You may be trying too hard. Relax and remember what you have been taught if you have taken the course. If you have not had a course you may develop bad habits which will be hard to break, you may want to lay off and wait for the class.

Just a couple of idle thoughts.
‘
Doc

I understand the time until the next class seems like a real long time, but i think i would go with
what Doc said…..

In my case i had been playing 25 years when i took the first class, and had been practicing from
the videos for 18 months prior to the class. I have now taken 3 classes and am still working
to get rid of the bad habits i learned in the 18 months on my own.

Its not that you cant get better on your own, it is just a lot better to do it right the first
time.

gman

Hi Pat!

The way I read your post is that sometimes you feel the dice "rolling" off your fingertips perfectly and sometimes you don’t. Usually, the times that you don’t, this means you are opening up your hand instead of keeping it closed and just letting the dice roll out on their own. You are "throwing" the dice when your hand is open. Closed hand and letting the dice "roll" out is the proper way.

I apologize if I read wrong and this is not the answer you are looking for.

Also, the problem could be that you are just playing when you are tired or have practiced too much. Never a good idea as all kinds of bad habits can be ingrained this way.

The best thing to do is just practice your grip to perfection and wait for the class for the rest of the details. I also know how hard that is to do even though it is the best advice given. 🙂

Just like in bowling, golf and other sports you should be able to tell when you have made a good shot and when you have not. When you make a bad shot you should also be able to tell what you did wrong. One will not be able to truly succeed until one recognizes the difference between good/bad and the cause of a poor throw.

Since you are taking your first class this coming March, it is probably not possible for you to be able to do that yet. It is very difficult to learn the proper technique on your own. It is good for you to read and study the video. Then try to emulate what you think you should be doing. But do not put too much effort into building your muscle memory yet. It is best if you have a solid foundation based on the basics and work hard on training your muscle memory on the technique that has been taught rather than self learned. I have found the students who have done this tend to have the fastest learning curve.

But if you work too hard at the wrong technique it is a lot harder for us to get you on the right track because there is too much to unlearn and change.

The one thing you can do on your own which will provide a big benefit to you is to get the grip down perfect before taking the class. You want to get to the point where you can grip the dice and be able to tell if it is right or wrong by feel.

Here are the things you want to check when gripping the dice. Be sure your thumb and middle finger are centered on both die with equal pressure on each face. Make sure your 3 fingers are straight across the dice. Do not put any pressure on the dice with your two outside fingers, the ring and index finger. Those should just be resting lightly on the dice and not pushing on the dice what so ever. Finally your grip should be so light that it only takes a feather laying on the dice to knock them out of your hand. You can get this feel by gripping the dice. Then keep loosening your grip until the dice fall out of your hand. I do not mean for your to open your fingers to let them drop. But to keep loosening the pressure with your thumb until the dice fall out. Now just before they fall out is how tight you should be gripping the dice. You only need enough pressure so they do not fall out. But more than that is too much.

I think I read where you are getting a gripper. That can be a big help in getting your fingers in the proper position. But the tightness you have to do on your own. Start out with the gripper by putting the dice in the gripper and then putting your fingers on them. The gripper will help you to get your 3 fingers straight across along with the thumb and fingers the right distance down on the dice. You then want to be able to take the dice out of the gripper as gently as possible. The next thing you do is to grip the dice on your table without using the gripper and then put them into the gripper once you feel you have the right grip on them. If you have the proper grip you should be able to put the dice into the gripper without touching the sides of the gripper and your fingers should be in the right place when you put the dice in the gripper. If your fingers are off you will notice it when putting them back in the gripper.

As I said you want to get to the point where you can tell by feel if you have the proper grip or not. So when you put the dice in the gripper after having gripped them without the gripper, it should be perfect. If they are not perfect and you thought you had the right grip, obviously you need more work on the grip.

In summing up, I think you should keep practicing. But the majority of your time should be spent on being able to grip the dice with your eyes closed and know that you have them gripped properly.

I see while I was writing this others have already given a similar response. But since I have it written, I am going to post it anyhow. Hope this helps.

Just to add a little of what skinny is talking about . After you think you have the grip down and you put it into the gripper you need to slowly let the grip loose and if there is a drop of the dice into the gripper then the grip may still be off even tho it went into the gripper perfect. Also during the class that I took it was the second day before the realization that I had one nail longer then the others that messed with my grip.
You need to keep looking for small thinks like that .
Being a guy I don’t look at my nails that often.
Also have you tried the tooth pick thing. I think that if you try that it may tell you if you are opening your hand like getagrip said just a thought.
Read some of old posts and time will go by fast. 😀 😀
Good Rolling. 😀 😀

Thank you guys that is awesome advice, it’s good to know that I have obviously done the right thing then. You see I have been working on my grip in fact I have made my own gripper, I have read in many posts as well as in the books and i have read posts where Dom has told guys "its got to be your grip" so I figured that mastering the grip is the key to a proper throw. I do keep 3 fingers on the dice basically as explained in these replies, I try to keep the lightest amount of preasure, however i did not realize that the index and ring fingers should not be part of the grips pressure, that is interesting I’m thinking about going down stairs to try that but im not because im tired. But as I am sure you guys know, it’s hard it’s not easy getting used to this so many things can go wrong with such little room for error.

