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STX Stallion

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The STALLION is a new lax head from STX for 2012. It is the first of the 'Kyle Harrison' design models that is made to fit onto a straight rather than a shaft that is angled or canted at the top. Phew! Thank you, and enough with all that.

STX trumpets the Stallion as engineered for strength and stability for the advanced all around midfielder. The C-Channel technology provides extra strength at the face-off X, on ground balls, as well as checks. Sidewall braces provide extra stability on outside shots and ground balls. The bottom rail is also designed specifically for high pocket placement.

The Stallion meets all current head specifications for NFHS, but is not legal for NCAA sanctioned play because the throat opening is too narrow at 2.75" and therefore does NOT meet the NCAA 3.0" minimum standard.

Scroll down to customize and order

Choose How Your Stallion is Strung

View Stringing Options:
Rock-it Pocket (90 grams): $135
Pookie Pocket (90 grams): $140
Davis Dog Pocket (85 grams): $140
George Pocket (80 grams): $140
Bam Pocket (80 grams): $140

Hard Mesh (70 grams): $120
6 Diamond Mesh (70 grams): $120
Soft Mesh (70 grams): $120
Unstrung (no pocket): $100

Our pocket maintenance guide is now online >>

Pocket Placement
(MESH ORDERS ONLY!)

Click on the links above to see pocket pages.

Customize Your Stallion with Colors

Head Dye Options:

Choose a dyed head with 1 or 2 colors on white. Be sure to specify the dye color(s) and style you want!

View Head Dye Options Details

Color 1 = Top, Left or Inside portion

Color 2 = Bottom, Right or Outside portion

Solid All Over	Solid Vertical Split	Solid Horizontal Split	Solid Top Fade	Solid Bottom Fade
Solid Horizontal Combo	Solid Vertical Combo	Speckled All Over	Speckled Top Fade	Speckled Bottom Fade
Speckled w/Horizontal Split	Speckled w/2 Colors	Speckled Fade Combo	Stars & Stripes	Stars & Speckle
Canadian Flag	Rasta Style	Tiger Print	Fire Top Burn	Fire Bottom Burn
Arctic Camo	Forest Camo	Urban Camo	Blaze Camo	Desert Camo

String Color Options: Please choose carefully to avoid delays!

ROCK-IT POCKET LEATHER: - Our leathers are 100% real hide, which is durable and resistant to water. These leathers are strong and do not sag in humid conditions.

ROCK-IT POCKET & MESH MATERIALS: - We use a high quality nylon string for the middle part of our Rock-it Pockets and the sidewall/trim of our mesh pockets.

LACES: - We carry a variaty of hard, soft, 6 diamond, goalie hard and goalie 12 diamond mesh. The mesh we use is the most common type of mesh used in the game.

MESH MATERIALS: - Jima Lax supplies us with colored hockey laces we use on our mesh pockets. These laces can be used on Rock-it Pockets, but we recomend our high quality (default) laces that come only in white.

Color Option

Rock-it Pocket

Mesh Pocket

Color 1

Middle Strings

Mesh Piece

Color 2

Shooting Strings

Sidewall Strings

**Note: We keep the side strings that connect to the middle of the pocket white to avoid confusion**
**Note we use high quality hockey laces (white only) for our pockets. State on the special instructions if you want color laces**

Leather Color Options:

For ROCK-IT POCKETS ONLY!! Leathers are white by default.

Extra Hockey Laces:

Select 1 to 5 extra hockey laces at $2 each. Extra laces will be enclosed with your order for you to string later.

Special Instructions:

Let us know if you would like us to focus on anything in particular.
We do our best to make each pocket to our customers' specifications.

PLEASE CAREFULLY READ OUR SHIPPING AND RETURN POLICIES BEFORE PURCHASING

Staff Review: STX Stallion

CCCALLING ALL MIDFIELDERS

STX is promoting this head as the ultimate choice for the all around midfielder for a variety of reasons. The Stallion has been engineered, or bred if you will, for strength and stability, while maintaining the concept of keeping lightness as a high priority. The Stallion has a unique channel on the outside bottom of the sidewall starting at the scoop and continuing all the way down to the throat area of the head. This C-Channel technology provides extra strength at the face-off X and gives a player increased head stiffness going through balls on the ground for better/crisper scooping.

