First finger tip ball and spans that are way to far off

[slmrcs]

Why does this happen

My nephew is turning 13, and got him 1st ball, to see if he wants to get into bowling.

A week ago, put his hand into my ball, and we measured that his span would be about 1/2 inch less on both fingers.
Get ball, and I clearly see immediately the span is way to long. Thumb is hanging part of the way out, and a lot of pain on base and he tells me the back of nail is hitting the side of hole on the way out.
If I didn't have the protection tape that goes directly on the hand, it would have been impossible for him to use it.
Get home and compare spans he got to my ball.
My ring finger span is 4 1/4 (although on next ball I will have it changed to 4 1/8)
His hand which is no where as large as mine - drilled 4 1/8.
I didn't measure it exactly, but would have expected span to be in ball park of 3 3/4
The middle finger is almost just as bad, off by maybe 3/8, instead of full 1/2. Perhaps the span is long by 1/4 and 3/8,

I understand that span is something that may need to be adjusted, It's going to be perfect right away,
but I went through this myself, I had friends go through this.

I'm just really annoyed b/c I wanted to get my nephew something he can use.
And also, why are they like "oh, his 13, he needs a heavier ball, 12 lbs? I assume your getting a reactive ball"
and I have to explain that I just want to teach him to bowl, and it's better to use a lighter ball, and learn proper technique,
I thought 10 lbs was fine. I'm avg size man - 155 lbs and going down to 14 lbs.

I guess I should go back, although I wish I knew a great person in NY area who can measure ball for a child. But I wonder how many times the first ball someone get's drilled is totally unacceptable.

[Etrain]

12lbs should be good for 13 assuming he is normal stature/strength
.

[slmrcs]

Yes, but it's first ball, and he was more comfortable with 10, and I think teaching proper technique is most important.

Regardless - it was more of question - of how does it happen that people get spans that are wildly off?
Maybe I was just throwing this out here from frustration.

[TheSheibs]

Sounds like the person who drilled the ball went off of different measurements. If I were you I would take it back and tell them that the holes are too far apart for his span and make them measure him again and then double check the ball. If the ball is not what it should be, they screwed up and should re-drill the ball for you. I would think that a good pro shop would want to get this right since there aren't too many people looking for a ball these days and reputation is everything to these shops. Most want to make their costumers very happy so they will come back.

Also I think a 10lb ball would be fine for a 13 year old. I had a 10lb ball when I was that age and I did pretty well with it.

[martinezsam2495]

yeah you should go back to the pro shop, and get it redrilled

[billf]

You are not alone. I was 37 when I started bowling. My span was drilled off also. So have been many of the other bowlers in my area. As I learned more about balls, spans, etc I realized the local pro shop operator was still doing things as if it was 1980, the era he was on tour (or so he says). I found another pro shop with a good reputation 40 minutes away (and past several other pro shops). His pitches and spans feel great. Then in February when I bought 6 balls and had him drill 7, I asked what my PAP was. He didn't know for sure. So I asked how he was able to lay them out if he didn't know my PAP. He guessed off of watching me bowl. Turns out he was 1 3/8" off. I will continue to let him drill but I will do the layouts myself. This shop is also the only one near that I found that does the interchangeable thumbs so he kind of wins by default.
My theory, at least here in Ohio, is that anybody can open a business. Being certified is voluntary and leads to many people who are actually clueless "experts". Don't get me wrong, I understand fully that certified doesn't mean qualified, not by a long shot. Being an automobile technician I see that in my profession as well. Anybody can claim to repair a vehicle and can't really do it and some certified mechanics are just good at taking tests and can't actually put that knowledge into practice. It's a part of every profession and unfortunately it's trusting customers that end up paying the price in the end. Maybe not with an actual bill but the time and aggravation are a real cost.

[GeorgiaStroker]

My first ball after being out of bowling was sold to me by a guy who never asked my style never watched me bowl, stuck a swiss cheese ball on the counter and said "Figure out what size your fingers are", I told him I wanted inserts, so he tossed a sizing set on the counter and said use that. He stuck a metal ruler on my palm wrote down a few things left for about 5 minutes came back with the ball and a bill. Never watched me throw it. I bowled a couple of frames with it and could barely get it to come off my thumb. I went to him and explained what was going on and he looked upset with me and looked at the ball as I was holding it and trying to get my thumb out then said "Your doing it wrong" and walked off. I chased him down and told him to fix the problem and he finally took the ball and filed on the thumbhole enough that it would at least release from my hand. I vowed I would never let him near my equipment again. For my next ball I drove to a center an hour and a half away. The PRO there watched me bowl, brought out the armadillo and found my PAP, talked to me about the way I prefered to bowl, measured my span, checked my fingers and thumbs, had me doing things like picking up a pencil with my finger tips. gripping his wrist while he studied the angles of my fingers told me that the span onmy first ball was a quarter of an inch off. To make a long story short he laid out and drilled my new ball so that it felt better than any ball I've ever had. He came out and watched me bowl with the new ball and gave me a few pointers. He made a customer for life. So after all this rambling what I am trying to say is find the guy that wants you to bowl well and treats you right and takes pride inwhat he does and never let him go. No amount of talent wil out bowl a bad ball choice and fit.

