Expert: Chip Aki - 12/19/2005

Question
Chip,
 I'm not sure what a maxY is, but I tried out the first two balls he refitted today and was able to roll the ball far more powerfully than ever before, with seemingly far less effort, especially in the wrist and legs.  I have no more tension in the wrist.  
 I can now comfortably keep the fingers up at the top of the swing without the ball's momentum breaking my wrist and steering the ball away from my side, as was happening before. The fingers now stay behind the ball until the thumb has exited and it feels awesome.  The spares felt much easier to shoot as well.
 We discussed my concerns and everything is fine.  He understood my feelings.  He told me he did what he thought was right for me at the time, but he readily agreed that this new fitting works much better for me.  
 Thank you again for your assistance, I now understand that the driller can't help me if I don't readily provide them with honest feedback when something doesn't feel right.  I will send you a follow-up around 1 February to let you know what kind of impact this is having in my league play.  I am currently averaging 195 at this time.
Sincerely,
Rick Harris
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Followup To
Question -
I have been plagued by early turn and swingout for years, despite working very hard to be as fundamentally sound as possible.  Other bowlers were also baffled how I could continue being unable to stay behind the ball.  Recently, a highly skilled bowler had me put my fingers in the ball (ball holes up with finger holes at 12 o'clock) and simply lay my hand over the ball naturally, the thumb hole was nearly one inch right (toward the center) of where the base of my thumb was naturally laying.  He then had me put my middle finger in the ring finger hole to align thumb to this natural alignment and roll a few shots.  Presto!  I had no more trouble staying behind the ball.  I then proceeded to roll the ball with more power and consistency in that manner than I ever did before.  I showed this discrepancy to my driller and he is now refitting my balls.  This driller has a great reputation in the area, but it is difficult for me to understand how he could not have known that thumb position would cause me these problems, not to mention a great deal of wrist and shoulder pain.  I am trying very hard not to be bitter about this but finding it difficult?  Should I bring this up to him or just let be and move on.
Sincerely,
Rick Harris
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Answer -
I will be interested to see how your grip will change.  I would imagine that you will see a span change and then a pitch change as well.

I am wondering if the bowler you talked to has had a ball with an offset thumb or a maxY grip, which sounds like an offset variation.  This has been a very old argument, but there is really no such thing as an offset thumb.  It looks like it should work on paper, but you can change pitches and spans and accomplish the same thing.

I wish you luck, but I would not hold it against the pro shop, especially if this new stuff works out.

Merry Christmas,
Chip

Answer
I am glad things are working out.  There are times that we dont get it right the first time, we just hope to limit the number of times that happens.  Usually, we can correct problems when they are presented to us.

I made reference to the MAX-Y grip because the way you described the fit check is the way the max-y was explained to me.

Merry Christmas and a Good Bowling New Year.

Chip