Many of the NCAA compliant 2010 heads have the letter “X” placed somewhere in the name. With so many new heads for 2010 this hopefully makes it a little easier for the consumer to stay ahead of the knowledge game. There is no doubt that there are now more choices than ever for the stick buyer, and the similarities are greater than the differences, making the choices even harder to make. They are not all going to be legal at all the different levels of play. We at Rock-it Pocket are committed to helping stick buyers navigate their way through the forest of options on the modern head tree.

The Rock-it Pocket works very well with all the new and wider NCAA compliant head styles because the Rock-it Pocket holds, nestles, and cradles the ball in one place in the middle of the head for better holdability. It also, as always, tracks the ball consistently for throws as well as shots. The ball will not roll from side to side in the pocket. The ball release is always coming from the natural track in the center of the pocket and the ball will always find that deepest center spot when the player catches and or cradles.

In the old days all the heads were manufactured with a relatively wide opening between the sidewalls. Pinching the heads to make them narrower so the ball would stay in the pocket better is not a new concept and they have been pinching heads in kitchens in Canada forever, but in recent years it has become a widely used technique and a bit of a science of its own. Factory head design has of course followed that trend to a narrower stick head opening.

To be simple the new NCAA rules demand a larger opening measurement between the sidewalls so that defensive players can theoretically dislodge the ball more easily. There is no doubt that in recent years players have pinched the heads to the point where it has become virtually impossible for defenders to knock the ball free or out of the pocket - and this became disturbing to the rule makers.

The Rock-it Pocket was originally designed to help the ball handler by sort of naturally narrowing the holding area to one particular spot in the head. The concept of the Rock-it pocket was to make the ball sit in that one spot while the whole pocket rocked or cradled to hold on to the ball better, and negating any disadvantage of having a wide opening between sidewalls. With the Rock-it Pocket put in the new heads the player can cheat without cheating.

In essence the Rock-it Pocket pinches the head by the way the pocket works. The center leathers sort of wrap themselves around the side of the ball to help with the hold in the deepest part of the pocket. Nowadays Warrior tries to do the same narrowing thing with their patented flaring of the bottom of the sidewall to the inside. However, that also makes the catching area just a little smaller, while the Rock-it Pocket does not.

It is true that it has become a lacrosse world somewhat dominated by the use of factory made mesh pockets, and in particular the hard mesh style of pocket, but the Rock-it Pocket has a place and even an advantage in the new heads because of its inherent design features. The Rock-it Pocket helps the pocket work in a way that makes the head feel narrow and it tucks the ball in. Also, as always the RP does not stretch and change the way that mesh does. Once the Rock-it Pocket gets dialed in, it stays consistent in performance for a long, long time, and it almost always outlasts the head it is put in to. We think the new heads and the Rock-it Pocket are a perfect fit, whether you choose the Classic, The George, the Pookie, or the Dog.