🚨 Grip Pressure Explained. Squeeze it Less and Bowl Higher Scores.
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• Shannon O'Keefe is a two-time Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Player of the Year & a five-time Collegiate Coach of the Year at McKendree University. She is also a member of the Hammer pro staff.
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• In this week's video, Shannon breaks down grip pressure, when it tends to happen, and gives you some drills to improve your overall grip pressure!
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This is SO important! On a scale of 1-10, grip pressure should be around a 3. I prefer mine even less, and a good fit combined with a snug thumb hole will get you there.
Thanks for watching!
Probably the best tip video so far. A question though : isn’t it unavoidable that the pressure increases at least to the the thumb as the ball gets more vertical ? When i get into a swing i often feel like the whole ball is hanging from my thumb even if i don’t squeeze it. (and thus i try to squeeze with the base of the thumb)
Great question. Everyone is going to have some grip pressure, it is impossible not to. Yet, if you feel like the ball is falling off your thumb and you feel like you have to squeeze it, you may want to get with your pro shop operator and check your fit. You should never have to feel like you have to squeeze the ball. Thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching our videos!
@InsideBowling Thank for the reply. It’s not a filling that the ball will fall, but it does feel like it hangs and pulls the skin of the thumb. I have no calluses or anything, but i don’t feel comfortable dropping the ball into a swing either. Weird ?
I used to squeeze the ball a lot. I knew better but it seemed to be a part of me that I had no control over. Then I videoed myself in slow motion and discovered I had almost no third step in my five step delivery. As you all know the third step should be the longest one so the ball has time to complete its swing. When I lengthened the third step the squeezing magically went away. Good tip.
Same here. Except I haven’t been able to lengthen that step yet.
Great tip! I for one need to go see my proshop person and get my grip reassessed! Thanks for the help, Happy Holidays, Stay healthy and safe to All.✌🍻
Really great video I just had my span redone and it is amazing. Also could you do a more in depth video on the wrist support you use? Thank you
be nice if the pro shop guy i bought my balls from told me this kinds stuff….!!!!! my span is def not correct for my hand
Riga Kalfas really good lefty from Central Region taught this to me and it is good to see here, fixes many flaws.
Hey Shannon i went bowling today and i hit really high in the pocket left lot of nice shots but most of the time missed a couple of easy spares that i should have spared
Great tip. My thumb gets extremely sore after a competition. It’s even calloused 😟
i know i grip a tiny bit mainly when i feel my fingers are sweating bad.
I can never find the right thumb fit! It’s been 3 years…
My thumb swells because, yeah I grip, but if I go to a snug thumb plug size, I know and fear I’ll get caught and stuck. I have a bunch of different sizes but the angles are just a tad off, making me release different from each Vise Interchangeable ( Plugs/slugs?) Some thumb plugs will give me the perfect release, some will give me a slower one/more angled on the ball axis with more revs.
I don’t know…. It’s a struggle. After 2 games I’ll fit perfectly into my starting thumb plug but by that time I’m warmed up my speed picks up way more as I’m more in control of the ball, with more power I’ll have to adjust and move, which is fine.. But I’ll have to find the new line to throw. Then after a couple more games it’ll be a bit tight when I release, scaring me that I’ll get stuck. So I’ll have to switch thumbs and here we go, finding a whole new line again to throw on because this new thumb is made just a tad angle different
Now my thumb knuckle is hurting. Never had that before and it’s not healing after months lol
Hey Shannon, is the object to maintain the lightest grip pressure throughout the swing and depend on proper amount of tape in thumb? I grip the oil out of the ball at times
How do I know if I’m gripping more during my swing? I know I can feel it but if I’m nor gripping I feel like I’m going to drop the ball the grips I use are already snug
Good thing I dont gotta worry about grip pressure because I’m two handed
👀👌
Love you vids, and I am sure you have heard this before, man it that intro LOUD!
Hey so when my hand is in the ball, should I be pressing down with my finger tips? Usually I just relax my hand in the ball
What are your thoughts?
The hand should be fairly relaxed in the ball. Squeezing with the fingers tends to create more tension with the swing and release. Thanks for the question and thanks for watching our videos!!
Less is more 3 coaches all said same nice easy release thanks
Why did you switch from leading off with your left foot years ago to now leading off with your right?
Sometimes the higher level bowlers will switch back and forth from a five step approach to a four step approach based on feel. Thanks for the question and thanks for watching our videos, we appreciate it!
buenos dias les escribo desde Venezuela muchos somos jugadores de bowling , quisiéramos en lo posible que las explicaciones de las técnicas se hicieran también en español, gracias
I have to grip my ball otherwise I feel like it’ll fall right out of my hands on my back swing 🥲
So I am a novice bowler at best. I am good at most sports and bowling is kicking my butt. Grip pressure has a different meaning to some. Please explain how to grip the ball. Eagle claw that bad boy or press my thumb towards my palm while keeping it straight??