| Mesh Pockets |
| September 2009 ONWARD INTO THE MESH See our mesh collage on our Facebook page here >> At Rock-It Pocket we recognize that the mesh and in particular the ‘hard mesh’ style of pocket have become very popular in men’s lacrosse. We have offered the mesh pocket option for a few years now. Our designers and craftsmen are deep into the process of embracing the modern mesh. Mesh does make for a light pocket, the highest of priorities for many players, and the mesh piece is easy to put in and or replace in the stick head. Many players do still string or put the mesh into their own stick, but not nearly as many as used to. In the women’s game the use of mesh is not legal, and the women’s rulebook includes what might be described as multiple and generally stricter pocket regulations than the men’s game. LET’S GET ROLLING Our goal with mesh, as it has always been with any pocket we have strung, is to have the ball find its quick and consistent release point in the pocket every single time while also maintaining good pocket depth for maximum catch and hold capability. This is the completeness every player wants in his stick. TRYING IT ON FOR SIZE ALWAYS HELPS THE FIT An important factor with mesh is that the standardized mesh pieces fit a little differently in each of the different head makes and styles. Some shapes are just more suited to having the pocket a little higher or a touch lower inside the head, etc. Using the same method of pocket installation for every head style or model does not insure equal performance because they have little quirks and or variations that the mesh pocket installer needs to take into account. These different elements include but are not limited to the number and placement of holes drilled in the head for attaching the pocket, the shape of the sidewall, the width of the head, and its overall length. MESHING WITH MY HEAD We are further mesh motivated here at Rock-It Pocket by the huge number of head styles that are now available on the market. At Rock-it Pocket our pocket designers are working hard to make the mesh pockets work to their highest potential. We are taking into account the differences of the different heads and we are putting these elements to work and using design features in positive ways. As the new heads for 2010 come out we will try to point out in our reviews just what all these changes and differences mean in our ongoing effort to help players to make their own best head and pocket decisions. WHIPPING IT AROUND The mesh pocket has some down side to it. It stretches, and not always in a consistent way, and stretch in a lacrosse pocket, even a little, can alter the amount of ‘whip’ in that pocket a great deal. As the mesh pocket stretches, the throws, and especially the shots, can get more easily hung up in the pocket causing the ball to be pulled to one side. This condition is widely known as, “too much whip”. Lack of control of this whip action in a pocket is pretty much the number one reason that brings on that familiar and dysfunctional I-moment we all have witnessed and or experienced on the lacrosse field. You know, the one where A) player has just made horrible pass or shot and B) stares into the depths of his pocket looking for answers or somewhere to place blame. This is a moment C) that tests or burdens the marriage of the stick to the player. In this case A+B does indeed = C. At Rock-it Pocket we want to help stick and player live in harmony and happily ever after, or at least until the head breaks or a ‘better’ one comes on the market. THE GOAL IS TO NOT MESH THINGS UP TOO BAD It can take a little longer for the ball to find or get to the consistent ball release point in the mesh made pocket. This is due to the nature of the mesh material itself. The smooth rubber orb (ball) can ‘slide’ on the slippery surface of the mesh, making it sometimes take a little longer to leave the pocket than you thought it would when you had started your throwing motion. This often-negative impact on performance is magnified even more in the so-called “6-diamond” and “soft” mesh styles of pocket. SINGING IN THE RAIN Mesh pockets can also be very ‘temperamental’ when it is wet or raining, and even sometimes when the humidity goes up, even just a little. They stretch when wet. This can lead to unpredictability that can be very frustrating to one who inherently needs to put a great deal of trust into his personal version of the lacrosse player’s most important tool, the stick. Part of our plan for the building of the better mesh pocket is that we are always working on getting them to perform equally well when conditions are wet or dry. IF YOU BUILD IT We are building mesh pockets in ways that help to limit the amount of stretch and change that take place as the pocket wears or when it gets wet. These techniques we are using will help to make the mesh more predictable and useable for anyone while also being more versatile and capable of meeting the needs of the very demanding player as well. More than ever our craftsmen are inserting the mesh pockets to the individual specifications we get from the highly skilled players. These are the tuned in, experienced players that know exactly what they want. This challenge fuels our pocket passion. If a player asks for a certain placement for the ball in his mesh pocket, we know how to do that. We will use one more hockey lace or whatever a player knows that he wants. We are trying to get better at that part of pocketing every single day. We want your pocket, whichever one you choose, to be ready to roll when you get it, or, as one of our mottos declares, the pocket is “Built in, not broken in”. Check out some of the pictures of our mesh pockets on rock-itpocket.com. |