Just recently punched the X-It. The pin is 2-3/4" from the cg and the starting top weight is 2.5 oz.  The layout is as follows: the cg is on the grip centerline shifted 1/2" up from the center of my grip, the pin is above my ring finger, and the mass bias mark is to the left side of my thumb. When a line is drawn through the pin, cg, and mass bias, they are in a line. Also, I lightly polish this ball. I tested the ball on a fresh condition with the oil length of 35 feet. This ball clears the heads really well and finishes on the back with a nice arc. I threw this ball also on the same condition with the difference being carrydown instead of fresh backends. I had to square up more on the lane and watch my ball speed because the ball did not want to make a move to the pocket.  However, it is my belief that the lay out I drilled this ball was more the culprit than the ball.  I feel if I had another drilled with the mass bias and cg out, the ball would make a stronger move towards the pocket. When I tugged the X-It the ball went Brooklyn with an arc...not a runaway Brooklyn. In comparing this ball to my El Nino Gold, the X-It clears the heads the same as the Gold, goes into a roll sooner than the Gold, and has about 5 more boards hook than the Gold. Also, I have an El Nino 2000 drilled similar to the X-It and quite honestly I believe the X-It is a solid version of the 2000 with the difference being it does not flip like the 2000.

IF they were ever to make an "El Nino Zone," the X-It would be what came out of the factory.  With a little polish, the ball gets through the heads decently well, but the backend reaction is what makes the ball different than other Storm stuff.  Where it seems that other Storm balls would start hooking and keep up a continuous movement through the pins, the X-It goes into a Zone-like forward roll at the breakpoint.  For the people that like to throw Storm stuff, this ball will give them a very different reaction and can help them fill in a missing spot in their arsenal.  For those that are afraid to throw Zones because they roll too soon, an X-It with a bit of polish might give you a Zone reaction without some of the early roll drawbacks.

Just wanted to add a follow up to my previous review. I used my X-it exclusively tonight and shot my high series of 783 with scores of 246, 248 and a 289.



I was able to start the night with a nice, half-handed swing shot from 10 to 5 with my feet at 21. The ball tore the rack. All night long and I did not have to move a single board all night. My only adjustments were with hand position and my 10-5 turned into a 10-2 by the end of the last game.



While the other guys were fighting the moving inside edge of the oil line I sat on the outside and pummelled the pocket.



The El Nino X-it is a strong ball that adapts very well to changes in hand position and does not react drastically to changes on the lane.



Thumbs up to Storm !!!!

I drilled this ball for something aggressive to replace my Contender <which will be sorely missed many high scores and mucho dinero won> I am extremely impressed with this ball, I am a boomer, for starters I stand 30-35 and play 25-5 this ball reacts hard but presdictable, the 5th game out of the box was a 300 <last night> which makes 2 in 3 months. This ball is a monster but controllable, With the factory surface the ball chased me off the lanes, with a bit of extender polish to take the surface off. It created a pin crushing monster. It makes for a nice compliment to the Rock Star, and the Rock Pearl

bowler stats



speed-average

revolutions-above average

pap-over 5 1/4 up 3/8





drilled the ball

pin out 3 1/2"

pin to pap-5"

cg to pap-3 1/2"

weight hole 2" below pap



shot bowled on

synthetic very wet/dry

wood tapered(christmas tree) thats get carry down



this is the same drilling as my gold. This ball does roll well, but needs more oil than the gold-definitely more raw power. harder to get thru the heads, but not too bad. This ball does need oil(atleast for the guys with hand). i let the finest as out of box condition.

My teammate has the same drilling as me and had 819 the first 3 games he thru the ball(20 in a row at one time).



rating

8 1/2 out of 10

only that low because it does need oil

I'm a stroker 16-17 mph and medium revs. Drilled 4x3 with the mass bias in the strong position on a medium condition

typical house shot drier outside the 10 board 36 feet of oil. Balance hole 6 inches out from grip center to bring the ball back to 3/4 side weight.

In box condition this was too much ball.

Shined it with Storm extra shine and was able to play 27 to 8 at the arrows and open the lane up. This ball hits as strong as the original El Nino but keeps the pins lower on the deck. More of a snap than the La Nina and a couple of boards more reaction with an almost identical drill on the La Nina. Very powerful hit. 1st set out carried all but 3 pocket hits due to operator error on release.

We drilled the El Nino X-It with two different layouts, one with a short pin to p.a.p. distance and one with a longer distance.  We chose to vary the pin distances this way so that, with surface alterations we could better observe the balls potential and versatility.

  The first layout put the pin 1/2" from the axis with the c.g. 1" away on the midline and an extra hole 8" from the grip center.  The shell was wet sanded to 600 and polished using Finesse.  This first X-it was quick to rev and had an arcing motion from anywhere on the lane.  We were bowling in the evening on synthetic lanes after an entire day of league play.  The outside boards were fairly dry, especially in the heads and the backends were tight with carry down.  Provided we kept the ball in the oil up front the ball preformed well and the carry was exceptional.  When we were able to test the ball on a fresh condition with dry backends this was the best reacting ball we had with us, including such particle models as the La Nina, Navy Quantum and the Danger HPD.  

  The second X-it had the pin over the fingers, which was 5 1/2" form the axis and had the same shell prep as the first ball.  As you might expect the second ball produced more length with a sharper break point and the same explosive carry.  With some additional sanding and polish this ball really began to look and act more like a reative ball.  We really like this ball's shell versatility, especially compared to the La Nina.  

  Overall, we were very impressed with the ball's ability to handle different conditions, depending on pattern and shell preparation.  We don't normally recommend particle shells on dryer lanes or for players with slower speeds.  This ball however will stay in play on dryer lanes and require less speed than most other particle balls.  If you are a Storm fan and have been waiting for for a particle model that will handle some dryer lanes or a player with less than average speed, this ball is worth a look.

  If you have any questions about this or any of our reviews, e-mail us at prosho@bowlero.com