Should I change the way I hold the ball?

[Crusher279757]

Is it ok to hold my hand like this on my strike ball? http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l290/crusher267658/DSCN0909.jpg Do I need to change it?

Here is how I hold it on my spare ball too http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l290/crusher267658/DSCN0910.jpg

Sorry about the crappy pictures of me, but my looks was not what I was trying to accomplish in the photos, lol.

[Nascar4292]

aight heres a question for you......nothing wrong with your spare shot at all.....except maybe if you wanted to throw with the same shot i would recommend trying the same hand position as your strike shot except maybe bring in the ring and index finger all the way to your hand this takes alot off the shot and thats the only thing i change on my spare shot as i have told you in the past all i do is bring in the index finger and straighten out my hand alittle and throw the ball in the middle.

[Nascar4292]

ahhh....and on your strike ball try to bring in your pinky finger alittle bit try throwing it with it all the way in and then curled up.......i know ALOT of people that use the curled method and really like it. dont know why i try it everynow and then and i like it too but im more comfy with it all the way in.

[BubbaRay]

Bowlers all hold their ball different ways all over the world. In my opinion it's not how you hold the ball, it's the push away ( depending on a 4 or 5 step approach ) timing and hand position through the shot that is most important. Asd long as the push away, swing and hand release postion is correct , your chances of striking is greatly increased.

[Nascar4292]

oh trust me i agree with you 100% im just saying its not bad to try new things thats all........there is nothing wrong with your hand position just throwing out the idea of NEW things

[BubbaRay]

oh trust me i agree with you 100% im just saying its not bad to try new things thats all........there is nothing wrong with your hand position just throwing out the idea of NEW things


Trust me I wasn't going against anything you stated Bro. I agree, it's good to try and change things alittle. I was just commenting on his holding the ball that's all.

[Nascar4292]

i understand i was just stating my case thats all........i know it sounded like i was critiqing but i wasnt just suggesting no problem i know where your coming from as well. no biggie

[Crusher279757]

The reason why I'm was asking is because the past few days my wrist started to hurt a little, so I thought that maybe I was holdingthe ball wrong.

[Nascar4292]

nope everyone has there way just saying try to mess with the fingers alittle bit and find a more comfy position maybe thats the problem why your wrist hurts since some of the tendons or what not is at the wrist as well.....just a logical recommendation thats all

[JoshWithrow]

One thing everybody should keep on their minds...

ITS NOT THE HOOK THAT MATTERS.

Most people try to throw the biggest hook they can regardless of how much it hurts their game. My question to them: Why? And nobody to date is able to give me an answer without getting a case of the "uhh"s.

If your wrist is hurting break it back some. Your wrist doesn't have to be cocked to the max. You don't have to turn the cover off the ball. You don't have to create a huge hook.

I used to be a ditch-to-ditch bowler... with a 155ish average. I worried more about how much I was turning the ball than anything else. When things weren't going right I was trying to compensate by working the ball more. Then I took a break (5 years lol) and since coming back I play a much tighter line (drop on the 18-20 usuall and point to the 13-14 depending on conditions), ball only swings a few boards. I also used to spin the ball quite a bit... and one day somebody suggested that instead of coming all around the ball I stay behind it and put it into a heavy roll... doing these things gave me more stamina, better aim and control, and the ball hits noticably harder when set into a roll vs spinning like an orbiting planet.

My goal this summer was to average 195... so far I'm 199 and climbing (started with 213 avg then had a bad 2nd and third week). I attribute it to bowling comfortably and not trying to turn the ball as much or more as the kid on the next set of lanes.

So anyway tangient over... I used to start off very similar to you, swing the ball way back over my head, open up my shoulder, and crank the hell out of the ball. Why? I honestly can't tell you. I guess I thought I was going to impress somebody. And my wrist used to hurt, my arm would get tired, sometimes my back hurt... and now I suffer none of those problems.

If it's broke, fix it. If not, leave it the same.

[JoshWithrow]

nope everyone has there way just saying try to mess with the fingers alittle bit and find a more comfy position maybe thats the problem why your wrist hurts since some of the tendons or what not is at the wrist as well.....just a logical recommendation thats all

I'm not a pinky curler... can't stand it actually. I keep my pinky straight, but tucked in next to my ring finger. And since I'm mentioning it... I keep my pointer finger tucked next to my middle finger. Allows me to roll the ball alot more than index finger pointing out.

[aigaios]

Yikes...

Crusher, do you cup it that much throughout the entire swing? If your wrist is hurting, that's probably why...