I read over and over that the successful dice influencer throws like a machine: same grip, same stance, same toss, same arc, and same target. But I bear witness to the reality that things go awry in Never, Never Land. In case you hadn’t noticed, the dice don’t always bounce the same way! And when your machine like discipline lets you down, countermeasures must be employed.
But how can you justify breaking the mold if you’re supposed to do the same thing over and over? I argue that, as dice influencers, we are charged with one single responsibility: Avoid the seven! And to that argument I add that the better dice influencer will employ variations in each of the aforementioned categories that will enable him/her to meet the challenge.
The best hitters in baseball are the ones that can make changes on the fly. They have the ability to alter their swings in such a manner that they can hit a curveball as well as a 3-0 fastball. As dice influencers we must be able to do the same thing. But, if you only know and have practiced one grip, you’re going to be Dead on Arrival at the dice emergency room when things start going bad with your toss!
Here’s my example:
On a recent trip to my local dice haunt I took up my usual grip: middle finger and thumb to the top edges of the dice. The first hand I threw was 19 rolls and three passes. I was very satisfied!! Second hand wasn’t too bad either: 14 rolls, one pass with a lot on box numbers. But….. And this is a big but.
Toward the end of my second hand the dice were not coming off my fingers very well. They tilted and wobbled. I don’t know why, they just did. The last three or four rolls were really bad and I was very lucky not to see the Big Red Man sooner than I did. My third go around was point, seven on an absolutely terrible throw. Weebles may wobble and not fall down, but when dice are wobbled, you’ll be hobbled!!
The machine like, one grip wonder would have been eaten alive at this point, but I had a grip variation up the sleeve of my dicesetter.com “T” shirt. In practice I always work on new grips and or variations of existing ones.
And I also know from practice that when this wobble malady strikes I can usually cure it with the following variation of my basic grip: I slide my middle finger down to the lowest third on the front face of the dice at the seam where they meet. The dice are then held with the slightest bit of pressure exerted against the face of the dice with the pad of the first joint of the middle finger and thumb.
I then make my regular throw. This has always cured the wobbles. So on my fourth turn at the cubes I made the switch. The devil showed with an on axis 6/1 after 22 rolls and three passes. Color coming in!
Don’t paint yourself into a corner! Hurricanes can snap a steel girder but a tree can survive because it is flexible. It bends with the ever-changing winds and survives.
Be hip and add a grip!!
May The Dice Always Bounce in Your Favor
Mickey D.
