Fall is here and that means in addition to the leaves changing and hooded sweatshirts popping up on college campuses everywhere, lacrosse manufacturers are rolling out their new lines and replacing old technology by the bushel.  In terms of head advancement, it’s going to be a pretty quiet year, at least compared to recent seasons.  There are new handles all over the place, however, and the heads that are coming out for 2009 are fairly significant.  We’ll stick with a review of the “big four” manufacturers, mostly because we have yet to see much of the Reebok and Adidas gear and there aren’t new heads coming out from Harrow this season.

In terms of industry-related news, the 2010 rule change regarding head dimensions is probably the biggest story.  The NCAA made drastic changes several years ago that really restrict how wide a head can be.  A lot of the very popular heads we have loved for a long time are affected, including the “Pro” series from Warrior and lots of STX heads, so now the industry is striking back in the form of a $30 million lawsuit from Warrior.  So we won’t know the outcome for some time, which means that you should go on purchasing whichever head you like for now.  The change is still a ways off and most of us will get good use out of a head for a year, so until this thing really comes down, don’t let the man dictate what stick you use – yet.

As far as manufacturing is concerned, Gait’s abandonment of its TOS line is a huge story.  As some or most people know, Warrior holds several patents that make offset or curved head technology their intellectual property.  STX and Gait attempted to get around paying royalties on every single head they sell by creating “on-set” heads that fit on to off-set handles.  STX calls theirs the Crankshaft series (G22, K18, Kannon and X3 heads) and Gait calls theirs TOS (Transfer Offset System).  In 2008, Gait introduced the Thrust, Torque Pro and Recon Ti, all which were meant to only fit on TOS handles.  It seems they have decided against that in 2009 as all of their TOS products are off the market for one reason or another. 

So with TOS going the way of the Shotgun II, Gait is rolling out a whole new line of heads, including the Nuclear, Mutant, Toxic, Icon 2.0 and Thrust 2.0.  They are all meant to fit on standard handles, which should be a relief to both consumers and retailers alike.  Gait is also a pioneer in the sense that they are giving handles away with two of their heads this year (Nuclear and Thrust 2.0).  The Nuclear is being introduced as Gait’s top end head this season, but there doesn’t appear to be anything incredibly groundbreaking with it or any other new Gait head in 2009.  The Nuclear, Toxic and Mutant are all solid heads with good shapes while the Icon 2.0 and the Thrust 2.0 are more for the beginners of our sport.

Another unique thing Gait is doing is removing leather stringing holes at the top of the head.  Most heads throughout history have featured four prominent holes in the scoop of the head.  You see, youngsters, way back when, most lacrosse players strung their pockets with “traditional” or leather stringing methods.  For reasons unknown, Gait has decided that they are going to break the mold, so to speak, and feature “Recessed Lace Channels” in most of their new heads at the scoop.  This means that leathers will not fit into the top of the head any longer and the head is pretty much made only for mesh pockets.  Those who prefer traditional pockets (or even Rock-it Pockets) can still make it work, it just takes a little creative stringing to figure out how to get leathers to run up to the top.

Brine adds to the top end of their head line with the Assett, a head that will resemble last year’s Cyber Pro and Franchise editions in overall shape.  The Assett is slightly more offset than either of its predecessors, but it still has the signature Brine flat scoop.  More than anything else, the Assett sets itself apart in terms of stringing options by placing stringing holes in the middle of the sidewall rather than on the bottom rail of the head.  Brine claims that this will allow a deeper pocket than ever before as the pocket will “hang” down from the middle rather than be attached to the bottom.  As with all gimmicky heads, I remain skeptical about this for now, but I do like the shape and offset of this head.

The Answer Pro is Brine’s other major addition.  Those who liked the stick-tricking style of the original Answer will not be disappointed, but Brine has made strides to make this head a little stiffer and more functional than before.  It appears that the scoop is slightly more rounded as well, but otherwise, this thing holds up to the original pretty closely. 

