I'll try to make this as short as possible -- over the past 6 months, I've developed multiple pain issues while bowling. Wrist, hand, forearm and elbow.

 

For a long time, I subconsciously knuckled the ball. When I was younger, I got away with it. I'm no longer getting away with it.

 

The main problem is that I cannot get a good feel in the ball. My thumb alternatively sticks and slips inside the thumbhole. Using smaller-size holes only makes the sticking worse, while using larger holes plus tape only makes the slipping worse.

 

Currently, cut-to-cut, my middle finger span is 4 1/8 and my ring span is 4 1/4. My thumbhole is pitched 1/8 reverse and 1/8 away, and these numbers haven't changed in 20 years. Although I drill my own stuff, I recently enlisted the help of a veteran driller to measure me and give me his opinion on how he'd fit me, and he says my current pitches appear, on the surface, to be correct.

 

But the pain I'm feeling says otherwise. Most of it is concentrated on the palm side of my wrist, on the top side of my wrist directly behind my pinky finger, and in the forearm muscle just below the elbow joint. When I squeeze something, it all hurts worse.

 

I've tried different kinds of tapes, I've put Magic Carpet in thumb holes, I've tried different ovaling and beveling. I've tried about a half-dozen wrist braces, and bowling with no brace. No relief. Now it's getting worse instead of better.

 

Recently, the problem grew into a quality-of-life problem. I had to sleep in an elbow-immobilizing brace every night because, for about two months, I had a major flare-up of tennis elbow (I don't play tennis) aggravated by bowling.

 

The only thing I can think of left to try is different pitching in the thumb hole. I want to have a very relaxed grip. The predominant feeling I get when I bowl now is that I'm having to grip the ball for all it's worth. But if I add tape to the thumbhole, it starts hanging up almost instantly.

 

What I need to know is by how much to shorten the span if I were to go from, say, 1/8 reverse to 1/4 or 3/8 forward. I plan to take the lateral back to 0. I've bowled with under lateral before, and it hurt like hell, so I think that's probably out. I'm also for taking other suggestions as to what might be the problem, but I'll warn you ahead of time, I've probably already tried everything else you can think of already.

 

Well, I didn't keep it short after all. Sorry.

 

Jess

You haven't mentioned how stretched or relaxed your span is.  You haven't mentioned how you test on a coke bottle test or pencil picking up test(for lateral pitch).

 

Often elbow problwms from bowling are a result of throwing the wrong lateral for your anatomy.

 

Recently I threw a lateral out ball for two or three balls(I test to the ring finger in my coke bottle test dramatic lateral under palm result).  My elbow hurt for a day or two! 

 

Memory in watching you makes me think you use a fairly short relaxed span and stay very behind the ball, but it has been quite awhile.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

Luckylefty

Thanks for all the responses. I will try to answer the questions asked by everyone in this post:

 

1) Elbow position at release: I have videoed myself over the past couple of months and I don't see any issues there. I do tend to be very parallel to the target line with everything, as much as possible, and I don't swing the ball much unless I absolutely have to. My arm swing, on video, does not seem to have changed from videos taken 3-4 years ago. One thing I left out of the original post was that my elbow injury (tennis elbow) was originally worsened by another injury I suffered moving a large bed out of our bedroom. I'm not even sure bowling has that much to do with it, really. 

 

2) Coke bottle test/professional refitting: In the original post, I mentioned consulting a veteran driller this week on what he thought my pitches should be. We did both the Coke bottle and the pick-up-a-pencil tests. With the bottle, I'm 1/8 away, my current pitch. This was the method used by my former driller to do a refit on me about 6 years ago. With the pencil, I come out at 0. I do know from throwing some of Jeff Carter's old stuff that I can't bowl with under pitch, as it was severely irritating the nerve at the base of my thumb. 

 

3) Finger flexibility/skin quality: I have a very flexible hand and supple joints with no arthritic intrusion. I typically have average skin moisture. Occasionally I will get moisture on the back of my hand, but the palms of my hands never sweat, ever.

 

4) Span stretch: My span is completely textbook or maybe a bit relaxed, by only 1/8 inch if that.

 

I think the issue is that I should always have had forward pitch, but I was able to make reverse work by squeezing, except the days of making that work are gone and my body is telling me, "get it right."

 

I'm going to plug a couple of balls this weekend and try something between 1/8 forward and 3/8 forward and see what works best.

 

Jess

This might be the un-popular answer but I find that some people, including myself who have had issues with fit or grip are using too heavy of a bowling ball.

 

I searching for a long time for the perfect fit and never really found it.   Since I am getting older faster than I want to I went down to a 14lb bowling ball and it's been nothing but perfect ever since.   All the extra force, and the feelings that I once had with 15s are now gone.

 

You might say that a lighter ball might make your scores lower, and that is a very individual type thing.  I've gone back up into the 225-230 avg. range that I once was a few years ago.   Some houses it's alittle tougher and ball/ball dynamics/entry angle needs to be right (becomes more of a thinking game, and not all that bad really)

 

We might be very strong individuals but at that release point the bowling ball is 5x its normal weight.

 

If you struggle with fit, find a very good pro shop and then if you still feel there problems give the ball weight a try. 

 

I like my thumb to get out quick with a bowling ball.  I've tried all the hair brained forward pitch tricks and its been nothing but either more pain, or terrible releases.   Some people just need to get out of the ball at the proper position in their release point and the on paper grip "stats" do not allow that.   Remember the pitch in the thumb controls how quickly the ball comes off the thumb and when it comes off the thumb.  When you make these changes your also going to change those two parts of the release.   Think about the feel your trying to achieve at the bottom and then have your pro shop do what they need to do to get you to feel that in your equipment.   If its a more than the normal reverse, than so be it...if its more forward than so be it.   Don't cookie cutter yourself  into a grip...that does not work!!

 

Edited by Xx 12 X 300 xX on 1/28/2012 at 11:09 PM

I think your answer might be to tape up the holes as tight as you can get them.   Maybe use alittle bit of forward pitch and make the holes tight.

 

If you can clear the thumb doing this than all should be well for you.

 

Some guys ram their thumb into the hole and they get out of it so clean.   If that is what you need to do, than give it a try. 

the issue here is the damage that has been done. As long as you continue to bowl, you are going to hurt as you are going to be continually pulling on it. Once you damage certain tendons which is what you have done, it is basically going to continue as long as you bowl. The tendons you have damaged pertain to your ring finger side.

A possible option is going lighter in weight. Unfortunately accept that you have damaged it.

Please tell us you are not throwing a 1/2 inch move forward right off the bat in league.

 

Please put thumb in 1/2 way.  Throw slowly, have EMT's on standby!  The area past the foul line for humans is a dangerous place.

 

Good luck, be safe!

 

REgards,

 

Luckylefty