Be Lightweight. As sticks have become lighter in recent years the weight of pockets has become more noticeable. The first thing we did was to replace the 2 outside leathers with nylon string which will cut down weight, particularly in wet weather. Secondly, borrowing from the George pocket, the bottom half of the pocket has half the connective string as the Classic. Less string = less weight.
Have Great Hold. The new, wider heads mean the plastic of the head is going to be doing less work as far as holding on to the ball. Like all Rock-it Pockets, the leather and the shape are going to automatically give you better hold then a mesh. In addition, we have spread out the shooting strings so the ball sits right on the bottom string and there is less ball movement up and down in the pocket while you cradle. This means the ball is always right here you want when it’s time to throw. Also, by minimizing the string where the ball sits, like in the George, the pocket will break in quicker and be softer then the Classic.Have a Mesh-Style Release. The Bam pocket is Named for Dylan “Bam-Bam” Preble, who received the nickname Bam-Bam from Rock-it Pocket inventor Flip Naumburg at Colorado State University and is now our resident stringing guru at our retail location in Fort Collins, CO. His input led to this pocket having a slightly different release. The idea was to keep all the advantages of the classic RP but give it a more familiar throwing release for guys who grew up playing with mesh. The most obvious difference is that thespread out shooting strings give a quicker release, more like a mesh pocket then the Classic Rock-it Pocket. The second difference is that while there are less strings at the bottom of the stick, the top half has just as many as the Classic. The idea here is that guys who really have a hard crank shot can sometimes stretch out the top of a pocket when there are fewer strings like in the George. This creates whip. We also borrowed from the Pookie Pocket by keeping the middle leathers closer together towards the top, the effect of which is also to eliminate unnecessary whip.
We are really excited about this pocket and think it is going to be a great addition to our lineup, particularly for College players and anyone else using the new wider NCAA 2010 heads. The Bam Pocket will fit nicely in other heads as well, but it was designed with the 2010 rule change in mind.
