With or without thumb????

[Hammerguy529]

I converted from 2 finger bowling to 3 finger. I'd like to say that bowling with 2 fingers was much MUCH more stress on the wrist and hand versus the conventional 3 finger stance. I'm still learning as much as can and find that my main issue is trying to pick up more speed on my release. I don't throw very hard so my revs seem to overpower the end and It seems that I send it over to the left side(brooklyn) of the headpin more than anything. All in all I think and feel more comfortable with the 3 finger system.

[Evilash71]

Hi all, I have my wife and 3 out of my 5 kids + my self ofcorse that bowl.
1 of my boys likes to bowl without a thumb, he's a right handed bowler and wares his walking sneaker on his right foot and an old bowling shoe on the left sliding foot.
He just started 2 months ago and unlike other first time bowlers his hook/rev rate was what he had to deal with insted of the stright ball convent style.
It is so hard for him right now to controll his hook but he won't use his thumb even with all the advice that is givin him from different sorces.
We will see what happens I guess, He feels good doing it that way so I'm not gonna push him, I'll just try to help as best as I can
I wish I had his Rev Rate tho lol

I think there is a misconception, especially amongst young men, that this is HOW YOU THROW A HOOK, and that is it.
I've had men in their twenties come up to me at alleys and ask, "you can get it to hook with your thumb in it like that?" That always shocks me a bit but then the average person who walks into an alley is on a Friday night glow bowl night is going to see guys hooking the ball that way.

The kid who picks up a ball that doesnt fit and tries it with three fingers will not get the results so he will switch to the thumbless route to get those revs.

If he had his own ball, and drilled to his hand with fingertip grip, it would help him to learn that system and control his hook. But hey to each their own. But house balls are about the worst way to learn to throw a hook with three fingers. Its either straight, or hook without the thumb when using house balls.

[mrbill]

I think there is a misconception, especially amongst young men, that this is HOW YOU THROW A HOOK, and that is it.
I've had men in their twenties come up to me at alleys and ask, "you can get it to hook with your thumb in it like that?" That always shocks me a bit but then the average person who walks into an alley is on a Friday night glow bowl night is going to see guys hooking the ball that way.

The kid who picks up a ball that doesnt fit and tries it with three fingers will not get the results so he will switch to the thumbless route to get those revs.

If he had his own ball, and drilled to his hand with fingertip grip, it would help him to learn that system and control his hook. But hey to each their own. But house balls are about the worst way to learn to throw a hook with three fingers. Its either straight, or hook without the thumb when using house balls.

I see your point Evilash71, thats just what happend!
I was going to wait till his birthday to get him his own fitted ball but now I think he needs it sooner before he gos ferther down that no thumb road...

[Evilash71]

I see your point Evilash71, thats just what happend!
I was going to wait till his birthday to get him his own fitted ball but now I think he needs it sooner before he gos ferther down that no thumb road...

Yeah it's tough for sure. I mean it looks great and we all love seeing that ball rev like crazy and rip those pins but I think most, including those that are proficient at two finger no thumb bowling would probably say if they had it to do over and they could get a ball drilled for them they would choose to do it with the thumb and learn that way.

have your son watch some PBA guys on tv and notice those guys get monster revs, so he just needs to practice. After a while he'll get the hang of it. I will say this though. Expect a bit of happiness deflation initially because he will have to sort of "re-learn" his release and I see him thinking, "this stinks, i want those revs back."

My wife bowled straight only and finally a coach made her realize that she should learn the hook style. She actually started practing the delivery with a plastic ball, but it was drilled to her hand. But she got to where she could get some hook on it. So by the time we purchased her fingertip Hammer Vibe, she can really hook it and has become quite a good bowler i must say.

Now she looks at these guys in the lanes next to us bowling without their thumb, and getting all these revs and smiles and knows she could take most of them because they are all about the look. She picks up her spares, strings together strikes, has a good release.

On more than one occassion guys have stopped and looked at her score and sort of winced at theirs.

And she doesnt cup her wrist, or come all the way around from 6 oclock. She has a stroker release with minimum revs. The ball was drilled to go long and snap hard to accomodate her slower speed and minimum revs and trust me that ball hooks to the pocket. So the drilling is important. Just talk over the situation with the pro shop guy you have and if he can see your son bowl even better. Our pro shop guy took my wife to the lanes and showed her about three tips and that was it. She was ok from there.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

[lefty]

I bowl without my thumb, because it seems easier for some reason. I feel like i have more control over the ball because i have 3 fingers spread out on the ball instead of just 2......idk

[JAnderson]

Couples of points that need to be made:

1. High rev rate does not mean large hook

With or without the thumb, the concepts of (angle of) tilt and (angle of) rotation still apply. Bowlers with a rev rate exceeding 400rpm can still throw the ball straight on any lane condition with the proper angle of rotation.

