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Author Topic: I've got a question for you.  (Read 525 times)

Ragnar

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I've got a question for you.
« on: November 02, 2008, 03:27:04 AM »
First, some background.  Over the last year I've developed a new (for me) hand position that is much stronger than what I had previously used: thumb at about 3 o'clock w/ fingers rotated correspondingly to about 8 or 9 o'clock.  Rather than "spin" the ball on release I keep roughly in this position.  Result: lots more axis tilt (about 50 degrees), much lower and smaller track, though not a spinner).  Also, when I drilled up a new ball (Ogre) a while back I was having  a huge problem w/ the thumb.  No matter what bevel I tried (everything else was exactly the same as my other equipment) it seemed to "bite" right at the base of my thumb - I couldn't throw it more than 4-5 times without it hurting a lot.  As a last resort (and here comes the question) I opened the thumb about 1/16th more and started wearing a golf glove.  The results have astounded me.  First - no more pain.  Second, and mainly, my release has gotten much more powerful.  I've developed a burn callous on the pads of both fingers, though I'm not trying to "hit" the ball at all.  Here's what I think is going on: I'm not squeezing with the thumb at all, since it's now so tight that I actually have a bit of trouble setting it on the rack and getting out of the thumbhole (when I throw it, no problem clearing the hole); I think that somehow I'm carrying the weight of the ball more on the pads of my fingers (forget to mention that I'm now drilling finger holes very shallow, just deep enough to get into them), resulting in much more torque at release.  Has anyone else done or felt anything similar?  My average this year is at 223, at least 10 pins higher than ever for me.
Wyrd bið ful aræd!
(Thought to be a member of something called the PMS club by some.)