My dad has all of his bowling balls drilled with 4 finger holes. This allows him to bowl and not have the arthritis in his two middle fingers bother him. When he bowls with only his middle two fingers they start to swell badly and hurt after 2 or 3 games. He then can't bowl for 3 or 4 days afterwards. With all his fingers in the ball he can bowl 6 or 8 games easily and bowl 2 or 3 times a week with no problems. It doesn't really add any extra revs, though it may change his axis rotation a little bit.

I have them drilled in all my equipment.

 

Positives:

1) Weight is distributed across three fingers rather than two. Simple physics. Results in less finger stress.

2) Axis rotation increases. (And just in case anyone is wondering, yes, I drilled a ball with an index finger test hole and it decreases axis rotation when used.)

3) Ball projects off my hand better. Allows me to have somewhat of a loft game without having to really hit up on the ball. This may just be attributable to the weight distribution portion of the grip.

 

Negatives:

1) You have one pinky finger position (i.e., in the hole).

2) Extra $5-$10 per ball to have one drilled, depending on your pro shop. I drill my own stuff so I have no cost.

3) Cuts down slightly the number of pin placements you can use unless you're comfortable drilling into the pin, either in whole or in part.

 

Neutral:

1) Revs,

2) Accuracy,

3) Speed. None of the three were really affected.

 

Jess

I currently come up the back of the ball quite a bit, most of my drilling are pin up or down on the ring finger, I tried drilling a ball negative and thumped the thumb the entire time. With an additional pinky hole will it help move my track some?

A friend of mine has many of his balls drilled this way, and swears that it increases his revs. I feel that is subjective.

 

I tried it....it gave me the feeling of more control, but I was not aware of an increase in revs.