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

[bowl1820]

Here's a thought also , if you feel the span is too long. Go to the pro shop and tell them to shorten it. Your the customer and the customer is always right.
All they have to do is plug the the thumb hole and move it.

[slmrcs]

Yes, I fully intend to demand that this ball be drilled 7/16 shorter.

I aleady emailed those pics to new pro-shop and found someone who is in total agreement that it's unusable

My comments on what people have said about the pics - and that he not holding the ball properly - that is 100% correct. He is absolutly not holding the ball correctly. But why are people balming him? It is phsyically impossible for him to hold that ball properly!!!!!!!!

The picture clearly shows that the only way his thumb can possible reach the hole, is if he bends his wrist and palm backwards in an extremly awkward angle. And even with doing that, about 1/2 an inch of his thumb still can not reach into the thumb hole.

He was NOT bending wrist and palm back because he doens't know how to hold the ball. It is physically impossible for him to put his hand into the ball without holding it all wrong. If it was possible for him to hold the ball properly, then there wouldn't be anything wrong with it in the first place!!!!!!

It should go without saying, that if anyone tries to put their hand in a ball, that there hand can not fit into, you'll see some pretty funky things going on as the hand is contorted into place.

If seeing a picture of the palm bent all the way back as far as it will bend, plus the thumb entering the ball at an ultra-extreme reverse pitch angle, and still the thumb can only get 80% into the hole does not demonstrate a bad drilling then I don't know what will. And it's not because he's doing anything wrong. He has to do all that to just to try to get his thumb to reach the hole!!!!

For anyone browsing the message board about your bad drilling and trying to figure out why your pro-shop is telling you your ball is ok, this is an example that you are not alone! If your ball hurts, if you can't hold onto it, if it causes blisters, bleeding, pain, then you're drilling sucks and any pro-shop guy who tells you otherwise is an idiot.

Maybe I should post pics of him putting his hand in my ball - cause it's drilled to the exact same span as mine!!!! (well, 1 finger is 1/8 inch shorter on his) and my hand is much larger than his.

Anytime a pro-shop messes up they blame the bowler. They tell you to relax grip (after drilling it so it is impossible to do so), they tell you, you are holding it wrong, they will tell you anything, except admit that they don't know what they are doing.

This interview with Aleta Sill I think goes over how so much of conventional wisdom on how to drill balls is dead wrong.

http://above180.com/aleta-sill-with-...t-bowlers-back

I know that there are some good ball drillers, but most shouldn't be drilling anyone's equitement.

[bowl1820]

Yes, I fully intend to demand that this ball be drilled 7/16 shorter.

I aleady emailed those pics to new pro-shop and found someone who is in total agreement that it's unusable

My comments on what people have said about the pics - and that he not holding the ball properly - that is 100% correct. He is absolutly not holding the ball correctly. But why are people balming him? It is phsyically impossible for him to hold that ball properly!!!!!!!!

Calm down, no one is "Blaming" him or you, we are just giving you opinions based on what you describe and what we can see in the photo's.

Not being there to physically examine his grip, limits what can be diagnosed.

You've done the best thing possible, you've found a pro shop that agrees with you and is going to make the changes.

After the changes I hope you return and post pics of the fit of the new grip.

Good luck with the changes!

[billf]

My comments on what people have said about the pics - and that he not holding the ball properly - that is 100% correct. He is absolutly not holding the ball correctly. But why are people balming him? It is phsyically impossible for him to hold that ball properly!!!!!!!!

