I have been mostly an observer on BallReview.com (not a poster) for several years and have read many interesting and intelligent comments. Many people have posted and encouraged getting a knowledgable coach to help improve your game. I average pretty good and have several honor scores so I was not in a hurry to get a coach. My problem is that I have always had thumb problems (callouses)and have seen countless drillers (some good-some very good)but the problem still exist. I kind of chalked it up to it is what it is, just as long as i continue to score. But in the back of my mind I remembered the comments on here about getting a coach. Well, yesterday I finally went to see a coach and all I have to say is WOW! He video taped me and I didn't realize what I was doing until he showed me on the video. You see, I mostly bowl on the house shot which as you know makes you look better than you actually are. After the session, I realized: my timing was not consistant, hand postion in a weak position in the back swing and I was turning the ball to soon (Yikes). These flaws will make you squeeze and thus develop callouses on your thumb also (not just your ball drill). I will be in training, but I have 2 questions:

1)Since I bowl in a few leagues should I be practicing this during league play? (I have a lot of muscle memory stored and would this be confusing to the memory)
2) I was wondering if a lighter ball might be easier to control to assist with the changes.

Once again thank you for your advice on getting a coach and any comments on my two questions.