thumb pain help [Archive]

icawn

11-19-2007, 09:18 PM

hey guys, my first ball, toxic, has been drilled. i brought it to a proshop where he found my pap and measured my hand.

major problems though. i bowled with it a week ago and the thumb hole bit me pretty good at the base. the inside base of my thumb went numb for a minute after my first throw because of the nerve it pressed on.. it was pretty painful, but i told the proshop guy about it and he beveled the hole some and i managed to bowl a few games. after a recovery time of almost a week, i am going to bowl with it again. i went to the proshop guy earlier tonight and he scraped some more of the stud away for more bevel (there's hardly anymore stud left to bevel, only choice now is to bevel into the ball itself). But, i feel no amount of scraping is going to help. The proshop guy is now getting frustrated with me just because i'm asking him questions and trying to find out how to fix it. he basically won't do anything further unless i tell him what to specifically do. i'm not the expert.

basically at this point, i'm not sure if the grip span may just be a bit too long. or if the thumb hole is a tad big. the ball feels pretty good when i hold it, but when i swing it, my thumb doesnt stay perfectly locked, and so of course then the edge of the thumb hole moves a bit and bites against that nerve. i am wondering if the thumb hole is a bit too big. my thumb doesnt sit perfectly straight in the hole upon swinging, it does bend a tad but i'm not sure if a hole resize would work. tonight i am using some tape to help and see. Using his fitting ball, adjusting the pitch and span slightly still causes his fitting ball to bite me. his fitting ball is of course not beveled and quite sharp. so at this point, i am become frustrated and it feels like no amount of modification to the hole will remove the bite.

this is the only proshop in town and the guy seems irritated with me. i can't afford to dish out $40 after $40 for a thumb redrill. is there anything else i could do? maybe some softer type of thumb insert? there has to be something. i've thrown friends balls that didn't bite my thumb like this one does (those balls are 600miles away now i cant bring them in). according to the prohop guy, i left the shop as a satisfied customer after the drilling, and so he wishes to charge for any further modifications. even though i told him it was biting me, and he had even scraped it a few times, though i told him there was still nearly as much pain. that night, i told him i would be back, because he had to leave. i can tell the last thing he wants to do is have to plug and redrill my ball, as if it is an insult. in my opinion i think i deserve to bowl without pain, that's all.

sorry i don't have pictures of the drill, but here's a reference to undrilled pics if you need.
http://forums.hammerbowling.com/showthread.php?p=44355#post44355

thank you for any feedback

BubbaRay

11-19-2007, 10:23 PM

Sounds to me like the span my be a little to long or the pitch on the thumb is wrong. If your span is too stretched, you will get a numbing feeling. You might bevel the top ridge (taper) to reduce the pressure & it also shortens the span a little . You should feel equal pressure all the way down your thumb for the grip to be right .A new ball needs a lot of fine tuning to feel right.Where ever the hole has pressure or rubs,take one slice with the bevel knife each time & try the grip each time for the pressures. You should feel the ball with your finger pads,thumb pad & your palm. Try the bevels first . Your last option should be to redrill I would say only the thumb

As for the pro shop guy getting frustrated is noit a guy I would want to deal with again. He is there to help no matter what it takes.

WAL

11-20-2007, 12:03 AM

I have this problem for a month now...
Even Today...
I will post a few pic up later...
even though No problem sometime...
around 20 pins up today than yesterday but with pain today...

WAL

11-20-2007, 12:19 AM

http://www.katorosa.com/image/Picture%201.jpg
http://www.katorosa.com/image/Picture%202.jpg
http://www.katorosa.com/image/Picture%203.jpg
http://www.katorosa.com/image/Picture%204.jpg
http://www.katorosa.com/image/Picture%205.jpg
http://www.katorosa.com/image/Picture%206.jpg
http://www.katorosa.com/image/Picture%207.jpg
http://www.katorosa.com/image/Picture%208.jpg
http://www.katorosa.com/image/Picture%209.jpg
http://www.katorosa.com/image/Picture 10.jpg
http://www.katorosa.com/image/Picture 11.jpg

dw800seeker

11-20-2007, 12:59 AM

Find out where some of the better bowlers are getting their equipment drilled. If everyone is using this guy, you are going to have to make a road trip to the next town and get someone else to help you out.

A guy in my area who drills balls out of his garage was the first one to drill a ball that did not destroy my thumb. He changed the pitch and that worked. But, it took some time. I did not find that guy until I had several balls drilled at the lanes I bowl at and another couple balls drilled at some lanes across town.

