When laying out a grip the classic way the thumb hole is on the
center line right? But wasn't there also a layout that had the
thumb inline with the middle finger? I think I remember seeing
it in BTM long ago.

Take a look at this layout on my black widow.

http://home.earthlink.net/~litefrozen/bowling/layout_01.jpg

Tell me what you think. I want to ask my balldriller about it.
I always assumed he layed it out the "classic" way.
But now I'm not sure.

Frankie May (designs balls for Visionary) has been drilling balls this way for years; he calls it the Frankie May Action Grip.

I call it an illusion.  The center line (or grip line) is just that.. a line that passes through the center of the bridge between the fingers and through the center of the thumb.  By shifting the thumb hole to the left of the grip line, it shortens the middle finger span and it increas the ring finger span (just as shifting the thumb to the right of the grip line would increase the middle finger span and shorten the ring finger span).

Edit:  I would guess that doing so would change the layout slightly as well.  Since the true grip line is now sort of rotated clock-wise from the one drawn on the ball, your PAP would also be rotated clock-wise.. meaning that the pin is probably slightly longer than 5" and the layout is slightly less than 60 degrees...

S^2
--------------------
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Joe Theismann idiot quote of the week:
"He's a standing statue."
Like there is any other kind of statue?



Edited on 11/11/2006 12:26 PM