Ladies & Gentlemen,

So years and years ago, I must have had some trouble hanging on to the ball, and for as long as I can remember, my thumb pitches have been 3/16" back and 3/16" palm. Somehow, my thumb doesn't hurt.

This worked fine for a long time, but as I find myself bowling on more demanding stuff, and sometimes having trouble with my timing, I think it's become an issue. If my timing is off a little, the ball will either drop straight off my hand and go right or will stick on my thumb and land 10" downlane. I've also noticed that the ball won't come off if I change my hand position and try to come around it more (I'm pretty up the back usually).

So, what do I do? Get rid of just the side pitch under the palm? Go to 0 in both directions? How much would you change the span if you did this? I know Bill Taylor says it's a 2:1 thing, but I can't imagine taking 3/8" off my spans just to go to 0 pitch.

Also, how much messing around should be necessary to find something comfortable? Does anyone still do the Coke can thing? Is there some other way to determine an ideal pitch, or are we just doing trial and error at this point?

3/16" reverse, away from the center of grip.

If you subconsciously have to let go of the ball one shot you'll over grip and hang up...next shot you relax and drop it...the ball should not have to trues to release, it should release due to gravity and momentum...
I would think a 1/16"< and a 1/16"v to try at first...that should get your hand in more natural position to release