witesoxwoz22/duvallite,
The first problem that we encounter if our hand gets on the side of the ball (suitcase) too early in the swing, is from that particular position, in order to feel the pads of our fingers lift the ball, we either have to pull our arm across our body (which we don't want to do) or it is to lift back upright (or clockwise) through the ball which is more of the norm that I see bowlers do.
The second problem now is the amount of lift effort we're applying with this motion. Duvallite, (I hit the nail on the head with your situation - heavier oil) due to the lack of reaction on the heavier condition, we "all" try and lift harder. Unfortunately, this also leads to more wrist rotation in that clockwise direction which again is what is causing the track to move towards thumb hole. I'd say that on the normal conditions you had before, your normal or minimal wrist action created enough "reaction" or hook so you didn't have to try as hard to get the ball to hook. For you, I'd try and take the Mean Machine down to 600 first without having to buy another piece (unless this was your reason to get one
) but if that doesn't work, the Invasion or Theory are a couple of my favorites right now for heavier oil. If you choose that route, pm me and I'll help offer a layout.
witesox, one trick is to keep our hand behind the ball longer before trying to lift thru it. If you can picture throwing a curve in baseball, our hand physically stays behind it until the ball/arm is in front of us and then at the point of release, we snap our wrist around the ball. What would happen if our wrist was already on the side of the ball but we're only passing our head at that point? That's kind of what is happening now.
One last tip guys, if you're trying to get reaction because the condition is too heavy for the piece that you are using, try and move up on the approach some (maybe 6 inches to a foot if comfortable) and "naturally" slow your ball speed down so you have a better match of your speed to rev ratio. This can help us get enough traction which in turn may give us the reaction needed, so then we wouldn't have to use additional lift effort to turn the ball which is that slight excessive wrist motion causing the higher track. Just like slowing down in heavy rain or snow guys, if we can get traction, we can then get a reaction. Sorry for the length but hope this helps some....
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