Umm... the original poster said he bowled a 700 series, and I neglected to mention that I had a 278 and a 255 just a week ago ---with a similar drilling (at least the part about not inserting the fingers all the way to the first joint).

I admit that when you hear that someone is not putting their fingers as far into the ball as is the generally accepted norm, that it seems it would be a handicap. But there are bowlers who are successful without their thumbs being used and so forth. I personally could not bowl that way, but believe that if they put their thumbs into the ball, it might feel as restraining compared to what's normal for THEM. Same thing might be true for someone using a wrist support who normally doesn't. Granted...after awhile they might get used to it and like the new method. But some will prefer to return to their old ways ....cause it feels better for them.

Not sure if "restrained" is the best word, but that's how I feel with the the fingers farther into the hole. Like I was throwing a ball drilled conventionally vs finger tip.

And again...I'm not faulting the driller. He wanted me to try a ball drilled in a more conventional (there's that word again) manner.

I've just decided that the experiment is over ---for me. And it seems there is at least one other person in the world who is more comfortable with the "almost" finger-tip drilling on their equipment --- BrianCRX90, the person who first posted about it here.

I "hear" you, except I wasnt experiencing any pain.

I had ONE ball that I was having trouble getting a good fit in as far as the thumb was concerned (one guy drilled it too small, the next one too big) and after awhile another driller said my span being too long was causing the problems with the thumbhole fit.

He could have been right AND wrong, in that I have had fewer problems with my thumb size changing during the course of a match. BUT... I can tell you that of the 17 games I bowled today, I was more comfortable when delivering the so-called stretched fit.

Stretcheing too far is no good, but if anyone here has ever thrown a ball with too narrow of a span, that has it's own drawbacks ---- dropping the ball, for one.

I am in my fifties (but still throwing like a much younger person), and have to admit that I take seriously any potential damage I might be doing with the wrong fit.

But I am also very obsessive compulsive and will bowl more games ultimately putting more stress on my fingers if I am not comfortable with the cause and effect of my delivery of the ball. I was hopefull at first that I had not only achieved a more comfortable fit, but also more control over the delivery.

And I HAVE found that I more easily able to make a last second adjustment in my delivery if I find that I'm not lined up right. In other words... as my arm is swinging the ball and I can already tell that my shot is likely to end up dead center on the head pin, I am able to give the ball a little extra push to the left to at least try for a brooklyn hit. Unfortunately.... I am also making some UNINTENDED last minute adjustments at other times, and overall I have less revs. And I was already a speed dominant player, so it's like I've gone back in time to 5 years ago when I had almost zero finesse and just threw everything at top speed. My average back then was around 170.

These days it HAD been around 195-200, but that included a decent number of 230's, 240's, and up. Now I am struggling to reach 200...in the SAME house.  Even today... using the two identical balls (Ebonite Raids) I was throwing 200-210 with the new drilling and 230-240 with old drilling.

Just for the sake of argument... if I throw 4 or 5 games with the stretched drilling and go home, vs staying and bowling 17 games with the relaxed drilling, which would put more stress on the joints?  Not being sarcastic. I'm seriously wondering. Would slightly more tension for a shorter period of time be worse, or would less tension for a much longer period of time (or more repetitions) do more damage?

I.e. ---I don't want to have to relearn how to bowl and have all of my equipment redrilled (about 18-20 balls), if it will require many hours of additional useage of the fingers.  I WAS willing to phase in the new drilling, but not interested if my ball is going to be hitting flat. Maybe one or two of the balls could be left that way to be used as semi-spare balls, but today was pretty dry lane condition and still the ball with the new drilling was weak.

Well... it now seems that there may be a difference between the fit of the first ball drilled with the new drilling and the 3 balls that were copied from it.

That ball is still comfortable and fun to bowl with ---even with slightly lower revs. The other balls (that I complained about here) ...not so much.

So I'm going to bring the balls to the driller and ask him to compare them. No matter how slight, there has to be some kind of measurement difference between them, and if it can be identified, then I'll be able to give myself more time to get used to the newer drilling.