strike ball for the remaining 3 games. However, it created some minor issues with the spare ball so I will be hitting the spare thumb hole with the dry wall screen tonight to open the hole ever so slightly.

    My non-league play with the new ball I am averaging 170.67 and in league just 143. I am pretty happy as my goal for the first season was a 165 average. 9 weeks in I know I can average 170+ if I get the thumb issue fully solved.
    Glad you're not ruling anything out until it's solved. What is flex tape? Have you tried another brand of baby powder?

  6. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by djp1080 View Post
    Glad you're not ruling anything out until it's solved. What is flex tape? Have you tried another brand of baby powder?
    Flex Tape - http://www.motivbowling.com/products...t-release.html

    I have no plans to try another brand of baby powder. Too worried about it creating a build up and making the issue worse.

    I'm going to have to fight the urge to practice before league this week. There are some lingering issues with my middle finger from the original ball and I think the finger needs time to heal. It's gonna drive me nuts not being able to practice but I have to see if 3 days or so off let's it heal up.
    Last edited by grumpter; 02-04-2019 at 12:43 PM.

  7. #37

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    Thanks for the info on the Motiv Flex Tape. Never have seen that stuff. Looks very similar to what Vise has with their HADA tape which I used to use for protection on the back of my thumb. It's meant to wear on your thumb. When I was introduced to it by my PSO, it worked wonders for my getting my thumb out of the ball. I had a very bad habit of squeezing the daylights out of the ball and the back of my thumb took a beating. Not any more.
    So not only is your thumb sticking, but you have problems with the middle finger.
    I've had issues with fingers, but first it was likely arthritis more than anything. Later it was some build up of callas on the sides of both the middle and ring finger. Tried some Vise NT50Y tape and then have switched to their Bio Skin tape to avoid irritating my fingers. Both work well. Only other thing I have to pay attention to is to keep my finger nails trimmed up.

  8. #38

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    I'm guessing the amount of time between shots might be the biggest difference from league to practice. Maybe that has something to do with how much your thumb swells. In league it might take me 3 hours to get through 3 games but practicing alone I can get through 3 games in less than an hour.

  9. #39

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    Quote Originally Posted by djp1080 View Post
    Thanks for the info on the Motiv Flex Tape. Never have seen that stuff. Looks very similar to what Vise has with their HADA tape which I used to use for protection on the back of my thumb. It's meant to wear on your thumb. When I was introduced to it by my PSO, it worked wonders for my getting my thumb out of the ball. I had a very bad habit of squeezing the daylights out of the ball and the back of my thumb took a beating. Not any more.
    So not only is your thumb sticking, but you have problems with the middle finger.
    I've had issues with fingers, but first it was likely arthritis more than anything. Later it was some build up of callas on the sides of both the middle and ring finger. Tried some Vise NT50Y tape and then have switched to their Bio Skin tape to avoid irritating my fingers. Both work well. Only other thing I have to pay attention to is to keep my finger nails trimmed up.
    With the first ball I had issues with both the middle & ring fingers. When I went the new PSO he showed me my fingertips were only going into the first ball about halfway up to the first knuckle on each finger. The middle finger hole was also positioned slightly wrong. After bowling 3 of 4 games with the first ball my fingers would start to hurt a little and the next day it would be hard to make a fist. With the new ball, drilled by the new PSO, my fingertips go in about twice as far and my ring finger has healed completely. The middle finger is still a little tender but not nearly the same as it was with the previous ball. I think it just needs time to heal completely and then I should (hopefully) be fine. 15 to 18'ish games a week isn't allowing time for it to heal.

    Quote Originally Posted by mx1alex View Post
    I'm guessing the amount of time between shots might be the biggest difference from league to practice. Maybe that has something to do with how much your thumb swells. In league it might take me 3 hours to get through 3 games but practicing alone I can get through 3 games in less than an hour.
    Agreed but I found my original assessment that my thumbs were the exact same size before bowling was inaccurate. The bowling hand thumb is slightly larger than the other hand. I think I was seeing what I wanted to just because I was/am so desperate to find the reason and cure.

  10. #40

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    Tonight's league play went better but still below average. Only a few cases of my thumb sticking but I am confident that was due to my release on those particular shots. My middle finger is pretty screwed up and the time off seemed to do more harm than good. There is no pain during the release but I feel very weak on my backswing and the finger is VERY stiff afterwards. If I straighten out the finger with my other hand It relieves a bit of the stiffness. I think I am just going to have to suffer through it for 7 more weeks of bowling. If it starts messing with my golf swing the I will have to take some time off.

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