Charlest I hope there is more to the XL than just the polish. I can hardly wait for the Vortex 2 XL to go with my Vortex 2 sanded. Brian I can polish the ball my self if that is all there is to it then I am greatly disappointed. How can you say the XL has not been released yet, when every Shooter/XL I have seen has been polished from the factory. Maybe the Shooter has not been released yet have you thought of that?

This past year I have bough a whole arsenal of Ebonite equipment,(Adrenaline, Warrior, V2, Stinger low flare, and Shooter/XL I'm not sure). I really like the reaction I get from each ball. When I get to the point where I don't even know what ball I have purchased and no one can give me a straight answer, maybe I don't need any more.

The problem is that I purchased the XL not the shooter. I have not thrown the ball yet as I am saving it for the Nationals. I don't want a ball that out hooks my Warrior, I have enough equipment that will do that. They shouldn't have advertised a ball that will not be available for almost a year after it was improperly released. Both the Shooter and the Shooter XL were reviewed in Bowling This Month (the XL was reviewed twice by mistake). If it is not available why was it reviewed. Why all of the confusion?

Why make two different balls with the same name and color when you have a different name for every coverstock tweak?

Why hasn't Brian responded to my emails or posts?

Simple question what ball do I have? It is shiney, Purple with green writing and pin.

CoachJim:

I did respond directly to your mailbox.  Please check your messages there.  

The Shooter XL does have the letters XL under the Shooter logo.  It is plainly visible.  Other than one seed ball per Striking Effects Pro Shop (there are approximately 350 of them), none have seen the light of day to this point.  Within one week of shipping the incorrect ball to the Striking Effects pro shops their ball, the correct Shooters were shipped.  Unless your pro shop is a member of the Striking Effect program, every Shooter they have had is the correct model.

BTM reviewed both balls.  They too received the incorrect one at first.  It was too late to recant the review, as the magazine had already gone to press.  They published a review on the correct Shooter the next month.

The Shooter XL will be introduced in June, with the rest of the Ebonite 2003-2004 catalog balls.  The XL stands for extra length and the Shooter XL will be more controllable in the friction than the Shooter.  The asymmetric core will increase carry percentage over other lighter oil balls that use larger cores such as the Tornado line.  

I hope I have provided an adequate explanation.  It was indeed an unfortunate circumstance that occurred, but to have the wrong ball in the market was not an option.

Brian Pursel
Product Manager
Ebonite

I do not know how true this story is on the shooter but here it goes.  When the ball was originally tested it had a white cover.  This ball rolled sooner than the warrior and was stronger. This is what Ebonite wanted.  When they put the ball in production, they used the purple cover and the ball ended up 10 feet longer than the original test balls.  I decided to stay away from the shooter because I did not know which ball was released. I throw a lot of ebonite equipment and storm equipment.  Needless to say Ebonite lost a sales to me as well as others.  Indeed it was a mistake.  Mistakes happen and sometimes they are costly. Just my 2 cents worth.

Edited on 5/20/2003 7:30 AM