FACE IT, DUDE

The Stallion looks at first front glance very much like some of the other high performance heads that are currently in the STX stable.

The sidewall pinch appearance when you look at the face of the head is in fact similar in look to the STX Proton Power, which is also too narrow for NCAA play. The STX Super Power in contrast is more open and it in fact measures quite a bit wider at the throat than the Stallion or the Pro.

Overall, it is the differences, however, that 'stick out' for me with the new for now STX Stallion. This is in no way your older brother's Super or Proton Power.

A LITTLE ON THE SIDE, or ALWAYS look a gift horse in the mouth

The offset visual line on this head differs only slightly from the recently consistent tradition of the 'STX cant' technology. At close inspection of the Stallion, the sidewall, when viewed from the side, reveals a little bit more curve and a little less cant. The top sidewall line is very gradual. It does not rise as it moves away from the throat and before it turns down into the offset. The curve at the bottom of the sidewall is slightly 'stretched out'.

The overall design lines combine to perhaps help the ball to track its release smoothly up through any pocket strung in the Stallion

THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?

The top of the sidewall, at left and right 'corners', is molded thicker and therefore the Stallion is sturdier around the bend than either of the Powers.

The stiffness built into the Stallion sidewall also means that the head flexes less on the harder outside shots that can often torque out a softer head, and that can also 'soften' up your 'hard' shot.

WHAT'S THE SCOOP?

The top of the Stallion scoop is a little bit flatter across than the two STX Power models, so that more of the scoop is touching the ground when the scoop blade first hits the playing surface on a ground ball attempt. It's sort of a 'less Canadian' concept, as in NOT the sharply-curved-at-the-top-of-the-scoop thing that is so in vogue these days.

Unlike the STX Proton Power and Super Power models, the design line of the inside of the scoop blade does not 'wiggle' in and out and around the stringing holes that are located on the scoop, adding to head stability across the top. Also, the blade width of the scoop is a full 1" wide all the way across the top of the Stallion.

This is a 'down and dirty' head model with a low natural scooping angle. The closer you get your bottom handle hand to the ground the better the Stallion will perform in those tight ground ball spots.

The individual design factors add up to great head shape stability inside the intense action that happens when guys are fighting for ground balls.

THE FOAM STOPS HERE

With the Stallion as well as the Surgeon, STX has gone somewhat back in 'heading' to the future by bringing the foam ball stop placement back to the surface at the very bottom of the throat so the pad is sitting flatly on the curved plane that is the top side of the throat, old skule style. The Powers meanwhile both have the foam piece sitting on a pedestal that rises well above the bottom center of the throat to help create more of a hiding place for the ball in the lowest part of the pocket.

The throat portion where the head attaches to the shaft is sufficiently thick and solid enough to handle a bunch of beating. This part of the head looks unlike any other STX model, but doesn't really include any unique features either.

STATISTICS

At 156 grams The Stallion is less than half an ounce heavier than the Superpower and just over � of an ounce more than the extremely light Proton Power. It is just about the same weight as the STX Surgeon, a head they market as THE offensive weapon of STX choice. Overall I would rate the strength to weight ratio of the Stallion as very good. This head has a light feel to it.

SCOOP RATING

Excellent when used correctly. The engineering steps taken toward making a stiffer structure keeps this head from bending and twisting too much when mashing around and fighting for the ball.

STIFFNESS RATING

With the C channel at the base of the sidewall and the thicker material at the bend of the scoop, the Stallion is indeed remarkably stiff.

STRINGS ATTACHED

The back of the scoop plastic is recessed a little in measured places to offer some scoop action abrasion relief and add to the endurance of stringing materials. There are 6 oversized holes in the scoop, all plenty big for leathers.

CHANNEL PROTECTION

The C channeling sidewall is constructed in such a way that the strings are very well protected from whacking, but you might want to make sure the sidewall strings are pulled tight and cannot slide at all because the channel edges are not really rounded, and string movement could easily lead to faster wear as well as less consistency.

There are multiple holes available to the pocket installer at the bottom of the sidewall.

