Finger Placements on a Bowling Ball

    In my Blog Post from 5/23/22 I spoke about different Hand Position that can be used in Bowling. Here I'd like to mention a few different finger positions I've used over the years and that you may want to try. Fingers aren't used for just holding the ball, they can do more to help improver your pin count and increase your scores! Let me also mention what Axis Rotation and Axis Tilt are:

  * Axis Rotation--Is the left to right or Horizontal movement of the hand with the ball for the ball release.

  * Axis Tilt--Is the Up and down or Vertical alignment of the hand with the ball and is a type of spin that is put on the bowling ball by the way a player throws the ball.  A Zero Axis Tilt- means that one rotation of the ball goes over the entire surface (usually when a straight ball is thrown), and when the Axis Rotation and Axis Tilt are the same, the ball will go straight. A small or low axis tilt creates a smaller more gradual hook that is easier to control, which gives the bowler a high percentage of good pocket hits and spare conversions. A higher tilt makes the ball turn or hook farther down the lane. The photo below shows some angles of axis tilt. I found it online and if you want to know more, you can go online to get a bit deeper into it. 

1. STRAIGHT (CLOSED) FINGERS POSITION:
   
  **Keeping your fingers closed or close together on the ball release helps you to stay behind the ball more which produces a Low *Axis Tilt and is great to use on lanes that have little oil (dry lanes). 
  ** Doing this helps with keeping the ball going longer down the lane before it starts to hook, and keeps the hook smaller and more moderate. The ball may feel a little unstable in your hand at first, so you can open the index finger if needed but only slightly.  

Straight Fingers Position

2. SPREADING INDEX FINGER POSITION:

  ** Good to use when lanes are slick (have a lot of oil).
  ** Increases Axis Tilt which helps produce more revolutions on the ball and creates a slightly larger hook.
  ** Increases the angle of entry into the pins on the back end.

Spreading Index Finger Position

3. SPREADING PINKY FINGER POSITION:

  ** Makes the ball easier to control.
  ** Gives more end over end roll.
 ** Produces a slightly smaller hook than the wide index finger position, thereby helping to increase accuracy. 
  ** Can use the pinky to help guide the ball toward the target.
  ** Helps decrease the hook on the back end so the ball doesn't keep hooking and possibly come up high on the headpin. 

Spreading Pinky Finger Position

4. TUCKED PINKY FINGER POSITION:

  ** Helps the ball to go longer down the lane before it starts to hook.
  **Helps with pushing the ball off the palm.
  ** Puts a little more snap on the hook at the back end as the ball is going into the pocket.
  ** To do this, bend the pinky at the first joint so the nail is resting on the balls' surface.

Tucked Pinky Finger Position

    ​    If you've never tried these different finger positions before, I recommend giving them a try. You can experiment or deviate from what I've mentioned here if you want, for example try spreading the index finger and pinky at the same time to see what that can do for you with the type of ball you throw, or try squeezing the ring or middle finger and leading the ball with one of them instead of the index finger. Just practice, practice, practice, practice to help fine tune your balls' reaction on the lanes. When you understand what these different finger positions can do, make notes to review so you  can use them in your league play.  Have fun!!

Is it time to clean your ball? Have you been doing those bowling exercises I mentioned on 5/17/21?

Join me back here next week when I'll be discussing some Common Bowling Injuries and how to deal with them.