I've been emotionally and physically shaken up by the new stringing rules imposed by the NCAA. How could they take something so personal away from the player? The stick is an extension of your body. Players sleep with their sticks, take them to class, on the bus, on dates, and etc.
There was a time when you were defined by how your pocket looked, but times they-are-a-changin'. Lacrosse used to be like kickball. You could pinpoint who the best players were simply by looking at their pocket.
Now, every stick will virtually look the same. Shooting strings cannot be lower than four inches from the top of your head (no "V" or "U"). The NCAA, oblivious coaches, and lame fans wanted to take "hold" away from the player, in order to speed up the game by encouraging the ball to fall out more. More turnovers equates to more fastbreaks, which in turn, leads to a faster game. I don't necessarily agree.
Here's a quote from one of our best resident stringers:
If someone wants to come up with a 6 inch iroquois topstring, and string the middle of the head so tight that it has whip and can still throw and hold the ball, it should be legal. It would go against the spirit, but not the letter of the rule.
Moreover, where does the Iroquois Top String fit in? Analyze the pictures I've included and ask yourself this question, "can I get away with it?"
Hypothetically, if there aren't any shooting strings within my pocket, can I do an Iroquois Top String down to the middle of my stick? The top string is just one example of a player showcasing his stringing ability. Will we see a lack of creativity in stringing in 2013?
ttyl,
B.R.O.
17 comments
The rule states that you may not have a shooting string lower than 4 inches from the top of the head (Plastic). In my read of the rule, the Iroquois portion of the stringing is perfectly fine. What makes any of these heads illegal is the presence of any of the throw strings.
Head #1: The lower hockey lace is illegal, the upper one is borderline
Head #2: The hockey lace is illegal, remove that and the head is fine
Head #3: Hard to tell because you don’t see the rest of the head but the bootom throw string makes it illegal
Head #4: Can’t see the whole head but you may be fine with that
Head #5: The lowest black hockey is borderline but everything else is legal.
A general rule of thumb that I have been able to apply in creating a measuring template for this rule: in a normal mesh head, you hare free to have anything across the top 8 rows of the mesh. You are on the border with the 8th row, anything below that is a no go.
If you read the rule, you might realize it only refers to shooting strings. If there aren’t any shooting strings, what makes it illegal? Watch your mouth, punk.
If you read the rule, you might realize it only refers to shooting strings. If there aren’t any shooting strings, what makes it illegal? Watch your mouth, punk.
“Hypothetically, if there aren’t any shooting strings within my pocket, can I do an Iroquois Top String down to the middle of my stick?”
think before you speak
“Hypothetically, if there aren’t any shooting strings within my pocket, can I do an Iroquois Top String down to the middle of my stick?”
think before you speak