The STX Super Power is the latest in the Proton line of heads. It very much is the Proton Power, only it is built to the 2010 open throat specifications. The Superpower maintains the necessary 6.5” measurement at the back of the scoop to make it legal for both high school and college play. Like the Proton Power the Super Power has a long look and feel to it. The offset line of the sidewall is identical to its Proton Power predecessor’s profile, doing its offsetting thing pretty far up the side, which is longer and more graduated than some, before straightening out as the wall moves up to the scoop. This feature works well to help to hold the ball inside the head. The ball will also tend to stay in the pocket a little bit longer with this kind of overall head contour, giving potential for perhaps a little more speed on a shot, but it also makes it a little harder to control pocket whip. Like the Proton Power the Super Power has the slight forward lean or the ‘STX’ cant as the sidewall becomes the scoop. This helps with ball release when it is time to throw. The front view of the head makes The Superpower appear as if it is more pinched than some of the other new heads in the same 2010 class, but it meets all 2010 specifications. The pocket area opening is indeed longer than many heads when measured from the inside bottom of the scoop down to the foam stop at the throat. This has a visual impact. This ‘illusion’ or look makes it visually appealing to many players, because ‘pinched’ is what they are looking for. The Super Power weighs in at a little more than 4.5 oz., not quite as light as the Warrior Noz, but still in the very light range. The plastic itself is medium in terms of rating its flexibility. We have always liked the STX scoops because they are usually thin and flat, good for getting the blade under the ball to scoop it off the ground. This one keeps the tradition. The scoop is identical to the Proton Power, arcing strongly upward at the top of the head. The bottom of the scoop goes in and out making it very narrow in between the 4 holes spaced evenly across the scoop blade. The older Proton Powers have fewer stringing holes (10) along the sidewall bottom than the new Super Power (15) does, but they are reinforced stringing holes while none of the 15 holes on the Super Power are. The extra 5 holes do have the ability to stretch your stringing imagination and pocket possibilities. Unlike the throat bottom of the Proton Power, the Super Power throat has 4 holes that are big enough to fit leathers for Rock-it Pockets and traditional style pockets. The Proton Power had only two holes for leathers to come through at the bottom. The Super Power has the same Proton Power style of a built in "shock absorbing" ball stop. This doesn’t make a large area behind that ball stop for the ‘bag’ of the pocket to comfortably sit down low in the head. The ball stop set up and the longer opening affect pocket placement and performance, and in general the Super Power will appeal more to the player that likes his pocket higher up in head. We don't particularly like the Super Power for defensemen, mostly because the head is light and not that stiff. It does function pretty well for the attack man, however. We find the overall shape of the Super Power to be, like the Proton Power, shooter friendly.
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