Lately, I have been changing my hand position a bit as I get ready to release the ball.  Rather than under the ball and lifting straight through the shot, which usually cause an early roll and loss of energy, I am now coming out a little more out of the side of the ball and extending the shot down the lane further before the hook and roll of the ball.  Now, so far this seems to be easier for me to do and  it seems to be working pretty well for me.  However, regardless of my hand position, I find that the thumb will often determine how effective a shot I will throw.  Let me explain.

I use thumb inserts/slugs as well as finger inserts which have been fitted for me by a pro shop.  The thumb feels comfortable in my equipment most of the time and I do not get any blisters or torn skin from a bad fit. Now, I have been told
that you should have a relaxed thumb when bowling.  That the grip should be no more than if you were gently holding a bird.  Ok then, but what I notice is that if I relax my thumb, I have a tendency to be inconsistent and weak on my release.  On the other hand, if I grip a little with my thumb during the backswing and into the beginning of my forward swing, and then release that grip of the thumb and transfer into the fingers, I get a stronger and more consistent release and a better shot down the lane.  Obviously, I cannot grip the ball with the thumb coming through the shot. Also, I don't have the ball falling off my thumb during the shot.  It's the subtle difference between these two extremes that seems to make or break me out there.

Now, when I keep the thumb "relaxed", I will sometimes actually get hung up with the knuckle portion of my thumb hitting against the inside of the thumbhole, resulting in a poor shot. Even if I don't hang up, my hand positon, timing and location seem to be much more inconsistent than when I have just a little more grip with the thumb in the ball.  I also notice, this extra and longer gripping of the thumb before transfer to the fingers seems to increase my ball speed and projection, and I seem to have fewer 7-pin leaves as a result.

Does my explanation here make sense or am I just making a wrong method work right for me?




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"Chopping Wood For over Two Decades"

After reviewing some of the posts here and thinking about it a few minutes, maybe I don't necessarily "squeeze" the ball nearly as much as I originally mentioned.  When I get the thumb fit where I like it at, I can tell the difference between the top piece of white tape under the thumb being either fresh, or if it has picked up some skin oil and lane oil after a game or two.  Just that little bit of friction difference determines whether I have a clean release, or if I tend to drop the ball on the release.  If the cleanliness of the top piece of white tape under the thumb makes that big of a difference in my game (and it does play a big factor), then evidently I'm not clutching the ball nearly as much as I think.  In fact, I can vary my breakpoint a foot or two simply by pulling out a "glazed" top piece of white tape and putting in a fresh piece of white tape (under the thumb).  This glazing can typically happen in 1 to 2 games of bowling.....sometimes I will change out the top piece of tape every game or two.

I am aware of some gripping during the most rearward portion of the backswing, but I relax as I start the forward portion of the swing.  I guess that I'm not squeezing the ball nearly as much as I originally thought, or the top piece of tape wouldn't be as critical.  As for the bevel, I do run some bevel on the thumb, and I have only a small callous at the base of the thumb (in the bevel area).

The more I read this post, the more intrigued I become.