With release, sometimes it's just a mentality change that helps you improve your game. You currently are
trying to make the ball hook, if that makes sense. You're putting an emphasis on getting the ball into a sideways rotation, and doing it from the side of the ball at release. Instead, think about trying to
roll the ball and
lift upwards through the ball. Take a look at Norm Duke's hand in the slow-motion replays 2:15 into
this video when they compare Duke's release when he plays up the boards as opposed to when he moves inside and hooks it. Even when he's hooking it more, he still does not come around the side of the ball much. All the rotation and power comes from his thumb exiting the ball quickly and cleanly, leaving the fingers to add rotation as gravity pulls the ball downward while the armswing pulls the hand upward. When you see it in motion in the video, it makes more sense. Very little effort is used here really to create a good ball roll that is predictable, controllable, and yet carries extremely well.
You don't have to try to hook the ball, just let gravity and momentum and the ball's mechanics do it for you. Once you start thinking that way, it's much easier to start changing your release for the better.
