Protect Your Bowling Fingers
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Originally Posted: 11/1/2013; Updated: 9/13/2021If you are advancing in average and find yourself bowling more games than in the past, it is important to know ways of protecting your bowling fingers. Keeping your gripping fingers and thumb void of blisters, cuts, or abrasions due to the friction generated by delivering your bowling ball time and time again is very important.
There are several things to consider to protect your gripping fingers.
1. You can use protective bowling tape designed to be applied to the portions of your fingers and thumb exposed to the
bowling ball surface inside the gripping holes. This protective tape adheres to your fingers and thumb and can be removed upon completion of bowling.
2. Skin protective liquids with patches is another time-tested method of protecting portions of your bowling fingers when chaffing or blisters typically develop. You can apply the liquid skin patch on your thumb and/or fingers by using the small brush provided in the bottle. You then have the option to apply a patch also provided and then apply more liquid on top the nylon patch.
3. You can file your callouses smoothly between sessions on the lanes so the roughness of the callouses do not split open and cause problems. Try to avoid your callouses on gripping fingers becoming too rough and bumpy. Filing them down with a cosmetic nail file is a good preventive measure.
4. Use
bowling tape in your gripping holes when your skin shrinks due to weather or bowling inactivity. Bowling tape is designed to be a space-filler and can be layered if multiple pieces are needed.
5. Check your bowling ball gripping holes routinely. Bring your bowling ball to a pro shop and ask the professional to check your gripping holes for wear, for properly fitting your hand, and for the precise pitch angles drilled into the ball. As you progress in the game, you may have made slight changes in your delivery technique. If so, you may need changes in the finger and thumb pitches to augment your delivery style.
6. Remove and replace
finger inserts, if you use them in your gripping holes, after perhaps 60 games of use. Finger inserts tend to split or wear from use and need to be replaced occasionally, particularly ones which are made of soft urethane material.
Taking care in protecting your gripping fingers is very important when you bowl a good deal of games each week. Tournament bowlers apply a great deal of stress on their bowling hands and coupled with other games routinely bowled in league and in practice, protecting the hand becomes extremely key in the long run.
If you have any questions about bowling finger protection, consult your pro shop professional and make certain you pay attention to details so you are not set-back with hand problems due to carelessness.
