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Author Topic: Span change vs pitch change  (Read 2960 times)

lefty50

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Span change vs pitch change
« on: December 05, 2015, 01:57:57 AM »
I started playing with thumb pitch over the summer. I've changed now from 1/4 reverse to 0, and am starting to understand by feel exactly how much I've been squeezing the ball all these years. From where I am right now (0/0) I need to stay in the ball a little longer, which I believe additional forward thumb will accomplish. But there's an approximation of span change that should accompany pitch change. If memory serves, it states to decrease span by 1/8th for each 1/4 forward pitch increment....
Nothing on this in my notes though... What's the suggested span change?
Thanks


 

BallReviews-Removed0385

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Re: Span change vs pitch change
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2015, 06:19:35 AM »
Your guess is probably a reasonable place to start since all hands are unique anyways.  It may take a little experimenting and bowling in between to zero in.  My  only advice would be to err on the side of "short" as you bring your thumb forward so you can get out of the ball quickly. 

If you go forward with thumb pitch and your span is "long" you'll be locked in and maybe have trouble getting out consistently.

Aloarjr810

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Re: Span change vs pitch change
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2015, 09:30:43 AM »
Nothing on this in my notes though... What's the suggested span change?
Thanks

This is what I have in my notes: (though I don't think it's a hard and fast rule)

"If your span is correct and you want to try less reverse, shorten span 1/16" for every 1/4" change in thumb linear."

Update:
I did some looking just to check, there appear to be several methods

Method #1-"If your span is correct and you want to try less reverse, shorten span 1/16" for every 1/4" change in thumb linear."

Method #2-"shorten span 1/8" for each 1/4" thumb pitch forward."

Method #3-"The Half rule, where you Shorten span by half the amount you move thumb forward.

1/2 forward = shorten span 1/4
1/4 forward = shorten span 1/8
1/8 forward = shorten span 1/16
and so on..."

Method #4-"If the span is correct, for every 1/8" you adjust the thumb pitch forward you need to shorten the span by an 1/8"."
« Last Edit: December 05, 2015, 09:49:51 AM by Aloarjr810 »
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lefty50

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Re: Span change vs pitch change
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2015, 10:26:05 AM »
Thanks guys. Sounds like no matter what I do, as long as I use the same hand to put in the ball, I'll guess right according to one of the rules... :).. As you say though, these are only a guess to stay in the ballpark before tweaking.

Thanks for the quick replies.

Strider

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Re: Span change vs pitch change
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2015, 08:25:14 PM »
If your span is actually correct, you shouldn't need to adjust it.  It was the pitch that was wrong, not the span.  From when I shortened my span to the "new" correct measurement (not stretched like most everyone did 15+ years ago), I have gone quite a bit more forward and haven't touched the span.