Tips on Controlling Yourself From Squeezing the Bowling Ball

Are you continuously squeezing the bowling ball when you play? To me, this most commonly happens with a ball that doesn't fit your hand right, more specifically, bowlers tend to squeeze their thumb during their arm swing and prior to their follow-through.

One big factor is your climate. If you bowl in a colder climate, your thumb is going to shrink, so naturally you need some tape in your thumbhole to keep the same feel...as you are bowling, you can then take some out.

In a more humid climate, your thumb will expand more quickly...this is why I prefer drilling a thumbhole a bit bigger then what the pro shop wants...I then control the feel of the thumbhole and I eliminate the possibility of my thumb sticking in the ball when it expands.

When you get a ball that fits you right, you can then simply push the ball up and then let your arm fall naturally, letting the weight of the ball/gravity control your armswing. Most likely you have a ball that isn't fitting 100% and coupled with any forearm muscle engagement, that is causing you to squeeze the ball (less it falls out of your hand during your armswing/delivery!).

So...

-If your ball is fitting fine, just try and let the ball control your armswing

-If your ball, particularly your thumb, is not fitting, have a certified ball drilled measure you again and make sure your ball is fitting properly, and remember to take a bit extra from your thumbhole so you can control how it is fitting.

One final note on thumbholes: With today's new technology, I highly recommend the urethane thumb insert over no insert...otherwise your thumb will tend to catch on the ball, which will kill any consistent release you have and can actually hurt you in terms of irritating your skin or causing abrasions.

I hope this helped...it's hard to do this on the internet without seeing your equipment/release, but no doubt about it: If the ball isn't fitting you 100%, you are going to squeeze it, bar none, if you need additional info you can check out the Bowling For Dummies, there is a small price for it, but it's well worth it in my opinion.

I fought the same problem for quite a few years...not until I just bought my new ball in 2005 did I finally get it to fit me the way it needed to (my span was about 1/4 to 1/2 inches too short, this doesn't sound like much, but it caused me to squeeze the ball. Now that my span is more stretched out, I can just let the ball fall naturally and know that my grip will keep it in my hand.

Now, another thing most beginners do is hold the ball WAY too high up. One thing that will help is to hold your ball below your waist, supported by your left hand. The other thing most beginners do as well is take the ball WAY too high on their backswing. If you do either of these, I'm almost certain that's why you'd be scared of dropping the ball! Think about it...if you had a 15 LB weight in your hand, started it chest high and swung it, wouldn't you be afraid of that weight falling and smashing your foot? Same concept in bowling.

So, if it's not an equipment problem (meaning all your ball drilling pitches are correct, and the holes are the proper size), simply shortening your backswing and/or starting your ball lower in your setup should help. You might have to adjust your line a few boards to the left, but at least then you are worrying about the proper mark to hit-and not whether or not you will drop the ball.