My problem is:
thumb swells and contracts up to 4 or 5 pieces of tape.
when I have that much tape in i don't feel like i have good hold on ball.
thought maybe above might work for me as it would slightly increase full diameter of thumb and provide more grippy hold.
am i on right track or not?
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I'd try Magic Carpet first. It is a good way to combat this problem.

The Brunswick Thumb Saver, in my opinion, is a bad design of an iffy idea to start with. You have a faux leather pad with a semi-exposed stitching seam connected to the same type of material you make pool cue shooter's gloves out of (basically women's hosiery). I had to squeeze the crap out of the ball to hold onto it. I never got a consistent release from shot to shot.

Jess