[DiBo]

My first ball after being out of bowling was sold to me by a guy who never asked my style never watched me bowl, stuck a swiss cheese ball on the counter and said "Figure out what size your fingers are", I told him I wanted inserts, so he tossed a sizing set on the counter and said use that. He stuck a metal ruler on my palm wrote down a few things left for about 5 minutes came back with the ball and a bill. Never watched me throw it. I bowled a couple of frames with it and could barely get it to come off my thumb. I went to him and explained what was going on and he looked upset with me and looked at the ball as I was holding it and trying to get my thumb out then said "Your doing it wrong" and walked off. I chased him down and told him to fix the problem and he finally took the ball and filed on the thumbhole enough that it would at least release from my hand. I vowed I would never let him near my equipment again. For my next ball I drove to a center an hour and a half away. The PRO there watched me bowl, brought out the armadillo and found my PAP, talked to me about the way I prefered to bowl, measured my span, checked my fingers and thumbs, had me doing things like picking up a pencil with my finger tips. gripping his wrist while he studied the angles of my fingers told me that the span onmy first ball was a quarter of an inch off. To make a long story short he laid out and drilled my new ball so that it felt better than any ball I've ever had. He came out and watched me bowl with the new ball and gave me a few pointers. He made a customer for life. So after all this rambling what I am trying to say is find the guy that wants you to bowl well and treats you right and takes pride inwhat he does and never let him go. No amount of talent wil out bowl a bad ball choice and fit.

Exactly! There are "Pro's" and then there are "Cons" and for my money and time, IO will drive over an hour to get the help I deserve from a PRO than ever allow a pretender "Con" to touch my balls... er, equipment, again.

Your experience is nearly the exact one I had, after I made my return to bowling again since my 8 year layoff.

My best games on my book average in 2004 (178) was a 279, twice. After I returned to bowling this year and went to my neighborhood "pro" Con for new equipment and drilling, the span was almost 3/4 inch off! I could not get this guy to look at what he'd done in drilling the ball, so I rented a car and drove 70 miles to see Matt Surina, a three-time PBA Winner who has also won a Senior PBA Title in 2005 and has owned his pro shop for some years now, after taking the training required to learn the processes involved in being a Professional Shop Owner.

My average now is 218 overall and 212 for league, with a very nice 300 game, bowled in league on May 21, 2012, after 100 games since my return to the sport. I place the results squarely upon the choice I made in Matt Surina, a true professional, over the convenience of the local "pro" where I currently bowl. I am changing houses for the 2012 Winter Leagues, because of the unsatisfactory service I had from the local guy.

Let us all learn the lesson in this; use the web to research your best option and go for the best that you can find!

[TheSheibs]

Thats like the first shop I went to for a ball. The guy said oh yeah, no problem. What weight do you want? new or used? measured and everything. finger holes were fine and then I started to have trouble with it hooking. After two months of working with that ball and a month of no league bowling. I finally figured out that it was set up more like a spare ball, and suppose to go straight. The guy thought I was looking for a spare ball when I was looking to replace my old Ebonite ball that I had for over ten years. Went to the shop at the bowling alley my summer league is at and they asked how I hold the ball and even said that they had watch me bowl a little . This guy knew that I needed a heavier ball and also suggested that I change to a finger-tip ball. Since the change I have several 180+, 190+, 200+ and even set a new personal best of 255.

With reading about everyones problems and success with some pro shops. It seems that they let anyone open a pro shop and drill balls. I mean come on man. How hard is it to learn the correct way. I watched some videos on youtube about drilling balls that goes into detail on how to find where to drill the holes and such. How hard is it to actually use the tools needed to correctly measure someone and then drill the ball? How hard is it for them to say "lets go to the bowling alley you plan on bowling at the most and let me see what your doing". I hate how lazy some people can be but when I'm spending $100+ for equipment, I expect it to do it's job and if not have it fixed for free. This just really pushes my buttons. Some peoples kids.

[slmrcs]

This is what I suspect causes long spans - especially for new bowlers. I think this happened to me 16 years ago, and maybe my nephew. But I've seen so many people suffer with long spans, measuring spans (at least for some pro shop guys) is hit/miss.

If you never used a fingertip ball, you don't really know how relaxed grip is supposed to be. So when they measure span, there may be a tendency to stretch out hand, as long / flat as possible. Which really, would be the best way to measure the absolute distance from one point on hand to other. But bowling span is NOT how far apart first joint is from base of thumb - it's how far apart is that distance, with muscles in hand relaxed.

I think some drillers stretch out hand to get true distance, and not bowling distance.


back in the day - it took me 6 different drillers to useable span. Truly correct span only came by me pointing out span error and a driller who is willing to listen.