Here at Rock-it Pocket, we play lacrosse every day. As coaches of the Colorado State University men's lacrosse team, we are afforded the lucky opportunity to try all the new technology before we put it on sale. Check out what we're using now. As we update our gear, we'll update this page. Click on any of the products to buy.

• Flip Naumburg
• Alex Smith
• Kale Nelson

- Gait Torque w/ George Pocket on Brine Titanium Powergrip.

Comments: MOVING ON

I had been using a Brine Cyber for about 3 or 4 years. I tested and tried several other heads during that time, and liked many, but not enough to switch heads, until recently, when I broke my third or fourth Cyber. This wouldn't bother me, save for the fact that I don't actually play. I warm up goalies and that is pretty much it. Sticks shouldn't break that much for me. I do like many, but by no means all of the new-fangled heads they have piled on the market over the past few years. I liked the Cyber because it is light and the scoop flattened out nicely on groundballs in the Brine tradition, both important elements for my stick to have.

TWO IS THE TICKET

Even if you (I) are over 50 you still want to have a back-up stick ready to go right now. It may just be psychological, but it is important to have #2 all ready to take over. I wasn't happy when the last Cyber broke. I wasn't ready as they say. It was not a happy day.

TORQUE NOW

So anyway I have moved on to the Gait Torque. This head is a couple of years old as well. I'm a little behind the cutting edge of some of the technology, but at the same time some of these heads never even get out of the blocks and are gone in a year or whatever.

The Torque happens to be one of the very lightest heads available, and the scoop is wide enough to suit me.

GEORGE IS MY THIRD SON AND THE ONLY TO HAVE A POCKET NAMED FOR HIM He was born the same year

I have been using the George Pocket since we launched it in 2003. It might break in a little faster than the Classic Rock-it Pocket, but it is very similar. Overall it might also be a tad softer for catching as well.

YOUR STICK CAN BE TOO SKINNY

Many new heads are molded with the sidewalls as narrow or close together as is legal or functional by the head makers/manufacturers, and by the way, I never was a player that pinched his head to gain an advantage. Players do this to "hide" and protect the ball. I have always made the head narrower for ball control and with the pocket used to rock the ball in the head and to roll the ball out when it's time and at the perfect release point. I did not try to achieve this by pinching the head. I want the catching area to remain as "open" as possible. So, I don't "pinch".

HANDLE POWER

My handle has been some strain of Titanium for years. I like the sound and feel particularly of the Warrior Titanium shaft, but right now I am using the Brine Power Grip Titanium (no longer available). I am apparently one of the few that like this one, as they discontinued it (the grip indented thing). One might think I would use the Flip Grip style, but I am not just a follower of fad.

POCKET FOOTNOTE

Every once in a while I try a mesh pocket, and I hear myself saying, "Yeah, that's good, I like it," or whatever, but then after a fairly short period of time I always find myself tossing the mesh overboard and without hesitation. One reason is that mesh changes so much so quickly, and another is because I don't like the ball sliding around even slightly in the pocket. Mesh does not put any kind of friction on the ball and the ball can slide more easily. I am convinced that leather helps to track the ball by "grabbing" it and forcing the ball to roll, which gives it more speed and crispness when it releases from the stick and pocket.

Besides, how could I ever not use a Rock-it Pocket?

- STX K18 w/ George Pocket on STX Crankshaft 7075

- Warrior Nemesis w/ Hard Mesh Goal-Ex Pocket on Warrior Krypto Pro

Comments: After about a year of using the Warrior Razer 2.0, I have moved on to the STX K18 head on STX Crankshaft 7050 handle to warm up goalies and throw around with.  More than anything, the move was made to test out the K18, but once I broke in my George Pocket, it felt good, so I kept it.  The Crankshaft technology has a very nice feel and it’s pretty light, which is new for me.  It may be that I’m actually improving a little as a shooter (doubtful), but I feel like I can get a little more velocity on my shot with the K18 than I could with either the Razer 2.0 or Evo Pro.  The ball sits nicely in the pocket and I can hold it for just a little longer before releasing the shot, which gives me more options as a shooter.  The Crankshaft handle is the cheaper version (non-titanium), but it has a nice scandium feel to it almost like the Gait DB803.

I’ve stuck with the George even though I’ve been very tempted to move back to the Classic Rock-it Pocket.  One trick of the trade Flip taught me was how to hammer down the knots on the middle two leathers when you are first breaking the pocket in so that it stays in place a little better. 

I’m continuing to use a very slightly modified hard mesh Goal-Ex Pocket in my Warrior Nemesis.  I add a couple of throwing laces and shallow out the pocket a little bit from what we do in the shop, but the hard mesh is almost identical to what we send out to customers.  I’ve tried lots of goalie heads, but the Nemesis is still the clear winner for me.  It has a great feel to it and after as many shots as I’ve taken with it, it feels like an extension of my arm.

I tried out the Dolomite early last season with the Outlaws, but I have switched to the Krypto Pro.  More than anything, this was because the Krypto Pro is extremely light and I love the shape of the C405 handles.  My handle is pretty short, a trick I got in college from Trevor Tierney.  Stickhandling and passing is a much easier task with the shorter handles.

- Warrior Helix w/ Classic Rock-it Pocket on Warrior Fat Boy Titanium

Comments: I've moved to the Classic Rock-it Pocket and I'm using one of the most popular heads, the Helix. So far, so good, but I've only had it for a couple of months. The Fat Boy is for use in the box game and we don't carry it in stock.