thumb issues

Question
I've been having thumbs issues off and on for a couple weeks,due to thumb shrinking which caused me to drop the ball in my back swing and have caused me to use excessive tape. I went and had my balls re drilled, it was a perfect fit & then when I bowled the following day my thumb had shrunk some more, & back to dropping the ball, took my balls back had them re drilled, again perfect fit then more shrinkage,the follwing week using more tape, I finally thought to hop on the scale to see if I lost weight, I had dropped 6 pounds. People that has NEVER had this problem states that my weight lose is not problem its the drilling, oppose to those that says my weight has ALOT to do with it. Which is true? & what to do about it?

Answer
Nia,
Any weight loss translates into size in your extremities (your thumb and fingers are smaller). Your weight loss is facilitating the feeling of losing the ball. BUT, thumb size should NEVER be that crucial in the ball fit.

When you suggested that your ball was re-drilled, do you mean it was plugged and made smaller? Is there any kind of thumb grip/slug involved? Drilling into ball plug gives you the approximate feel of thumb slug material (often feeling slicker than the former hole texture).

Span and pitches comprise 80 percent of the fit, while thumb (and finger) size makes up the final 20 percent. Pitch or span changes can allow you to control the ball better without having to resort to a bundle of tape. With all the thumb plugging you've been doing I'm surprised the driller hasn't either adjusted the pitches or at least suggested it.

You need to change the pitch of your thumb, even when tight it sounds like your grip wasn't so secure. Let me know the length of your span, hole sizes and all the pitches and I can suggest a place to start. Also, let me know if you have a very flexible hand, is it dry or moist or sticky, and measure the length of each digit, so I know if you have long fingers or short or in between? Thanks for the question.