Why are you wanting to alter the angle of your thumb hole? And span dictates pitch...pitch doesn't dictate span

I would like to know more about this as well. I am in the exact same situation. I cannot for the life of me find a comfortable span/pitch relationship. I almost feel as though I never will.

Great comments Just!

Regards,

Luckylefty

Rico is correct. Span dictates pitch. I was certified by IBPSIA and use there guidelines and have been drilling for 17 years. They use a 4" span as 0 frwd/rvs pitch. Every 1/8" inch in span change is 1/16 pitch change. So a 4 1/2" span would be 1/4" reverse. Now, this is a guide and a starting point, not "the requirement." You will also have to add or subtract pitch based on thumb flexibility and thumb length. Like I said, this is a guide and you also have to adjust to the individuals likes. My span for example is 4 3/4 x 4 7/8. My best release is 1/8 right and 3/8 reverse pitch. I can go as little as 3/16 reverse and still come out of ball, but not as clean. I also have approximately 145 degrees of flexibility in my thumb. I see quite a few people bring balls to me to fix pitch because they have release issues. Most of the pitches I fix seem to have 0/0 pitch and I personally think it is due to ball drillers not understanding pitches and 0/0 is easy for them. Hope this helps.

1/8 positive I would assume means palm so I'd go to zero or even 1/8 left...another thing to keep in mind on the span dictating pitch...you are correct on 1/8" span and 1/16" pitch but keep in mind lateral alters this also...it is the combined angle...

Great info guys... But I thought the whole movement in drilling was trending towards more 0/0 and forward pitch to relax the hand. Less reverse to reduce the squeeze. I'm coming from a grip of 1/2 reverse thumb and 4 5/8 span down to 1/8 reverse and 4 1/2 to try to get the ball to hang on to me a little more and stop squeezing. My drillers long term goal is still to get me to some forward pitch. Is that still the proper path? I do understand its a case by case scenario. Just seems like everyone was going away from reverse pitch which often caused bowlers to hit up on the ball at release.

MN

this is the exact same thing that I have been told, i've shorten my span an 1/8 and went from 1/2 reverse to 0 in the thumb.  still some tinkering to do, but it fells a whole lot better and more relaxed in the ball

I understand what you're saying JustRico... That seems to me it would be very difficult to get a fit perfect since there are so many variables. If span dictates pitch, how Do you know where to start on span? Becuase span changes based on pitch. Forward pitch has to be shorter that reverse. So this leads back into a circle again. Is there a measurement of the span on a person's hand that you can start from?

MN