Expert: stevie lange - 3/28/2005

Question
starting with the right thumb at 10:00, I have been told that the position of either the first finger or the fourth finger affects the break of the ball when it hits the wood. If the first finger is spread away from the rest of the fingers does the ball break early or late?  Reversely, if the fourth finger is spread from the rest of the fingers will the ball break early or late?

Answer
Hi Pete,
Very good question. yes , the position of the pinky and your index finger have a definite effect on the roll of the ball. the following holds true for most bowlers. When the index finger is spread apart from the middle you are able to come more around the side of it there fore creating more spin rather than roll (lower axis). When the pinky is brought in tight against the others and speading the index finger will make it easier to put more " tilt" as well. The charactoristic of this type of release will get the ball down lane on drier conditions yet bank off the dry very hard. Allot of bowlers are able to use this type of roll as there A game and use it on fresh with alot of sucsess. After a while this condition will become very hard to control with a hard banking ball, so if you spead out your pinky and bring in just a hair, your index finger you will see a little more length and a smooother turn to the pocket. Experiement with the above and take note of the different looks you get with the same ball. Your average will def. go up if you can master different releases.this is a great place to start.
stevie