POCKET PLACEMENT

The fact that the Stallion is on the narrow side and only legal for NFHS play is also what makes it good for being able to get a pocket that is good at channeling the ball up the middle of the pocket.

The shape of the opening suggests that the best pocket placement in a Stallion is probably middle of the head or higher. The bottom of the scoop rises almost 2" above a tabletop when the head is at rest and without a pocket, and this is also an indicator that the pocket wants to be in the center of the head or higher on this one.

WHIP IT GOOD!

At the top where sidewall turns into scoop the stringing holes are more like slots, capable of having multiple strings come through one opening. This allows potential for great throw string versatility and placement. How much whip you want or don't want is controlled best when small shooting or throw string adjustments can make a significant difference in pocket release.

LOOKING GOOD

The plastic material used for the Stallion appears to be somewhat different from earlier STX heads. The sides and bottom sport a sort of matted finish, not unlike the Warrior Noz, but this head is a little brighter white than the Noz. Meanwhile the surfaces of the Stallion scoop are slicker than the rest of the head, more polished, presumably to help the scoop blade push through between the bottom of the ball and the ground with less friction, like buttah.

The Stallion takes in the RIT dyes nicely for bright head colors that don't fade too quickly. On the left side of the scoop there is a small, stylish etching of a stallion that is very subtle, but pretty cool.

PARTING SHOTS, or He shoots, He scores!

Kyle Harrison has definitely had a very positive impact on many of the STX designs over the past handful of years. Kyle was an all-time great as a midfielder/horse at Johns Hopkins. He received all the individual awards and accolades, and he also earned a National Championship ring with Pietramala and the Jays in 2005. His wicked HAAHD shot from the outside on the run is famous and something any player would love to have and very few in fact do. Kyle brings a lot of excellence and position wisdom to this Stallion 'blood line'.

THE K18 EVOLUTION

For many years there was a Gait finger somewhere on or hand in pretty much everything STX, as in Gary Gait held the reins that controlled the direction on most of whatever STX was putting out as lacrosse player products. Times change. That seems to no longer be the case.

Any look into lacrosse stick history would show that STX has always been on the fast track in head design. They more or less came out with the first plastic heads back in the 70's, which gave them the inside track early on. They have retained a fine reputation as a head maker over the years, but it is hard to pigeonhole them into that singular category anymore. The Kyle Harrison K-18 gloves and pads from STX are now, for many, as good as it gets.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The good thing is that pretty much every human playing the game is indeed 'gifted' with the capability of staying balanced as long as the brain feeds the right information to the feet.

You don't have to be a great defender to play great defense.

POKE CHECK IN THE BAG

Sidewall stiffness is one of the main objectives of the Stallion. A poke from a harder head is going to hurt a little more. When you are delivering a poke check or a 'small hurt' in the form of a short, effective poke check you have more power over the momentary lacrosse dynamic while you give no ground. When and wherein the poke is put in just the right place it can lead to egregious errors made by the guy you are defending. Even on the shorter poles a poke check can create good things for the defense. Ball carriers don't enjoy getting poked at, but they are looking for a commitment (from you). Don't give them one (over-commitment by you) to work with and a chance to bust a move (on you).

SHUFFLE, SHUFFLE, POKE

No lunging or lounging are aloud when poking. The top hand remains quiet, like using a pool cue stick. With the poke check in lacrosse the bottom hand throws a hard jab to the other guy's hand, the glove cuff if possible. Good footwork and balance are key elements for pecking, poking, and putting a little sting on the hand of your opponent.

This generation of player gets the whole 'poke' concept, right? Well, effective poke checks make it so that you as a player can be a good defensive player in any defensive system as long as you always have good position and never let the stick head travel more than 6" or so, and by the way this holds true for almost any kind of check you might want to land.

Rock-it Pocket Factory:
5609 Bighorn Crossing
Fort Collins, CO 80526

Order by Phone:
  800-374-7468 (toll-free)
  970-377-1390 (local)
  970-377-1391 (fax)

Order Processing:
The current approximate wait time (+shipping) for a custom work:
String Jobs: 2-3 Days
Dye Jobs: Add 2-3 Days