The game has changed…

As I was getting a bowling ball drilled a while back, I told the driller I did not want a slug in the thumb hole. He told me that was not a good idea, and I asked, “Why not? I know people who don’t use thumb slugs and they bowl perfectly well.”

“Bowling balls have changed,” he said. “Newer balls are made of resin, and this creates friction when your thumb tries to come out of the ball. Without the slug, your thumb will get torn up every time you bowl.”

I was in a hurry, and I would not have been able to return to the ball driller for several weeks, and so I acquiesced to him and allowed the slug to be put into my thumb hole. I still am curious as to whether what he said about the thumb, ball material, and friction is true, but at least I have a specific thing to test. This, as you’ll see later, is a crucial point to the argument I am about to make.