Mike Miller analysis of no thumb bowling 

I don't bowl with a thumb

I feel the exact same way

I think anyone bowling this way will be told they are doing it wrong and to "put your thumb in the ball."

What I have found is that the people who tell me I'm doing it wrong are the people that are worse than me.

@@xjcrossx thats always the funny thing. happened at a tournament just yesterday, dude I was facing saw my first throw and laughed, “that’s seriously how you throw?” yeah… beat him by 67 pins, funny how that works

It hurts my thumb and wrist to use my thumb. It’s from injuries growing up.

There is nothing wrong when you throw it loft backwards straight or backup. As long as you can repeat your shot. No one can beat you.

I met his sister Dana in 1994 during a bowling tournament. Nice lady very humble.

jason belmonte

Mike Miller and Tom Daugherty both shoot spares straight with thumb. For house shot and league, it doesn't matter. But it someone every wants to move up to more competitive bowling, then it will.

I guess if you are able to hold the ball that way. Smallwood's thumb is not in typical place. He basically palms it and his thumb is pointed forward, not back. So his thumb is in pretty much the same place as most 1 hand, no hand bowlers.

@@nothumbbowler1802 I've tried inserting my thumb the whole way and it was a mess. Apparently Wesley Low gets away with that. Have you tried thumb into first joint yet if you wanted to test a ball that had a thumb hole? You're right about the placement, balls with long spans can give me trouble unless I switch to ring and pinky because the middle finger is nearer to the thumb than those other two digits.

@@coopergates9680 I'm not sure how you hold the ball, but you give the impression that you have a large hand or long fingers and ability to hold ball in different ways. I have no such ability to throw differently drilled balls at all. Everything has to be perfect. As seen clearly in linked video below, Smallwood's thumb it not pointed backwards like just about everyone else who puts their thumb in the ball. It is pointed forward. So, Smallwood's grip is much closer to say Tom Daugherty, than someone's whose thumb points backwards. Thumb pointed forwards or back is really more important than if it is in a hole or not. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-q7GnNvEEwY8.html

Putting the fingers in more can cause the need for more flexion in the wrist. This can mean more control. But it can take some time for the hand to adapt to this. It's not something which can be learned quickly. The body has to adapt - muscles and attachments need to gain strength and flexibility. Using a lighter weight ball may be the best option for getting used to this. Putting fingers in less is easier on the hand and wrist. But it may also be harder to hold the ball.

depends on preference and ability i believe...i bowled with just my finger tips in the ball for years and trying it at the second joint wasnt horrible...i just prefer finger tip much more than anything else

I don't think one is better than the other. If your hand is large enough, I guess finger-tip. I may make a video on some drilling experiments I've done. Second joint may require more trial and error to get everything right. Finger pitches, grip size, how to hold it.

Thanks. I'm glad the video makes sense to other people. I've played around a lot w/ grips and pitches. Eventually I found that by pitching the fingers pointed more towards the thumb, it allows me to better grab onto the ball. So I have a lot of left pitch. Oval grips and now gluing them down deep into the holes. Reverse pitch was a total disaster. So at 1/8 forward. Sure, would love to hear other things people have learned. I think it someone has larger hands, grip would probably be easier to find something that works.

I think a lot depends on size of hands, and how you hold the ball. From watching enough video, I think Tom Daugherty is just regular finger tip. I've thrown enough shots with poor control of ball to know, the ball can't feel wobbly. Other than how it's held with fingers, getting the ball under the shoulder and cradling it is so important as well.

@@nothumbbowler1802 i have pretty big hands, wingspan anyway, and I use 2 fingers. But there are a lot of times as I walk up I feel it moving back and forth. 1 out of 20 times i'll stop and adjust, but damn does it cost me. I thought about wearing a glove for grip, but that didn't feel right either. I really liked seeing a bro bowler using 2 fingers

I always had a lot of trouble with my grip, would spend a few games trying to get tape right, usually it would never happen, tried over 100 different drillings, nothing was good and it was clear that I would never be good enough to compete in sport shot tournaments with my thumb. 1 hand with thumb seemed to be an easier switch than going 2 handed. Yes, you would have to have thumb plugged. I don't know what you are doing, obviously haven't seen you bowl, but for me it took time to develop wrist and bicep strength. A heavy ball is not needed. In fact, it is a major misconception. Anyway, if someone is learning how to bowling without their thumb and runs into problems because their wrist is acting up from the weight, I would suggest they think about getting a 12-14 lb ball. Also, you don't want to injury yourself by using a too heavy ball. I did that early on. Eventually I got to a point where I could no thumb a 16 lb ball (not what I typically use) but if I could do it all over again, would have just used 12 or 13lbs the first year at least. Because then it got to point where I hurt myself - plus a biceps injury and I was forced to use 12 lbs for some time. Still have cashed in multiple sport shot tournaments with 12 lbs. No one has any idea. Weight is the single most overrated, misunderstood part of bowling. Art Of Bowling has a good video about it.

@@nothumbbowler1802 unfortunately i already bought (13) 15lbers so I'm kinda stuck with it. I've only drilled 5 of them so far tho. The problem I have with 12 to 14 lb balls is they seem to always have a much higher RG and often a lower differential. Yeah the underside of my wrist like the forearm where the veins are is really sore after my first time trying only fingers and I'm not sure if it's my bicep, but between my bicep and forearm on the inside of the elbow that's pretty messed up right now. Maybe I'll grab a used 12lb ball till i get used to the new form.

Leg soreness is common at first. It should get better the more often you practice. Otherwise, the most underappreciated part of bowling is physical fitness. Working more on exercise and flexibility off the lanes has helped me out.

It would be interesting. Personally, I have tried dozens of different finger pitches, and could not bowl nearly as well as I do, if I didn't have it as absolutely perfect as I can make it. Everyone has different hands, so I don't think there is one way that can work for everyone. But I hate to see someone being limited because their ball is not drilled for their game, and the only thing their pro-shop guy knows how to do is drill two holes with 3/8 lateral pitch away from each other.

@@nothumbbowler1802 I'm at a 1/2 MF, 1/4 RF.... in process of trying new forward pitches... Just had an old ball drilled 0,0 as benchmark from old balls and will start looking to move the forward pitch in fingers if needed... so I will see how that goes...

I've never been able to bowl w/ my thumb either. Didn't stop me from spending over 20 years trying to.

Maybe. Don't have best video of what exactly he's doing.

Also, didn't Miller at one point switch to using ring and pinky fingers?

@@coopergates9680 Yes, he did. About a year later!!!

That's probably the best way for most people. the wrist/hand will have a much harder time supporting the weight and can cause injury. Staying under the ball with forearm also creates stability. That being said, I support ball on wrist/hand.

Physical fitness is the most underappreciated part of bowling.

@@nothumbbowler1802 you're 100% right. I know in my many years of bowling my best ones were when I was in good physical shape. Helped me immensely. Also gave me confidence latter on in tournaments that I could keep going when a lot would tire out.