Now, span alone isn't too bad, I get a long way with another bowling ball with a 0/0 pitch thumb hole and a span gauge. Finger insert size is something that is actually harder, without having a lot of inserts. I need ideas here so I can find a proper insert size somehow, without buy 50 inserts myself. Let it be clear, I will make no money on this, this will be a free service I do, and I have to buy all equipment myself, so I can't go crazy, I part-own a bowling center, we all know how that business is these days.
Pitches is one place I struggle to understand, when to do what, is there any readable material on this? I know how important pitches are, I got 1" left pitch in my middle finger hole, and it sounds mad, but it helps keep my palm closer to the ball through the approach. But that's me, its all different for different players, and I have to be the one determining whats right for someone who hasn't bowled at all almost.
Thumb oval angle is pretty easy to get with a Pro Sect and a wax pencil. But the oval size, and thumb hole size in general, how do I do this without being able to try and fail a bit? Urethane slugs are glued and basically beaten into the ball, so there is no room for error like finger inserts which are changed in a minute.
As for equipment, I consider span gauge, Pro Sect and wax pencils the absolute basic minimum, which is where I will start too, already I'm over $100 in equipment for something I wanna do purely as a free service to others. I do want to buy a sander and bevel knife, I already got this thing you use to widen thumb holes, round blade on something that looks like a screw driver, you know what I mean. The sander is over $100 too, so I am getting high up there price-wise for a completely free of charge service, but that is equipment I can use for myself and is handy to have as a bowler.
So, any help here is appreciated, I am basically trying to learn the hardest part of drilling bowling balls, without actually learning how to drill bowling balls. I wanna keep it as simple as possible technique wise, so there is less chance of error. For new bowlers, their specs change pretty fast, so what I measure and send to the driller will probably be wrong no matter how well I do my job, but when they get to the point that they want more and better, I'd send them to a proper pro shop anyways.
My only interest in this is to get the new players their first ball with a good basic fitting to keep their interest in the sport, grow it, and let them out on their own after a while. My coaching certification is only up to 160 avg players according to ETBF so