You asked for opinions and got them. Don't cry just because somebody questions you or why the angle is the way it is. If all you want is people to agree with you start your won forum. It still doesn't make sense how bending the wrist or bending the fingers makes it possible to get the digits into the ball if the span is too long. When you bend the wrist or fingers it SHORTENS them and that makes it possible to get into a span that too LONG? Possible but does go against all common sense and science. But also what I was really questioning is, WHO ROLLS THEIR BALL WITH THEIR HAND ON TOP? Nobody should. So why a pic with your nephew holding the ball in the wrong position to begin with? I imagine to show how contorted the hand is or so I hope. Given the angle of the fingers I wonder how much the pitch is playing a part in this. Follow me for a minute. If the ends of his fingers were allowed to be straighter it would allow the knuckles to relax, the palm to come down to the ball and effectively shorten the span of the ball by lengthening the span of the hand.
Before I made my earlier post I tried several balls with spans both too long and too short. I personally couldn't get my hand contorted like that and hit all three holes. Too short was a different story. So my questions to you were valid and based on at least a little research.

Nobody is trying to pick on or blame either your nephew or you. Whatever the issue is a good pro shop should NEVER let a customer leave when their hand looks like that in the ball.

[DucksBowler]

I've personally never had a bad ball drilling but I had teammates who had atrocious jobs done. One in high school made the mistake of buying a ball from a big box store. They sold this 100lb kid a 16lb ball where the thumb was even too big for our 6'2" 220lb cranker.

Had another teammate who got his from a pretty unremarkable pro shop in Ft. Wayne area and took his ball back to have the thumb hole redrilled (it was huge). The slug they put in came out a week later.

Luckily, I had my measurements done by Mo Pinel and the pro shop guys I used were solid. I've had good luck with a couple in Oregon as well since I moved out here.

Good luck to your nephew. Take the ball back and ask for it to be fixed since the spans are obviously not correct.

[TheSheibs]

It seems, from the pictures that you just need the thumb hole re-drilled and not the entire ball. This is just my opinion based on if I had the same problem. I would take it in and have the thumb hole re-drilled and maybe even have them put a reverse pitch on it. Also if they have one of those sizing balls with all the holes he can see which one lines up best. Keep in mind that if he is just getting into bowling, it may be better to have him start with a conventional grip rather than a finger-tip grip. Just a thought. I hope you get the ball set up correctly so he can actually use it.

[slmrcs]

My experience is, that if go in some place with a bad drilling - the person will tend to defend / copy the bad drilling. They will tell you it is your fault, and they will repeat ad nauseum to "relax your grip" and other stupid things, regardless of how stupid it is.

It's a sort of crazy making experience, where you know something is wrong, and other people are telling you, you are crazy, and it's one supposed "expert" after another.

Most ball drillers are horrible. Most do not know what they are doing.

Sunday we went to 4th person (who I only went to, because ahead of time he agreed based on photos the drilling was bad).

So the thumb is getting redone - much shorter span, getting rid of reverse pitch, adding slight forward and 1/16 left lateral (he actually checked for lateral pitch, most people will not do that) change thumb size, change grip size. It's going to be a totally different feel.

If someone says their ball was not drilled well, and causes pain, and their hand does not fit into it, then that's the way it is.

[billf]

I finally found someone in my league with a larger span than me. My thumb fit like your nephew's did but my fingers didn't contort like his UNTIL I simulated a different pitch. I'm talking like some serious reverse pitch. Why any driller, even a moron, would drill a ball like that for a beginner is beyond me. I'm sorry you were offended but I never imagined that reverse pitch like that. What sucks it you're right. Instead of "I'm human, I'm sorry and will fix it." you get excuses and passing the buck. There are coaches who advocate reverse pitch to help with revs but all I ever got with it was very painful knuckles. Just think, if you weren't around to help your nephew, his bowling experience would have been awful. He would have quit and may have never come back. I hope he likes the sport and sticks with it.

[billf]

Did you get it redrilled yet?

[edpup316]

I know ya feel. My span is like 6 3/8 inches or something like that i dont know exactley cause ive never been to pro shop with a measuring tool long enough for my hand. Most the time i have to gt a ball drilled and get the thumb moved until its right. i have a couple balls now that feel pretty good so i just have who ever i have drilled take the measurements off the ball cause non of the pro shops around here keep records of peoples which i think is weird.