LAST WEEK

The last lacrosse head that I strung was done with a pita pocket.  This is similar to traditional but is a small variation.  The little difference though made it so much easier to string though.  Don't take me wrong, it was still very time consuming and a pain but it was a lot more relaxed and I could leave it and take a break.  This is due to the fact that the pita pocket is made up of five parts.  This means that you are able to do one and take a break, whereas with traditional you have to do it all in one sitting.  The fact that I was able to get up and take a break was a huge help because I wasn't constantly frustrated as I was with the traditional head.  It was also less of a pain because at most I was pulling through 6 feet of crosslace compared to the ten yards I was pulling through with the traditional head.  This helped to keep me from getting mad because I never threw the head because the rope got tangled.  It also made it quicker because each loop didn't take a couple of minutes of pulling string through.  What I also liked about the pita pocket was the fact that I could see the pocket while I was stinging the head because I did the middle first.  This made it a lot easier to know what I had to do than with the traditional where I had no idea what the pocket would look like.  One thing that was a pain though was finding out how long all of the strings had to be because none of my resources really touched upon it.  It's meant that I cut big pieces to make sure they'd work and cut it down on the copy on the opposite side.  I really shouldn't be complaining though, as I did do traditional last week and the crosslace I was pulling through was
I mainly relied on the help of a video by Weston from Colorado who makes a living stringing heads.  This video was helpful because I could see everything he was doing and mimic him.  He was also very informative in what he said while stringing.  These details combine made a huge difference, and mad it immensely easier to follow the process than any pictures or literature on the topic could have.  All that I wish is that I had seen his tutorial on traditional stringing while I did it because it would have helped my cause greatly.  As I stated last week I also used laxallstar.com for some help, as it is very informative with detailed instructions, and also has pictures as demonstrations, but I did mainly use the YouTube video made by Weston from Colorado for the majority mainly because the fact that he was doing everything infront of me so that I knew how to do every detail.

Week 5

This week I finished up my traditional stringing.  It was very annoying to do in the way that there was just so much string involved.  For every weave I had to pull through yards of string and sometimes it ends up being even more when it gets tangled and confusing.  It seemed to get tangled almost every weave too.  After a handful of goes though i started to learn a trick, and whether it was that, or the fact I had half as much sting, it didn't seem to get tangled nearly as much.  Another pain with this form of stringing is the fact that you cannot tell how it is going to come out until the end.  With mesh you can somewhat see the pocket that will come and edit it due to what you see.  For traditional on the other hand, all that you can see is the sides and you really have no idea what it is going to look like.  Lastly, it is also a pain that it is so hard to notice problems, let alone go back and fix them.  Stringing traditional is so methodical and such a long process that, in the process, you get numb to changes because you get more worried about being done.  The main time that you do notice the problems though is when you are actually done the stringing and at that time it is pointless to go back because you will usually have to redo the whole thing.  For that reason, it shouldn't be recommended for inexperienced people, because they will probably mess it up and just find it a pain.  This is where I found an idea for my TED talk.  The idea being that harder work might make a better product, but it is only true if you have the skill to get the most out of that work.  In other words, if you leave someone trying something for hours with no clue what they are doing or how to do it, there will not  be a better product than the easy way.  If you give an experienced person the same time though they will get a much better product out of the time, and that is where hard work and experience combine to make the best product.
I also started to work on my final project.  This stinging is called a Pita Pocket.  This stinging is a newer twist on the traditional stinging.  It is one of the more commonly found ways, and is known as one of the best.  It still uses the four leathers and the crosslace mesh but it is done a bit differently creating a different pocket.
For these different pockets I used a couple of sources.  My main source for the traditional was elacrosse.com.  It wasn't as effective later in the project as earlier, but it was trill helpful, especially since there were so little sources on traditional.  The Pita Pocket on the other hand had many more helpful sources.  A couple of the best sources that I could find were Weston from Colorado on youtube, and http://sweet.laxallstars.com/how-to-string-a-pita-pocket/.  Laxallstars is helpful because it offers pictures of every step of the project, and the pictures are clean and easy to understand.  It also offers examples of every different step.  Weston from Colorado is also helpful for the reason that you can physically see the process going on.  You can see someone actually doing the work and in that way you are able to copy it more exactly and have a more accurate example because it is not only of what the product will be, but also of what you must do.