2. Consistent speed control is easier with a free arm swing

Gravity is much more constant than a muscled swing. I have yet to see a bowler that doesn't use the thumb hole with a muscle-free swing. That's not to say a no-thumb bowler can't be consistent with speed, but it is more difficult because when a bowler engages muscles, the muscles must be engaged in the same way to the same degree every time. Consider bowling a 6 or 9 or 16 game block. It's easier to repeat over those longer blocks when there's no muscle fatigue.

3. One finger, two fingers, four fingers, no thumb has nothing to do with accuracy

The bowling community typically uses accuracy to refer to a bowler's ability to hit the same target line with little variance left or right shot after shot. There are many factors beyond what fingers/thumbs (thumbs, plural are in the ball that affect accuracy: timing, posting the shot, swing plane, shoulder and hip direction at the line, just to name a few. Accuracy is a sub-component of repeatability. Like with ball speed, the simpler a motion, the fewer moving parts, the fewer muscles used, the easier it is to repeat. There are no-thumb bowlers with very simple, repeatable mechanics and there are no-thumb bowlers with complex difficult to repeat mechanics. Though it may seem like the latter are more common than the former, that doesn't make the no-thumb style inaccurate by default or definition.

4. Too lazy to learn

To the previous point, why do we see more inaccurate no-thumb bowlers than accurate no-thumb bowlers? Why the stereotype? My belief runs along these lines...Most bowlers learn to bowl when they are young. Big revs and big hook are eye-popping and that makes a bigger impression on the youngsters (and oldsters too!) than the straight players. The new bowlers want to jump right in and throw big hooks. It is difficult and time-consuming to learn a high-rev release while using the thumb. The no-thumb style is easier to learn in terms of high-rev release, a sort of short-cut if you will. It is no surprise short cuts are taken to the other basics of good mechanics. Thus, you end up with a bowler that can generate revs, but has poor, complex mechanics which in turn leads to difficulty in repeating shots: an inaccurate bowler. Since most bowling is done on wide-open house shots - especially for new bowlers - where inaccuracy is not punished by low scores, the mechanics rarely improve.

Bowlers that start thumb-in and learn proper mechanics and then switch to the no-thumb style are generally much better overall than those who go the other way. That is what I would recommend to new bowlers.

5. "New Style" Fallacy

The media's hype over the no-thumb, two-hand style being "new" is a load of donkey dung. It's been around at least since the early 1970's. I'm sure it has been around longer than that, but I can attest to the early 70's. It wasn't as prevalent because, back then, lane conditions didn't reward inaccurate bowlers as much so fewer people resorted to it.

6. It's either use the thumb or not

Almost. Ever bowl with someone that uses a thumb-tip? Thumb-tip meaning the thumb hole is drilled purposely small so that the thumb is only inserted to the first joint, just like fingertip finger holes. Usually, the span is also lengthened to adjust for the extra distance between joints. I currently bowl with someone who uses this. It's about what you would expect; a higher rev rate with muscled swing. The ball also sits in the hand very differently with the weight of the ball shifted towards the edge of the hand opposite the base of the thumb. It makes it easier to get around the side of the ball to create more tilt or rotational angle. I've never encountered what I would consider an "elite" bowler that uses this style.

7. "There is a reason you dont see pro bowlers using this technique"

Change that to "There is a reason you see few pro bowlers using this technique". I think a summary of points 1-4 explains why. Balanced against the inherent weeknesses of a muscled swing, not only is it easier to increase rev-rate with the no-thumb style, it is also easier to learn how to change rotational angle when not using the thumb.

[JaxBowlingGuy]

well we had a few other threads rise from the dead, lets see if we have some new insite on this with all the new members

[BowlnBrat]

I don't have the strength to bowl no-thumb and still put the revs and hook into the ball that I want. I know several who bowl no-thumb, and like everyone else posting on here, they get the revs and the action, but less control and have a hard time picking up spares!

[StormGirl712]

I really can only comment on the no thumb from watching my boyfriend bowl, since he's really the only one I've seen over a consistant period of time. Bowling is about whatever works for you, if you can go out there and you have the power to throw no thumb, go ahead be my guest. I personally do not have the power in my wrist for it, nor would i really try seeing as i am consistantly gaining in average every year with the style I have now. Its all about that particular person and their technique.