Lucky,
I see what you are saying, and I think pitch could make a difference, but I think hole shape helps here too. Do you have an oval thumb hole and if so, is the degree of the oval in the correct position?
My main idea- you have to remember, the Brunswick Staff players and Tour bowlers in general, you are talking about guys with very loose swings, very little grip pressure, if they have any flexibility at all, they can use a wide variety of pitches and still not have any ill effects.
My spans are 4 1/2 on both fingers. I use 1/8 reverse and 1/8 left lateral. I have used as much as 5/8 reverse with 1/8 left lateral to 3/8 forward with 1/4 right lateral and pretty much everything in between. I have not used skin patch since I was 15 years old. No calluses, no blisters, you can hardly tell that I bowl. I do use my thumb holes very tight, almost push it in. I've always had this knack for having almost no grip pressure, I often felt like I was losing the ball even when using all that forward pitch.
I am not saying that I am as good as the tour players by any means, but I am saying that part of the reason they can all use 0 lateral pitch is because they all could probably use many other pitches too. They just don't squeeze the ball and don't show ill side effects because of any extra grip pressure.
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Mike Austin's Precision Pro Shop
Houston, TX
Drilling and Tech Advice BirdDogbowling.com
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