Have you tried throwing two that are glued ?
Good Rolling. 🙂

When you say there is an inconsistency in the way the dice are leaving your hand I am guessing one die is leading and the other die is lagging.

If I am correctly interpreting the symptom, is it always the same die that is lagging?

If that is the case you do not have equal pressure on both die. You have more pressure or finger contact on the die that is lagging. There is something off in your grip.

You could try to raise the finger higher on the die that is lagging to see if that equalizes the pressure you have on both die. I do not recommend that as a solution because you want your fingers to be straight across. I only want you to do that temporarily to see if finger contact is the problem.

If that works you are probably gripping tighter with that finger than with the other. You need to work on loosening the pressure on that finger.

Let me know if this helps.

😉

Thank you for the reply, Skinny and, yes, there is one die leading and one die lagging. I’m not sure if it is always the same die
that is lagging, but I will be more careful in checking that.

That is good advice and I’ll be very careful about my finger pressure to try to get all fingers evenly pressured against the dice.

Here is a trick that Doc and Rose use in practice. Grip the dice and make sure the grip is as we teach and while the dice are level right before you start your back swing slowly release the dice until the dice fall out. The dice should fall out at the exact time and fall toward the back wall. If one falls out before the other it might be one of 2 things–the are holding one dice tighter than the other or your middle finger or thump is not centered correctly. So check your grip in more detail.

If doing this practice drill as the dice fall out and one goes to the side slightly you are probably not centered.

To quote Mr. Finesse grip is the secret to a good throw. If the dice are not held correctly–the only time you have 100% control of the dice–no matter how good the throw is the dice may act funny.

If you will be in Vegas during the class weekend get some instruction with a refresher, tune up or video or at the very least come by the open house on Friday and an instructor can take a look at your grip and/or throw.

Hope to see you soon in the casino.

Rose and Doc

Thank you, Dr. Crapology for the tip about this practice drill. I will try this and see where the dice fall and if they fall towards the back wall (or where the back wall would normally be while at my throwing station).

My only question here is should I be releasing my thumb and three fingers at the same time? I assume so. I do know that I’ve noticed that my grip is a bit too tight and the dice need to be gripped more loosely.

I have put down a deposit on the next Atlantic City for another Refresher Course, which I am looking forward to very much and I hope to get everything I’m doing now corrected at the next Refresher and get back on track with my throw.

Adam,

My thoughts on your problem.
1) check finger position on the dice, middle finger and thumb centered, ring and index finger in line with middle finger.
if this is ok
2) check that he dice are parallel with table top and table end when squaring them up under your nose before you start the back-swing
if this is ok
3) check finger pressure on dice, all 4 fingers should have the same pressure ( use drill Dr. Crapology mentioned to check this)
if this is ok
4) throw the dice a few times, if you are still having the same problem try number five, I do not like suggesting this especially without watching your toss but sometimes this works.

5) try holding the dice about 1/8th of an inch deeper on the front only. this may give you the control you are looking for. Please LMK how you make out with this right away.

Thank you, Mr. Finesse, for the tips and suggestions with my grip/release problems. I tried the drill that Dr. Crapology suggested and the vast majority of times the dice fell evenly back toward the back wall, away from the thumb, which is good.

Then I checked the grip before each throw using the dice gripper and did some throws and the dice move more together and hit the table almost at the same time.

I believe that I had to make an adjustment to the grip to lighten up as I was putting too much pressure on the dice and somewhere I must have had uneven pressure on one or more of my fingers.

If I continue to have a problem releasing the dice evenly, after trying all of the suggestions by yourself and Dr. Crapology, I will try your last suggestion of moving the front fingers only down another 1/8 of an inch and see if that helps.
My grip is usually right where the fingers are in the gripper when I check using the dice gripper, with one exception. That is, my thumb is a tiny bit further down (more like half way down than a third) so I am trying to adjust that little by little in my grip.
Otherwise, when I grip the dice, then put them in the gripper, they seem to be pretty much on the mark.

Thanks for the help!

"Adam B" wrote:
My only question here is should I be releasing my thumb and three fingers at the same time? I assume so. I do know that I’ve noticed that my grip is a bit too tight and the dice need to be gripped more loosely.

If by "releasing" you mean opening your hand or loosening your grip at the point of release, you should not be doing it at all. If your grip is loose enough centrifigul force will cause the dice to pull off your thumb first and then roll off your fingers. It is only a fraction of a second between them and you may not notice it. But you want to get to the point where you feel the edges as the dice roll off your fingers.

Thanks, Skinny for the clarification on the release point. I guess the problem I’ve been having is that my grip has been to tight and I have had to open my hand or loosen the grip at the point of release, which is wrong.
The trouble is in the grip….when I grip very light or loose, the dice sometimes fall out of my fingers during the backswing or much too early in the forward swing.
I guess I just have to work on the grip more to achieve the exact amount of even pressure without gripping the dice too tight. It’s a subtle thing and this has been a challenge for me to balance everything with this part of my throw.

Thanks again, for your reply, as it is very helpful to remember that we should not be opening the hand or loosening the grip at the release point. I’ll just get back to practicing with these points in mind.

Hi Adam B,

Maybe this will help. I read this somewhere but can’t remember the source. Anyway, it seems about the right amount of pressure on the dice for me.

Grip the dice like you are gripping a brand new tube of toothpaste that you have just opened. Light enough to control the tube and not drop it but not with so much pressure that the toothpaste starts to come out. I liked this analogy and it has worked pretty well for me.

You can use tooth picks to see if you are opening your hand .
Good Rolling.

Great suggestion about the toothpicks, Finisher! I forgot about that but Dr. Crapology told me about that in my Primer.

"Adam B" wrote:
The trouble is in the grip….when I grip very light or loose, the dice sometimes fall out of my fingers during the backswing or much too early in the forward swing.
I guess I just have to work on the grip more to achieve the exact amount of even pressure without gripping the dice too tight. It’s a subtle thing and this has been a challenge for me to balance everything with this part of my throw.

You need to have the correct amount of pressure on the dice. Without the proper amount of pressure you will never be able to throw the dice properly. You should work on this until it becomes second nature to you, ie. you should be able to feel when you have the proper amount of pressure.

It is okay if you lose the dice in the swing on occasion. If it is too frequent that is a problem.

Use the gripper to get your fingers in the proper place and take the dice out of the gripper. With your other hand use your index finger to push the dice out of your hand. It should require a very light touch to knock the dice out of your grip. Do this several times until you have the proper feel on the dice so that they stay in your fingers but only require a feather touch to knock them out.

After doing this with the gripper, when you think you have it down well, do the same thing without using the gripper. Grip the dice from the table top, lift them straight up and touch them with the index finger of your other hand to knock them out of your grip.

You need to do this drill several times before you practice. Then when you think you have the pressure down correctly you should do the drill first for a few times and then practice your throw.

Let me know how this works after about a week of practicing the grip.

One more thing that I forgot to mention above. You will know you have your fingers in the proper place when you can grip the dice without the gripper and then put them back into the gripper perfectly with your fingers lining up in the correct position.