Category: Uncategorized

Mesh in the game

This post is from 2019 and there have been a number of new players in the game. I will update on the new span of mesh pockets (including Brine) in the future. Until them, this is what I know.

Mesh Runners
I have strung a lot of sticks with the East Coast Dye runner. I really like it! When properly installed, it gives the player an extremely tight sweet spot right under the shooting strings. With this mesh runner, the player has a very soft sweet spot with wide weaving that snuggles the ball where it should stay for cradles and shots. At the bottom, there is tighter controlled weaving to keep the ball above the sidewalls.20181229_133350One thing I will add. If the stick’s runner holes at the top are far apart, stretching the ECD runner top, it can be strung with a very high sweet spot, up into the crown of the stick. When the stick has runner holes that are not very wide, it is harder to set the sweet spot high in the stick, as the mesh stays longer at the top of the stick.

Mesh between the leathers
The issue I had with setting up the sweet spot is that the actual mesh down in the lower pocket of the stick has the same structure as the upper pocket and thus creates a natural low point that is a problem for keeping the ball above the sidewalls. I reworked this area by making the laces connect deeper inside the mesh. Still, I found it hard to set the sweet spot under the shooting strings.cruxmesh

Full Mesh
There are some amazing mesh pockets out now. The key detail that one needs to see is if the mesh has different diamond shapes within the pocket that gives us more control of where the ball sits in the sweet spot. The old full mesh were just mesh used in the men’s game. It did not allow for the ball to sit quietly in the sweet spot It did not stay between the “leathers” area. The newer mesh give us more control. It keeps the ball out of the base of the head and reduces the left/right movement of the ball in the pocket.

There are so many more coming out and it will be exciting how they work.

Two girls and a goal

Yesterday, I was working at my favorite school wall for wall ball, making sure my recent stringing jobs were properly set for play (one is a Christmas present). There was a goal nearby where two girls with four balls were chatting, sharing and shooting. Being a coach with passion, I approached and told them about my passion and asked if I could join them for a few minutes. I found that they are both sophomores at a school with a very solid program.

Because I believe that the stick is the most critical tool in playing, I asked to see their sticks. I traded them with the sticks I had been working on, so that they could keep shooting. As I expected, both sticks had very loose pockets and the shooting strings were too soft, so the ball, when thrown, would have no regular path out of the stick. To one of the girls I suggested she and her father could tighten her strings and I instructed her how. The other had some very creative person rework the shooting strings. So I started at the beginning and set her strings.

All during this I shared with them on new shooting ideas they had not yet tried. They worked on sidearm and 3/4 shots. They practiced while I strung and appeared to pick it up quickly and enjoy the newfound skills. I had the opportunity to use their practice to teach them about how the lower hand and upper hand both have to work together to produce more shot opportunities, how to use them both to “target” their passes and shots. After some questioning, I am confident they will be adding some more skills to their games and have more fun with a game I love.

It was a great time for a coach.