Hi:

I tried this last year for similar reasons. I took an old ball and had it plugged and redrilled conventional. I tried it out for about 3 months. My conclusion was that although this did aid in lessoning the arthritis pain it was easier said than done.

Although I didn''t expect to have a hook with a conventional my ball still hooked enough that other bowlers didn''t realize I had changed grips. They did wonder though why I wasn''t using a spare ball anymore - actually this was because I only had one conventional grip ball to throw My carry didn''t really suffer since I was still getting about 10-20 boards of hook depending on hand position. I used the 10 board release for 10 pins.

The two problem areas for me trying it our were the amount of carving needed on the thumb and finger holes to get a clean release. By the time I was through I almost had a semi-finger tip grip with tapered groves in front of the finger holes.

Finally, I just dropped a pound of ball weight and stayed with a finger tip. I would strongly suggest you work with a good driller on the pitch in the finger and thumb holes. It is possible to work on one''s release to find the releases that are comfortable.

I also dropped my speed a couple of miles per hour by shortening my approach.

In any case, take a ball you don''t care too much about and try it conventional.

Dave

Note: I guess I should add, to address your original question better, the conventional drill for me produces a more end over end ball motion than with a finger tip grip - since I am a rev dominant player this is a good thing for carry.

Edited on 4/28/2010 10:31 AM