So I am starting to really get interested in lateral side pitches as I have shortened my span from extremely stretched to full finger relaxed.  With some difficulty for awhile but , as I am making these changes I am starting to develop some stronger opinions on this maybe important subject.

So, I have one of the copies of Fitting and Drilling a Bowling ball by the authority of the day Bill Taylor.  In there he states that Fingergrip fitted bowling balls end up with a solution for lateral pitches of the fingers with 0 lateral for the middle finger, and 5/8(ring) to the right for righties and 5/8 (ring) to the left for lefties.  For virtually all fingers.

He then goes on to say that "Remember,lateral pitches in fingers are for comfort not utility".  This is a statement I am not sure with today's strong balls and lower volume high viscosity oil patterns is true.

Anyway, some of well experienced drillers.  Could you elaborate on those times when most of the bowlers went from pure fingertip no inserts(at 0, 5/8 pitch) to inserts and 3/8 3/8?

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Luckylefty

in the old days, the grips were a shorter so there wasn't a need to worry about them intersecting unless the customer had an extreme amount of lateral due to an injury or crooked finger tips. Now the grips go, I believe, like a full inch deeper.

I was taught the recommendation of 7/8" difference in lateral, as we started to get layouts like the Double Thumb and MOTion Hole layouts which needed deeper than normal depth. 3/8 Lateral in the middle and 1/2" in the ring were the standard and my personal laterals and were to be adjusted for customer comfort. Anything inside of 3/4", I inform the customer that they are voiding the warranty of the ball.

Gluing the grips in isn't really a problem unless the have extreme F/R pitches like 3/8" or more, mine being 5/8" rev, that would cause the grip to stick up. Even then, a little deeper in the fingers and gluing from bridge out cures that issue. if any cutting is required, I normally do it at the top and wipe edges with Acetone while wearing gloves. Works like a charm

Thanks guys for the comments.

Rightycomplex my friend, I don't know if you saw my comments on keeping the bridge strong on holes drilled with less than 3/4 spread(always a situation for me).

I usually cut the inserts in half if they have usable lips on both ends like vise and turbo and save the other side to give to friends if they use that style(I am not in the business of drilling).

Then I drill the 31/32 hole so that the insert bottoms out and cant's sink, if at an angle greater than 3/8 in that case I often trim the bottom with a slight angle on the side that sticks up so no rubber compression is needed on that side that sticks up.  I then switch drill bits to 57/64 and drill in the same exact center the rest of the hole to set up desired finger or side weight.  Yes one of those guys, also depending on where I may want a weighthole(for the next year and a few months).

JohnP, I certainly have heard of that method of Parallel zero which was just setting the drill bit to 0 while lined up with the middle of the bridge and then rotating the table right for the left finger hole and then back to the left for the right finger hole.

Bill Taylor railed against this casual drilling "mistake" in his book (that from Amazon looks like it was written in 1984) he claimed had been made for over 50 years!  Just a pooint of fact on the amount of lateral introduced but this method really depends on the size of the hole/2 +  size of bridge/2.  So for a 31/32 insert size hole and a 1/4 inch width bridge the pitches will end up being just under 5/8 (a very wide spread of 1 1/4 as layed out by JohnP and then much less pitch if one drills actual finger holes.  But again approximately equal pitches away from the center line.

Again, Bill Taylor recommended 0 and 5/8 for virtually all hands for fingertips claiming most bowlersj(righties) got wear on the left side of middle finger if they used his recommended conventional grip laterals of 1/8 middle 5/8 ring.  Note how much these lateral pitches differ from the standard 3/8 3/8 with inserts that is now most commonly and causally used.

A little bit of experimentaion so far undertaken.  As a leftyI have tried 1/8 right middle finger and 7/16+ left ring finger. and I am noting a change in ball roll, strain in any spans that is too long from  the Bill Taylor recommended relaxed spans, and also a note that I must come very close to my coke bottle test 1/4 inch left lateral (under palm for this lefty) to avoid clipping the side of my thumb.

More to come!

Sincerely,

Luckylefty

Negative.  The only way you would change lateral pitch with a finger insert is if the opposing sides of the insert have different wall thicknesses, changing where the center of the hole would be.

To really clarify the "Casual method" I made I wanted to be precisely accurate in what I said regarding pitches being less for straight finger holes than inserts put in a 31/32 hole.

So as we discussed the pitches for any insert done with the casual method for a 31/32 size insert with a 1/4 bridge end up just under 5/8.  The 1/4 inch bridge where the center of the drill bit is moved 1/8 of an inch or 8/64.  Plus the 31/64 move of the drill bit for a total move of 39/64.  Just short of 5/8 lateral pitch for both inserts where the drill bit moves from the center of the bridge to the center of the hole.

Now moving to say two 3/4 inch direct drill non grip insert holes.  The math here is even easier.  1/8 of an inch to move the bit from the center of the bridge to edge of the bridge.  Then another 3/8 drill bit travel to get to the center of the 3/4 inch hole leads to a total one direction pitch of 1/2.  Each smaller(less side pitch) or larger drill bit hole(more side pitch) ends up with less or more side pitch.  Not what these drillers probably really intended.

And yet.  Bill Taylor recommends 0 lateral middle and 5/8 lateral out ring as fitting all fingers.

I still believe something to think about.  WHY?  If you review Bill's book you realize he did nothing casually in his approach to bowling.  Old info, but I am interested in the science or anatomy knowledge that has led us to 3/8 3/8?

Sincerely,

Luckylefty
PS John P.  You are right the smaller the finger Inserts grip size the wider the total bridge, maybe not the best for a young child's or smaller handed woman's hands.