Conventional Grip VS Finger Tip Grip Bowling Ball Drilling By MDM Bowling Coaching

Which Fit To Chose When Drilling A Bowling Ball – Fingertip vs Conventional Fit

What Is A Conventional Grip Drilled Bowling Ball

There are two general types of bowling ball fittings: conventional and fingertip. Almost every beginner bowler starts with conventional because

1) it gets their fingers deeper in the bowling ball, so they have more control over it to begin with

2) it allows them to hone their fundamentals: footwork, follow-through, and hitting a target.

Conventional grip is closer to a house ball except that the holes are tighter and fitted to their hand. If you want to determine if your bowling ball is fitted conventionally, the key difference is that your middle finger and ring finger will go all the way to the second set of knuckles. This will give you very little to no hook on the bowling ball because you do not have separation time from your thumb and fingers coming out. On a conventional ball, your fingers are coming out closer to the same time as your thumb, limiting rotation.

What Is A Fingertip Drilled Bowling Ball

So what about fingertip? It’s predominately used for when people want to step up their game and learn how to hook the bowling ball. It allows the bowling ball to curve at the pin at an angle to knock more pins down.

Fingertip bowling is more common among league and tournament bowlers. We usually do this later, as it’s more advantageous to learn how to throw a hook ball after you’ve got your fundamentals down. The fitting of the fingertip style bowling is pretty straightforward, your fingers only go down to the first set of knuckles, allowing them to stay in the ball longer. When your hand is more spread out, you will create more rotation and leverage because your thumb will come out earlier than your fingers.

How To Drill The Bowling Ball If You Are Two Handed?

Of course, there are exceptions to these rules in fitting styles. Not everybody fits the mold. One example is two-handed bowlers. For them, I personally try to fit two-handed bowlers who want to progress in a conventional style because it allows the bowler to roll the ball on to their wrist and support it more easily. Look at the people who have been successful: Jason Belmonte and Osku Palermo both have conventional grips. However, some two-handed bowlers have fingertip grip, like Kyle Troup.

Other Fitting Methods For Bowing Balls – Sarge Easter Grip

Everyone is different. Another type of fitting is Sarge Easter, which is a hybrid of conventional and fingertip grip. I only recommend it on injured hands. If you’re learning to hook the ball but have an injury, this might be the right approach. It means that the ring finger is conventional but middle finger is fingertip. It alleviates pressure on the hand in some cases depending on the injury.

To determine what you are comfortable with, I suggest trying different fittings as long as they won’t affect your hand or cause injury. If you’re a traditional bowler who wants to look to hook the ball, I generally suggest fingertip. This is very unique to each individual and having a relationship with your PSO is incredibly important in being able to get the right fit. #protipfriday #mdmcoaching #iambowlersmart #bowling

See More MDM Articles BelowClick Here To See More MDM Articles

Out of stock
$12.95
Out of stock
Out of stock
$22.95
Out of stock
$22.95
Out of stock
Out of stock

5 thoughts on “Conventional Grip VS Finger Tip Grip Bowling Ball Drilling By MDM Bowling Coaching

  1. Sylvia Painter says:

    I am a 62 yr old woman, I roll a finger tip drilled 14 lb ball. I ball speed is 6 to 7 miles per hour. I am having a hard time finding the right ball. I had a friend of my husband who gave me his wife’s old Columbia Blue Knight ball. I have been rolling much better with. I need a ball that will go long with some hooking abilities. Can you help me?

  2. KYLE ROBERTS says:

    What type of grip and drilling would best benefit me since I only use my pinky and ring finger on my right hand? It’s what I have found absolute most comfortable not only to hold the ball but also to throw the ball. I am able to hook the ball but not consistently. I also cannot use a ball that’s to heavy due to an old shoulder injury.

  3. J Dunhill says:

    I have my balls conventional but i would like to change it to tips. do the have inserts for that or would they need to be filled and re drilled?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *