Here is the senerio... This year, i go to my ball driller back in august, and say i feel like my span is too short and i've been gripping the ball too much. He says ok, plugs my balls, redrills them. They felt funny, but i attributed this to the new feel of them.
A few months later, i am having severe problems with my accuracy and cleanness of my release, and it has resulted in me going from a 218 average to a 205 average. I thought maybe i was dipping my right shoulder too much, an all too often problem of mine. I worked on it, fixed it, and still had accuracy problems.
I then thought, well, maybe its that i am falling off at the end too much, another problem of mine. I work on it, and fix it. Same story with swinging behind my back. Nothing has improved my accuracy.
I then buy a gold angle on-line for just the shipping charges to bowl with on dirt. I found the finger grips are exactly the same as mine and the span is a quarter inch shorter than my new span for the year, a little longer then last years span at 4.5 inches.
i go bowling, and, amazingly, am feeling like my old self again with the angle. It is hitting where i am targetting with consistent speed and revs, something i was not accustomed to seeing. I thought about this difference after my set was over, and it popped into my head. My ball driller drilled my span too long and it was negatively affecting my release. i remembered that he never even measured my span using a ball, just added a half inch to my normal span. Come to find out, all year i've been bowling with too long of a span for my hand. I cant believe this has happened and am kind of relieved that i finally figured out my problem.
I thought i would post this to help anyone else in a slump to check their pitches and spans and maybe to change something to help their game out.
--------------------
stanski

Edited on 4/23/2004 11:54 AM

Edited on 4/23/2004 5:09 PM

Stanski,

1. Obviously he should have measured something; not just drilled away.
2. He should have drilled up one ball for you to try.
3. You should have said something earlier about items #1 and #2. I'm afraid, that these two items are strictly common sense and have nothing specifically to do with bowling. The fault does not lie 100% with your driller, with whom I'd personally never deal again, anyway. You must accept part of the blame.

I'm surprised you haven't damaged tendons, ligaments or muscles in your hand.
--------------------
"We get old too fast, and too late, smart."

As usual, I agree 100% with CHARLEST .. the BALL DRILLER wold be one that I would NEVER see again .. however, in your case .. the driller isn't the only one at fault!
--------------------
Hit them light and watch them fight
      J O E - F A L C O

You can't put all the blame on the driller here.  You asked for the span to be lengthened, and that's exactly what you got.  Did you discuss how much you wanted it lengthened, or did the driller make that judgement all by himself?  It's only common sense that you should have tried the new span on 1 ball to determine if you liked it before changing all your equipment.
--------------------
"In my present, there is never a good time. And in my past, I never had a better time. Which is precisely why we make time."  Mitch Albom

i do understand what most of you are saying about the blame not being fully place on the driller. I am partly responsible since i asked for it. What i dont understand is why when i asked him to lengthen it, and even suggested that he measure my hand, he told me, "no, you should be fine, i'll just drill 'em right up and you'll be good to go. I didnt suffer any injuries since i am young, and no soreness even came about. He did watch me throw the ball a few times, and took a small look at what it fit my hand like, and i figured that he knew what he was doing and that i was good to go.
i really didnt want to have this post blame the ball driller, i wanted it to help people to take a greater interest in their ball fit. if you'll notice though, i posted it at 1 in the morning and was rambling quite a bit lol. thanks to all who have responded, but please dont attack me personally so harshly next time. I never really took an interest in anything to do with balls until i began coming to this site, and never cared much about drilling. I figured i would leave it to my driller and he would know what he was doing. That was all i knew how to do, i didnt know any better. Now that im more aware of the technical aspects of bowling, i definately will pay attention to what my driller is doing.
--------------------
stanski