I tried the tip on keeping my hand closed and that was defenatley one of the things that was happening, also my thumb was a bit too high. Then I read a previous post where Timmer said to use the 5 facing me as a guid to see where my thumb was, after making these adjustments I was very pleased with a practice session of 50 throws and only 2 sevens, the first 7 came after my 43rd throw, using the HW set. I have to say I took much more time with my throws than i normally do, plus i watched my video to see if I was consistent. However this time when I felt a little tired I stopped.

Thank you again, for me, reading what you guys have learned really helps. I’m sure in March I’m going to learn so much more, but after reading these responses I think I’m on the right track I just need some classes and some notes, and of course lots of Pracrice.

Look forward to meeting you guys someday,

How long have you been bowling?

Playing golf how long? Throwing dice how long?

The advice is great. I keep a set if dice by my chair when I watch TV. I also have a pair of dice in my home office and can work on my grip when I am on hold waiting for someone to answer. Little things like this are most important. I like the dice to almost become part of my body.

Self critique is also most important.

When you do practice throwing the dice don’t just keep throwing the dice and the dice keep doing the same thing. Look at the results so you can figure out how to evaluate what you are doing wrong. Make small corrections to your throw and grip. In other words do not keep doing the same bad habit over and over wondering what is wrong. The muscle memory causing these imperfections will have to be corrected.

Just a few thougths.

Doc

Started Bowling in high school and picked up golf around 1990….

Oh I’m actually answering?? I get it….. Very Clevor, You got me, I’ve only started learning about 6 months now. I was always intrigued by the Craps table in the Casino’s just didn’t know the game or how to play. Even tho I knew the dealers would help I didn’t trust them, so I wanted to learn and I started reading Franks Books. Then I emailed Dom and couldn’t believe he actually called me on the phone because I saw the link of the TV Documentory done on him and I was amazed he would call me. Then I read "Casino Craps Shoot to Win" and immediately built a practice rig. Now I’m hooked and determined, just knowing the house odds and the smart way to bet makes me feel like I have an edge on the Casino, imagine when I can control how the dice land?

PatS Bman has a nice set up for travel that I am sure he will show you if you guys ever meet.
Good Rolling. 😀 😀

Skinny has given you some great advise, the only thing I would add or also mention is to work on your grip. If you can get this part perfect you will be miles ahead of most first time students. The GRIP is where it all begins !!!!!

Lastly work on setting the dice quickly, use only the hard way set this is all you will need for the first year.

Hope to meet you on March.

The longer you do somthing the better you get if you build a foundation off of that you can grow from.

We all make bad shots if not several people i know would not be aloud to play anywhere,lmao.

You are in the right place.

Your questions are great.

the only bad one is the one that you do not ask.

Hope you have the jopurney of a life time.

GETAGRIP GREETINGS-FROM JAIME IN PUERTO RICO. thank you for posting a reply to pat. RE:LOOKING FOR SOME HELP. you have made a new shooter out of me. you have turned my practice shot to almost perfect. i’m telling you no body should be this good in practice. the only bet i make is on the field-while practiceing for the field numbers i notice that i was getting 70% of field numbers.

.———-the only thing i did differnt in my practice-was to keep my hand close when i release the dice. good luck today at the tables. JAIME. FROM SUNNY PUERTO RICO. 🙂 🙂 🙂 .

Hi JaiM,

Glad to hear it is again Sunny in Puerto Rico! 😀 😆 😆

Keep practicing and enjoy!

GREETINGS AGAIN GETAGRIP. THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLY. in my reply to you ,i said that nobody should be that good in practice. do you know any body that are good in practice, but in the casinos they don’t cut it. JAIME. FROM SUNNY PUERTO RICO. 🙂 🙂 🙂 .

Pat our analogy to golf and how you can get back in the groove hit a chord with me. I think that once we learn the fundementals of an activity we also find mental keys to get us back on track. I practiced alot before my first class and it has taken a primer and three refreshers to find my mental keys. It is difficult to find those keys until you know what is going wrong. From there you learn how to fix it. the best way to find out what your doing wrong is to take the class.In class you will not only learn what you are doing wrong. If you pay close attention to your classmates throws and what the instructors say to them you will develope the ability to coach your own throw to some extent. till then practice your grip and don’t try to figure this out over night. Good luck with it. If you have the desire and the commitent you will improve. Hope to meet you in March.