Hi,

For tourneys I of course use assorted reactive balls but because I'm a cheapo I do not use them anymore for practice, instead using a plain urethane.  I'm not exactly a high volume player, but do practice on Friday's through the weekend, about 15-18 games per weekend (excluding league), which means a typical reactive ball starts to lose action / hook after 2-3 months.  

So, it's my Visionary Red Sorcerer that sees the most use in practice, leaving the stronger reactive stuff for league and jackpots.  

I actually prefer it this way as it has helped me improve my release and accuracy since there's not of built-in room for error.

Now to the question.  Visionary has stopped producing the Sorcerer, and I want to buy another few plain urethane balls before they disappear from the earth forever.  I assume the Sorcerer will last a long time, but I also figure it will eventually start to crack around the thumb and finger holes (this happened twice with a plastic spare ball I had).  

So, what good alternatives are out there?  The only hookable urethane balls I've seen on bowling.com are the Columbia Messenger Black Urethane and the Scout Urethane - the Messenger Urethane seems the stronger of the two.  I've heard the Storm Thunderflash was a great ball ... but it's also discontinued.

Is the Messenger a good choice?  How will it compare to the Sorcerer?  Are there other alternative that I just don't know about?

Would appreciate your thoughts.

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Wildcard

"An unpredictable or unforeseeable factor"
(American Heritage Dictionary)

In reference to my scoring

Plenty of old original hammers on e-bay.  You can still find a few black messengers around if you look hard enough.

  Several companies are making a pearl urethane now.  Visionary has the slate blue gargoyle, lane1 has the xxl, and columbia now has the trooper.  The trooper is like the reactive scouts, just has a regular pearl urethane cover on it.

  Depending on the weight, you should be able to find good urethane used balls for a LONG time to come.
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Just call me Darreyl, it's much easier to say!

The Black Messenger is a good urethane ball, but do not be fooled, this thing hooks pretty well. It has early roll, but what I like about it is that it hits harder than any urethane I have ever thrown. I did not get the chance to throw a C300 Stingray/C, which I would imagine would hook more and hit a bit harder.

The Messenger is a good urethane to try. The breakpoint is calm. That is the benefit of urethane.
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Owner/Operator
C-G Pro Shop

If you own and like the Sorcerer
I would goto visionary and see if
they have any left.  Goto:

http://www.visionarybowling.com

and look under closeouts.  They still
have that ball on the list, so you might be able to
get a few.  IF you do like that ball I would buy 2 or 3
and put them up.
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Eric T. Spivey, P.E.
 Visionary Test Staff Member
http://www.visionarybowling.com