I still use protective tape on the back of my thumb and my thumb does not give me any issues anymore, and it is way more normal looking that before (still ugly, tho).

icawn

11-20-2007, 03:33 AM

i tried out his fitting ball again..with a slight change in pitch, but it's still difficult to judge on a lightweight 3lb fitting ball that gives no pressure anywhere to anything. i bowled 10 games tonight and used some tape. my thumb is pretty sore now but i could handle the biting for most of the night. i put tape right over the entire edge, flapping over ontp the surface of the ball. it didn't affect my spares where it rolls over the thumb tape so it was ok.

but putting the tape over it, to cushion the sharpness of the edge, seemed to have a noticably decent affect. it's too bad that thumb studs do not have rubber edging for the top to absorb much of any potential biting. a novel idea, no?

so after about 10 games the back of my thumb, first knuckle, started to blister and lose skin. i know that is because my thumb bends a bit inside, and rubs against the wall, but 10 games is better than it was before.

my hand looks similar to yours WAL. i have thinner fingers with a thin thumb. the widest part of my thumb is the edge knuckle/nail portion of it, rather than up the thumb more. much of the other guy's thumbs i see, who are usually bigger guys, have their thumb get progressively thicker up to the base.
i could understand how my thumb and your thumb may slightly shift during the armswing with the bite occuring on the thinner portion of our thumbs at the base, where the thumbs are drilled to fit the widest portion (the end of it). it leaves the excessive space inbetween there, inside the thumb hole. it would seem extremely difficult or near impossible to get the pressure distribution of the thumb to be evenly spread.

i will ask some other bowlers where they had their balls drills. i actually bowled next to a very good bowler tonight, i asked about any pain and he had none. he didn't get his ball drilled at those lanes though, he didn't remember where he had it drilled. i will definitely see other pro shops when am out of town.

on a lighter note, when the lanes broke down to medium oil the hook exploded and i bowled 264 which is my highest game ever. not bad for my 2nd time bowling in 9 years :)
my next purchase would be a high performance ball for the oily lanes. i want the same impact the toxic gave me on medium, for all oil conditions.

i will never again throw my money at proshop owners who rush you in and out the door, who rush your measurments and drilling, and who run off every 2 minutes to bowl their turn in the leagues, no matter how much of an expert driller they are.

TenPinSniper

11-20-2007, 04:04 AM

-If your thumb is rubbing , remove from the opposite side.

-Thumb should not been in the thumb hole, unless you want to squeeze the ball which is not good. But I think alot of people do squeeze to a certain extent. Tape can help keep the thumb pressure correct.

-If you want to check the span, insert the your thumb in the ball normally, lay your finger over your finger holes. You should have approx. 1/4" clearance.

Ask where the best place to get your stuff drilled is, I drive past atleast 3 or 4 places to go to my proshop. Finding your fit is king. Really don't think it happens the first time. Maybe for some, but its not exact from what I have gathered.

It might be worth asking you buddy to get you his span sheet and mail it to you.

WAL

11-20-2007, 05:44 PM

Actually, My thumb was thinner 3 months ago, which is when i start to bowl...
If you look a my right thumb and left thumb, you will see my right thumb is bigger than left thumb by 1/4....

Stampy79

11-20-2007, 05:48 PM

Here is one other thought. I too have the nerve problem. On some people that nerve sticks out just a bit more. That is how I first started using a workout tool and a bevel knife. I have just a small notch right where that nerve and tendon run through. That fixed it. I highly recomend that you get these tools anyway. Everyone should have them if you are serious about bowling. If you are not, well just have them drill it out a size or two bigger and bowl away !

Rowdy

11-20-2007, 09:03 PM

Had the same problem Stampy had. We fixed it the same way,with a small notch right where the tendon lays on the edge of the thumb hole. One thing,since I started using slugs in the thumb holes I haven't had the problem anymore and don't have to bevel the thumb hole,either.

icawn

11-21-2007, 03:15 AM

ah i have seen the tool on a website before. i didnt know it was for carving, just thought it was for removing tape. i'll definitely look into it.

can either of you guys show me a picture or two of your thumb holes with the carving for the nerve? thanks

Street Racer

11-21-2007, 09:03 AM

i actually got thumb pains tonight..

got my total nv drilled up( this thing turns at 90 degrees:eek: )... but i told my driller be4 we even had the lifters in... the span is too long... he said nah its fine its only like 1/8 out... i'm out more like 4/8 outs to myself tho... so yeah... i said its ok.... went to bowl with it... picked up my nv..... hooks like a mofo and well stains my thumb and my arm... so i handed it back to my driller....

EIGHTBALL033

11-21-2007, 04:10 PM

i actually got thumb pains tonight..

got my total nv drilled up( this thing turns at 90 degrees:eek: )... but i told my driller be4 we even had the lifters in... the span is too long... he said nah its fine its only like 1/8 out... i'm out more like 4/8 outs to myself tho... so yeah... i said its ok.... went to bowl with it... picked up my nv..... hooks like a mofo and well stains my full and my arm... so i handed it back to my driller....

WAS 3/8 OUT AND I TORE LIGIMENT SO BE CAREFULL STREET,IT SUCKS BAD

pba6285

11-22-2007, 11:56 AM

First take your thumb and place it all the way into the thumb hole. (The Pics that WAL has posted the thumb is no where near all the way in.)

Lay your hand flat on the ball. (Do not place the fingers in the holes).

For a finger tip ball the first joint should be at the middle of the hole.

For a conventional grip the 2nd joint would be a little past the edge of the hole closest to the thumbhole.

The easiest way to see if you are squeezing the ball is to take the ball straight from the press and bowl with it. If you bleed you are squeezing. BTW I only know of a couple people that can do this. One of them is Norm Duke.

WAL

11-22-2007, 01:15 PM