The Mark I head is the stiffest head I have encountered to date. One thing I do with all of my head reviews before I even string up a head, is squeeze the head and feel out its stiffness. I can’t stress how stiff this head is. The versatility of this head is amazing too. They face shape is wide enough for any player at any position and it is super light as well. StringKing Claims that this head can perform with any kind of mid-high to mid-low pocket, so I decided to put a solid 3X mid pocket replicating the Evo 2.0 X M1 pocket. Honestly though there are so many holes in the sidewall (19) that you could throw any pocket in there and be golden.
Throwing around was as consistent as I expected it to be. Shooting is when I noticed an interesting difference. Most heads will flex a decent amount when a hard shot is taken. Sometimes this is good and sometimes this is very bad. I didn’t feel any kind of flexing with the head and I think it may have made shooting a more consistent thing for me. It’s hard to explain, but I wasn’t adjusting my hands or shooting motion based on how hard I wanted to shoot, which I know I have had to do in the past with flimsy heads.
The A7150 is a dream for me. When I reviewed the Metal shaft, I wasn’t too sure how well it would stand to the constant beating of being a short stick defensive midfielder. I felt like it would break from a decent crosscheck. The A7150 is much stronger than the Metal or Metal Plus, but just as light (140g) and it could absolutely stand the beating of a two way midfielder. The grip is also a little bit more sandpaper-y which I really like.
I think the most ridiculous part about both the Mark I and the A7150 is their price point. Both are $69.99 ($109.99 for defense and $79.99 for goalie shafts) and are backed by very promising warranties, 3 months for the head and 2 months for the shafts. Top of the line products at this price are very hard to come by. I’m excited to see where StringKing goes from here, but for right now, they’re bringing quality products to the table.
