First Impressions
The shelf appeal of the Jackal EXJ is quite nice. It took me a bit to understand how to work this ball but once I did, it made sense.
Tamer Elbaga (Lefty)
Style: Tweener
RPM: 330 rpm
PAP: 5 & 3/8 up
Average Speed: 18.5 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: medium/high
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 4 x 40
Bryan Hoffman (Righty)
Style: Stroker
RPM: 280 rpm
PAP: 4 1/2 & 1 1/2 up
Average Speed: 18.5 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: high
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 4.75 x 45
Tyler Church (Righty)
Style: Power Player
RPM: 425 rpm
PAP: 5 1/2 & 1/2 up
Average Speed: 19 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: med
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 5 x 45
“Keep in mind that coverstock accounts for 70% of ball reaction, but the core creates the dynamic shape of the reaction. Your driller will alter the shape to suit your game.”
Pattern
THS: 44ft, 25.8ml 12:1 ratio
Specs
The Motiv Max Jackal EXJ uses the Predator™ V2 Asymmetric core inside the Propulsion™ HVH Hybrid Reactive coverstock.
15 pound = RG of 2.47, diff of .054, mb of .015
14 pound = RG of 2.51, diff of .049, mb of .014
Coverstock finish: 4000 grit LSS
Tweener’s Take
We just tested the Max Thrill Hybrid which was a response to a gap EJ Tackett felt was at the bottom of the bag. Now the Jackal EXJ is a namesake and the idea is to provide a ball with the big core motion of the Jackal lineup while providing an angular look on higher volume patterns. The house pattern we use is 44ft 25.8ml so I was hoping this could work well. As I mentioned, I was fishing a bit to figure out how to operate this ball effectively on this pattern. I was finding while I had a look, carry was a bit iffy and it just turned out that with the cleaner 4000 finish and length of the pattern while having dry outsides, playing out was just a bit inconsistent. I started moving in and then I left several 6 pins with the ball being quite angular. Once I moved the breakpoint further in, it made a lot more sense. Using the length of the pattern and higher volume in the middle of the pattern now I could use the angularity effectively to match the length it gets. They say it fits in between the Jackal Ghost and Crimson. I had an Onyx and Crimson to compare as it should still fit in between those. The Onyx is the Onyx, big ball. Early read. Still good backend. And with the 1000 grit LSS, you expect it to totally control the lane. It’s a bit more arcy so more consistent backend but errs on the side of smoother. The EXJ is also consistent but can err on the side of angular. Not surprising. The bigger surprise was comparing it to the Crimson. In a weird way, I initially felt the Crimson is the one that in between the Onyx and EXJ and mostly because the Crimson felt earlier and firmer downlane. This is what had me a touch confounded but then the takeaway is the EXJ while being angular is a bit later and I’d probably want to put a step more surface on it to properly place it in between the Onyx and Crimson.
Power Player’s Persective
For Tyler the story wasn’t hugely different when push comes to shove. Early on, it was a bit tricky to find the right line but it didn’t take too long, having realized what I already saw with the shape of the pattern. Essentially, outside of 7 was not consistently playable. So oncee Tyler moved the breakpoint in a bit, the Jackal EXJ came to life. Same deal, the finish makes it fairly clean and angular. But somehow it didn’t come off as very firm off the end of the pattern. It goes but seems like it’s taking it’s sweet time to do it. Maybe it’s the color that makes it appear that way or the finish just not being the best match up for this pattern. It still looked good and had the Predator V2 drive but yes is still on the angular side. Compared to the Onyx, you can see how much stronger and firmer the Onyx feels. Just overwhelms the pattern in a good way. The Crimson felt very familiar to the Jackal line where it’s still firm off the spot but a little cleaner than the Onyx allowing it to go longer. The EXJ felt the most different in relationship with what appears to be a slightly less firm shape than the other jackals. Perhaps the finish is driving this behavior.
Stroker’s Stance
For Bryan, the shape looked a little different. Typically the Predator V2 cored balls don’t roll extremely forward, they tend to be a little more on the round and continuous side of asym. And the Onyx is that for Bryan. However with the EXJ, it felt way more stoppy and forward rolling. It seemed to respond fairly strongly to the end of the pattern and got forward very quickly. So angle became pretty tricky. Very easy to control and find pocket but carry was much more tricky. You can see the pins kind of slide to the left and he was leaving some 7s and 10s, thankfully not together. It’s a little hard to describe what Bryan was experiencing. It just didn’t feel like a great matchup to this 44ft pattern but why is harder to answer. It didn’t seem like it was weak. It didn’t seem like it was strong. But the carry was middling. You could see that he can move in and let it roll up but it’s a bit forward to really look good. He also could square up further and punch it in there but the quick response made it a little hard to control. He had a Crimson on hand and while it still had a bit of forward behavior, it wasn’t near as much. The Crimson was a better match up all around. It looked better from the primary strike line. As he moved in, he still had good carry and as he moved out, he could still make it work. So the small delta of cover to core combo just seemed to be more efficient.
Bottom Line
I was pretty excited to get the Jackal EXJ. There hasn’t been a Jackal we didn’t like and there are some we loved. The Onyx made a very good impression on us as did the Crimson. The Ghost is the ghost, great ball. With the EXJ being a hybrid, I feel like I’d prefer a little more surface to make it more usable. In a relatively high sheen of the 4000 LSS, it feels a little bit more of an odd man out that nicely slotting between the Ghost and Crimson. I’d really like the response to be a bit more firm and a little surface should help properly place it where Motiv says it belongs. That said, it may make it a lot more usable for those of you who love the Predator shape but deal with medium volumes.
Thanks for watching.
Motiv Jackal EXJ Take 2
Alright, we wanted to come back to this with some surface just to see if it would shape as I would expect. I did say in the first video I felt that surface would do the EXJ some good as it was a little too long and a bit snappy but not necessarily firm. So I hit it with a 2000 and then light touch with 1500 to get it in the 2000 range if laser-scanned. Well, this is what I was hoping to see out of the gate. The Jackal EXJ absolutely came alive and obliterated the house shot for me. Still had what I considered reasonable length but now having that firm Jackal move that rolled heavy through the pins. So there’s the short updated take on the Jackal EXJ. This is exactly what I wanted to see, control and domination of the pattern.
For Bryan, there was a change for the better as well. I’d say it’s not as impressive as the change I saw but it did improve. It went from very forward off the friction to the surface slowing it down a bit more in the midlane, thereby allowing us to see the rounder punchy backend we are used to seeing from the Predator V2 core in the Jackals. His carry was a notch less than mine but the ball motion made sense.
I’m glad we came back to this with more surface as it gives us a truer sense of what this ball is capable of.