Expert: Chip Aki - 11/14/2008

Question
Just got a raw hammer last night and it falls out of my hand at bottom of swing, can't loft it,thumb hole a little big, I wonder if span in too long or just thumb hole problem I'm a lefty and the ball rolls nice except for that problem.

Answer
It may be a combination of things.  The first thing I would do is use some tape to tighten up the thumb hole.  If that takes care of the problem, great.  When placing the tape, dont put all of it in one place.  If you place it all on the front of the thumb hole, the side closest to the finger holes, you will add reverse pitch and may loose the ball even more.  Place the tape on the front and back of the thumb hole in equall numbers.
Sometimes if the span is too long, the thumb hole has to be made bigger to get out of the ball.  If the tape does not work, I would have the span and the thumb pitch checked again.

Good luck,
Chip