Over the last 30 years, I've gone from grips to no grips and back to grips again.  I believe that a big part of how well or poorly grips work depends a lot on how dry or sweaty your hands are, here are my observations.

Without grips -
My skin is really dry, so when I am not using grips, I find myself subconsciously using more wrist because my dry fingers tend to slip on the slick hole surface.  I usually blow in the fingerholes to give my fingers a bit more "tack", and sometimes wishing that I had some of that Pro-Grip stuff (the yellow tacky wax) for my fingers.

With grips-
I've found that having grips allows me to relax my wrist more, I'm no longer concerned about not catching all of the ball with my fingers, or having it slip slightly when lifting.

As far as pressure on the fingers goes, I think that grips actually put more of the weight of the ball on your fingers.  Simply because a person's fingers stick to the grips better than the slippery finger holes.


My suggestion is probably one you've already thought of.  Get a ball (preferably a crappy one) and drill it up with grips, then practice with it.  Don't worry about score, just pick a mark and hit it, try to relax your wrist more than normal.  Throw enough games to get a decent feel for the grips, then switch back to your ball without grips.  Be aware of the difference in feel and tension in your wrist/fingers.

Hope this helps.

I had inserts, went with out now i am back. It gives you support because an insert has give where the ball doesnt. Not to mention with the recient surgery it will help you stay in the ball longer, projecting it on the lane better and in my case allowed me to keep the revs i had but be softer with it when i need with less effort than inserts.
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Shawn

I used inserts until about 3-4 years ago and switched and gradually grew to prefer the their absence.  And I am in my mid-fifties and have had fewer problems with calluses and hand/wrist sprains since losing the inserts.

Have one ball that still has them, and once in awhile I pull it out of retirement just to see what it's like. Usually the very first game is fantastic, but then I tend to hang on to it too long and yank it past the head pin.  The scores gradually deteriorate, and while I could probably learn to bowl again with them, I would not only have to adjust my delivery, but all the balls in my arsenal.

However...  I do use the Pro-Grip cream sometimes to make the finger holes tacky. And on some of the balls, I have added a short piece (about 1/4 inch by 3/8's of an inch) of white textered bowler's tape to the finger holes. Not for the size, but just to create a textered surface.

Hope that helps.

I am not sure about grips relieving the pressure on your wrist. I mean I use them for another reason, but they are stickier and you will get more revs but my feeling, my worry for you is they may do more harm than good. It's almost like they guarantee more pressure on your fingertips and that produces more tension on your tendons and on down the line.

The only way to make sure for yourself is to try them, though. Be careful.

FYI there are different textures in different brands. Some are softer and some are harder. Heck, even different colors in the same line SOMETIMES feel different. Contour Power Grips, Turbo-2-in-i, and Vise Grips are the more popular ones.
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"None are so blind as those who will not see."

Another interesting viewpoint is Norm Duke not using grips.  He says he gets them drilled straight with absolutely no bevel.  Apparently, this ensures no grab for him or he'll cut his fingers.  It's a bit of the opposite argument here to think about.  It puts less pressure because he doesn't try to grab it to hold on to it.  You have to admit Norm let's go of the ball pretty smooth
Anyway, we're not pros so just another idea...
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I actually prefer the no bevel, because if you make the bevel to smooth you can have problems getting out of the ball poorly.

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to talk the my pro shop and see what else we can do besides inserts cause I need to have the release be as clean as possible and I think that'll happen best without inserts. Do you guys have any other ideas for reducing tension on the hand/fingers and wrist.
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Jason Smith