Been throwing Elite almost exclusively this year, except for a stretch where the oiling machine fouled up, and the shot was too dry for me to throw anything reactive.
I have been truly impressed with the ones that I have tried, with the ECHO being the one making the biggest impression. From a highly polished surface on drier conditions, to a scuffed surface on longer/heavier conditions, this ball has delivered.
The Espionage, while being a decent ball, seemed a bit condition specific to me. It gave the the nice roll characteristic I like to see, but wasn't really a big recovery ball to play deep with. If I had enough volume to play up the boards, or a small swing, it was really good, but not when I needed to get deep. The smoothness of the reaction didn't really play well with the "move deep and wheel it" mindset. I did, however, get it into a good one-two punch combo with the ECHO, by adding a flare increasing x-hole and some polish. With it like this, I could play almost the same shot as the ECHO, but on more volume. When the ECHO didn't want to finish up quite right, The Espionage would.
The Treason, having a slightly stronger cover and same weight block as the Espionage, gave me more of what I was expecting. While still not being a big "wheel and deal" type ball, the stronger cover did allow it to have more recovery than the Espionage, and the carry on this one seemed really nice, due to that rolly natured weight block. This ball just seemed to push the pins backwards off the pin deck.
I really feel that either the Espionage, or the Treason, would be the perfect candidate for the "Motion hole" drilling.
When summer gets here, I am pretty sure I am going to get one of the new "Z" models for the lighter shot we seem to see here every summer.