Vlog

Week 4

This week was different from the past few.   Instead of using mesh to string a head I went tradition stringing it with the method called traditional.  This way of stringing is much more challenging and time-consuming for the fact that it doesn't have the majority of the work done, as mesh does, but you essentially have to make the mesh.  You do this by weaving the cross-lace, or the small strings, in and out and tying them off to the leathers.  This allows for more ambiguity but also offers more room for mistake.  Traditional often has more whip and allows the person stringing to put more personal touches on the stick because they can change small details, but it takes much more time and it harder to do or fix.  It is also much harder to find directions on how to do it.  Because most people stringing heads opt for the mesh method, there is little material online for how to string one in the traditional format.  What often comes up are custom styles like the "Pitta Pocket" or the "Rocket Pocket" which are just stringer's custom variations on the traditional method.
The best source that I could find to string was by elacrosse.com.  This website offered pictures and directions on how to string the head.  This proved to be helpful because if I couldn't understand what they were describing then I could just examine the picture and do what I saw, which gave me a better understanding of what I had to do.  I also simply brought up pictures of traditionally strung heads on google and compared what they did and tried to copy them to come up with the same result.
I would also like to comment on my past heads, as I have gotten the chance to use them and really work with them.  The first weeks stringing has really diminished in quality, especially after playing in the rain.  From my experience with it, I am not a fan of the pro-mesh that I strung on it because it does not seem to keep it's pocket as well as basic hard mesh, and it is much easier to dirty.  It also seems to have less hold and is not as good for shooting.  Overall, I would not recommend this type of mesh, and may even restring my head soon because of how much it has deteriorated.

Week 3

Over the course of this week I spent my time stringing two heads of the same heads with identical techniques.  My brother wanted two of his redone so I did them both identically.  It is important to do them similarly because he needs to be able to switch at a moments notice.  Two heads are used in case one breaks, and in a game situation you have a limited time to switch between sticks and warm up.  When you do end up goin in you have to trust your stick and not second guess using it.  If there is even a slight difference then the users throwing skills will be greatly affected.  This week I also used a different type of mesh.  Instead of the Promesh that I used last week I used traditional hard mesh.  This mesh holds a pocket better after being strung but I noticed that it is much harder to stretch out.  Whereas with the Promesh it took me only a few minutes to stretch it, it took me about 15 to stretch the hard mesh.  I also used sidwall specific stringing.  This made it more dificult because it is thicker and rougher.  This makes the sting more annoying to fit through the holes, and more annoying on the hands.  The one good thing about the sidewall is since it is thicker it is also stronger and can likely work longer,  and is less likely to break.  I will likely post pictures of the heads tomorrow after I get  chance to pound the pocket more.
I also used two specific stringing styles for how I chose to string the heads.  I used stingings performed on Lax.com labeled, "Stringing with Boomer," and a STX sponsored Youtube teaching named, "Stringing with Tizzle."  Theses, combine with my experience from my first week culminated in what I feel to be the best project.
These upcoming weeks I will be something different.  Instead of the mesh stringings that I have done the past couple of weeks, I am going to start using leathers and cross laces.  I will be stringing traditional which is instead make of stringing  the cross laces together to create the mesh.  This stringing is also different for the fact that, whereas the other three either went into immediate use or are ready for use or are ready to be a backup.  This stringing is much more challenging and time consuming, and for that reason I am delegating two weeks to the work instead of the usual one.

1st stringing

My first head was strung using ProMesh from JimaLax.com

Week 2

           This week was mainly devoted to research.  I worked to find sources and instructions on how to string may different ways.  I found sources for Stringing with mesh, stringing traditional, and stringing many custom styles.  These sources can come in handy all throughout the project as good ways to start, but I will still need further sources for every different style as I may learn that I need something better or different when I go about trying it.  I have also decided to combine styles as to maximize or fix what other people have had.  Many of the techniques have details that may make the mesh, or center pocket part, lopsided.  If this were to happen then the ball would come out differently based on different situations.  For example, one that it strung in a direction with knots going to the left may pull the ball to the left.  All though this may not be a major issue when throwing the ball righty, when throwing the ball left this may become an problem.

          I also waited until the end of the week to string my first head and will be doing so tonight and over the weekend.  This is due to the fact that I will be restringing my main stick (the one I always use) and, as this was the first week of lacrosse, it was important that I kept things the same all week.  I am stringing a specialty soft mesh for attack which has mini diamond.  This mesh, called micro mesh is very difficult to string for the reason that there are so many more parts to attach to the head.  the thing about this mesh is it is one type that I have never tried.  I will try to string it with a similar style as regular mesh but skipping more diamonds.  This will be a nice challenge and I am wonder How it will turn out.  When I am done I will post pictures on the blog of all of the angles including top string, sidewalls, pocket and shooters.  Until then I will be working on making it.
*Sources are at the bottom of the page and commented on pages are to the right.