STX’s only addition for 2009 is the Viper 2, a head meant to fall right in the middle of the price matrix to give the intermediate player a good head option.  With a flat scoop and moderate curve, the Viper 2 should be a favorite of high-school players and perhaps longsticks who like a little extra catching area.  It’s certainly not as tightly pinched as some of STX’s other models, so if your little brother is getting into the game, I’d look closely at this head for his holiday gift.

Warrior is looking to capitalize on the success of the Stiffi with the new Evo Ti.  Last year’s Stiffi was the first head to incorporate a titanium rod running on the top rail of the head from the middle of one sidewall, through the bottom of the head and up to the middle on the opposite side.  The Evo Ti uses that same technology, but borrows its sidewall design from the immensely popular Evolution series.  The Evo Ti also looks a little like the old Warrior Blade, with extremely flared sidewalls.

Much in the same way the Stiffi and the Helix took all of the previous things people liked about Warrior and put them into one head, the Evo Ti looks like a cross between some of the best-selling models in the company’s history (Blade, Evo Pro, Stiffi, Helix).  In a general sense, the titanium rod makes the head slightly heavier, but it is extremely strong and durable.  One other thing about the Evo Ti is that it departs from Warrior’s traditional curved look and delves more into a straight offset profile.  Time will tell how popular this head ends up becoming.

Warrior remains relatively quiet on the rest of their head releases.  Besides the Evo Ti, Warrior’s new goalie head, the Void, is the only new head for the more advanced crowd.  The Void has a full offset, but does not have the flared sidewalls that the Nemesis is famous for.  The severe offset should make ball handling fun for goalies, but throwing could be an issue.  The best part about the Nemesis is the way the pocket sits in the head, so not having the flared sidewalls could be a significant loss for some goalies as the Nemesis mold begins to wear out (you may have noticed a few more breaks recently than in years past).  Here’s hoping that a Nemesis 2.0 is in the works for 2010. 

In terms of handles, Brine is making waves with the reintroduction of their “F-Series,” including the F-55, F-22 and F-15.  These were some of the most popular on the market about a decade ago there is a good change these will be very popular in 2009 also.  Brine will also feature the Magnum, a Magnesium infused handle that prices in near the top of their line.  The goal, like every handle on the market, is to be strong and light.  We’ll see how this one compares.

Gait’s handle entries are just as pronounced as their heads in 2009.  The Reactor, Mutant and Thrust Z09 handles, all of which are Zirconium alloys, join the Triton CU31 and Sinner.  One cool thing about Gait is that they offer their handles in both “Canadian” and “American” versions, which I suppose mean that the boxla versions are stronger and/or longer.  Gait is investing a lot in the 2009 season, evidenced by nearly 12 new products just in heads and handles alone.

STX is really stepping out there with their handles this year, featuring new Scandium and Grip models to go with their traditional Crankshaft series.  They’ve also remade their extremely lightweight Sc+Ti Premiere (now called the Sc+Ti Pro) and introduced a new Scandium Pro handle as well.  STX’s Zirconium, Vanadium and Steel handles all have new graphics too.

Finally, Warrior continues to push out their popular handles.  They are throwing a Diamond grip on the Dolomite handle, adding a new color to the retro Woodrow and introducing new grips to their extremely popular Kryptolyte models.  The Kryptolyte R10 has a very cool rubber infused grip that will likely elicit reactions of extreme love or extreme hate depending on the player.  There’s also the Kryptolyte Tactical Grip, which has tacky, knurled sections of the handle to reduce the need for tape.
So, that’s it for the “big four.”  With Harrow, Reebok, Adidas, Mavrick, Scorpion, Talon and others getting involved with manufacturing, there will be no shortage of heads and handles to pick from and get the perfect combination.  Want to talk lax sticks?  Give us a shout at Rock-it Pocket.  www.rock-itpocket.com.