Project Pinnacle: Stringability
It matters. Kinda.
Welcome back to our long truncated series on building my perfect head. My preferences are totally the same and nothing has changed in the last two years. For the purposes of review, here are the previous entries:
Luckily, the final category is the…most complicated and likely to incite the most ire. Damn you, past Kyle - what have you gotten me into?
First, let’s tackle what “stringability” is. Stringability is the ease with which I can create a pocket in the most ideal spot for my needs. Basically - are there enough holes to accomplish this task? Are there too many? Are the stringing holes too big or too small? Is there enough room to slip a shooter through the sidewall?
There are plenty of modern heads that fit the bill. But before I name my final choice, let’s review why those aspects are important.
A lacrosse head should not be hard to string. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: a monkey can string regular lacrosse mesh into a head. It’s not hard. Anyone that tells you that stringing is hard is trying to get money from you. Stringing doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn't have to be pretty. It just has to be functional.
On the flip side of that point, I don’t believe that stringing should be mechanical. Or course, it is in many ways. It is a series of patterns and knots that anyone can learn. But when you’re trying to get the optimal setup, you want someone that can cater to your needs.
Stringing - at its best - is a service; not a Happy Meal.
So, while you can get a simple string job from anyone, the care with which your head is strung matters. However, the head itself has to play ball before this even comes into play. It must have a good balance of options for optimization.
There is a reason that no one plays with the indestructible dinosaur heads of the 90s and it’s not because they are bereft of offset technology. Believe it or not, the original Brine Edge can still be found with more than requisite rigidity. Some might even say it’s made with better plastic than anything on the market today because it was created before the concept of built-in obsolescence was introduced into the lacrosse industry.
But an OG Edge sucks to string. It has ten holes on the sidewall - half of what has become the modern industry standard. Those holes are also awkwardly placed and ill-shaped. (Phrasing.)
So more holes are better, right?
No.
I actually despise heads with a million stringing holes. As a stringer, it’s just a constant reminder of how you can mess up. “What if I put the last interlock, one tiny rung above the tie off? Is…is that better?” Hey man, I’m here to tell you that it doesn't matter. Miniscule pattern changes are just new ways to drive yourself insane.
There is a goldilocks zone with stringing holes and I think it’s between 17 and 18. Does 20 sound better? Yeah, but it’s superfluous. Every company makes its heads with an extra hole way too close to the scoop. That’s so people can string traditional in their heads. I respect traditional stringing. I think the purest form of the art of stringing is a single-string trad. But - I don’t play with it because it breaks at the exact moment it becomes perfect. Search your feelings, you know this to be true. That’s one hole down. We’re at 19.
The other hole that I don’t need is the one that’s way too close to the throat. (Don’t isolate that). No, not the hole that Warrior heads stop short of - the one under that one.
Which brings out total down to 18. 18 is a nice round number. It belongs to Kyle Harrison. It’s divisible. It can vote. It has lots of options.
And yet…I feel like we could lose one more and still be right where we need to be. Something about the symmetry of equidistant spacing is so appealing.
I need at least four of the holes at the top to be twice as large as the other holes because I like to string my shooters into the gaps. I used to do that Baltimore-style wrapped shooter over the lower rail, but I’m an adult now.
For the shape, I’m choosing rectangles and rhombuses. That’s because the circular hole styles are either too small or too loose. The strings just don’t “bite” like I need them to with all of my knots and single interlocks. That mesh has to be pressed into the sidewall like a passionate kiss; not a loose-lipped free for all. That’s how you get gingivitis.
There are two heads that fit these criteria: the Nike Lakota 3 and the ECD Mirage 2.
Right now I have perfect pockets in both of those sticks sitting on my kitchen counter. The L3 has 17 holes; the Mirage 2 has 18. the L3 is my gamer and my coaching stick - the Mirage 2 is my rain and beach stick that I’m about to restring.
I think I have to go with the L3 with allowances for the Mirage 2 as Project Pinnacle advances to its inevitable conclusion.
Which…might not be what you think it is.