The following question pertains to a senior lefty, with recent change from 3/16  forward thumb to 1/8 reverse to start testing for pain relief. (Going back to my specs from 3-4 years ago).
After 6 bad weeks, I finally figured out that my pitches needed to be changed. I've lost a lot of fexibility over the last year and am overdue for adjustments. I have the span and new finger pitches right where I want them now. There is no pain, and no more topping and ending up to the right. I am currently working with a thumb slug instead of my oval inserts so that I can make adjustments before going back to the Switch Grip setup with preformed thumb inserts.
For some reason, I completely spin the ball upon release. At first I thought the thumb was too big, but I fell like I've adjusted that. Then I thought it was the round thumb slug when I was used to using ovals.. Maybe, but I think I've adjusted for that also.
Now I'm wondering if it's because I started with a different lateral thumb pitch to accomodate the thumb. It was 1/8 away instead of my normal zero lateral. I've done the Coke can test, etc and sometimes I read zero, sometimes 1/8 away. That got me thinking about the old days. I remember a chart specifying the impact of thumb lateral. I've watch Mo's videos and he says the lateral is simply to conform the hand. I don't remember it that way. To my memory, lateral thumb has an impact on when you release the ball.
Way off base? Suggestions? Bottom line question is this. If I want to stay in the ball longer, would I use more lateral pitch toward the palm or away?
Thanks in advance

The following question pertains to a senior lefty, with recent change from 3/16  forward thumb to 1/8 reverse to start testing for pain relief. (Going back to my specs from 3-4 years ago).
After 6 bad weeks, I finally figured out that my pitches needed to be changed. I've lost a lot of fexibility over the last year and am overdue for adjustments. I have the span and new finger pitches right where I want them now. There is no pain, and no more topping and ending up to the right. I am currently working with a thumb slug instead of my oval inserts so that I can make adjustments before going back to the Switch Grip setup with preformed thumb inserts.
For some reason, I completely spin the ball upon release. At first I thought the thumb was too big, but I fell like I've adjusted that. Then I thought it was the round thumb slug when I was used to using ovals.. Maybe, but I think I've adjusted for that also.
Now I'm wondering if it's because I started with a different lateral thumb pitch to accomodate the thumb. It was 1/8 away instead of my normal zero lateral. I've done the Coke can test, etc and sometimes I read zero, sometimes 1/8 away. That got me thinking about the old days. I remember a chart specifying the impact of thumb lateral. I've watch Mo's videos and he says the lateral is simply to conform the hand. I don't remember it that way. To my memory, lateral thumb has an impact on when you release the ball.
Way off base? Suggestions? Bottom line question is this. If I want to stay in the ball longer, would I use more lateral pitch toward the palm or away?
Thanks in advance

The thing that is missing here is that you have to understand that going from 3/16 forward to 1/8 reverse is a huge adjustment.  it may feel like you are about to drop the ball and therefore compensating by how you are releasing it.  Changing the lateral pitch likely wont do too much though I want to say I heard years ago that adding lateral pitch so the the thumb points towards your palm can add some axis rotation but could be wrong on that.  But going that far in your adjustment is going to take some time to get used to.  I have a teammate going through something similar regarding his fingers.  He says he has almost 1 inch reverse but when I tested his finger flexibility; he should be closer to dead 0.  He looked at me dumbfounded.  So he is thinking about changing the pitches to reduce the amount of reverse and I told him do not go all the way to 0 because the feel is going to feel so different you will likely throw it bad until you get a decent amount of games in to get used to it.  So I recommended he go in 1/4 inch increments (take it from 1 inch reverse down to 3/4).  I explained to him that a 1/4 is already going to feel quite a bit different.  So in regards to you, this could be a case of your body naturally trying to compensate for the significant change in pitch.  If sometimes you read zero and other times it reads 1/8; then maybe drill the lateral in between those two and go with 1/16. 

Appreciate the feedback. Here's the trick though. I've got a ton of balls laying around from the last 3-5 years. For 6 weeks straight I started tugging everything to the right. Couldn't get past 180 if I had to, and I'm normally a 207.  Tried everything, no joy. Finally pulled out a 4-5 year old ball and bang, back in business. No tug, everything > 200. Although I see your points, I've already done this with a an old ball and met with success. My only issue is why I spin the test ball I'm using before spending big bucks on new inserts. I think JMooney is right, it's the slug, so I went to PSO and am getting an oval put in the slug so I can judge apples to apples. Will report back after that test.

Post a video so that we can see how you are releasing the ball.