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New York Lizards vs. Florida Launch Credit: Casey Kermes MLL Players Use Orange Sticks
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Why Don’t More MLL Players Use Orange Sticks?

Why don’t more MLL players use orange sticks? Chris Rosentall recently tweeted something about this the other day, and he brought up the fact that both Casey Powell and John Grant Jr. both use orange heads. His tweet was somewhat tongue in cheek, but perhaps it also raise a valid lacrosse question:

Looks like Sieverts is in this group now too:

If most people use white heads, white mesh, and white strings in their sticks because the ball is white, why don’t we see this happening in Major League Lacrosse at nearly the same rate, but with orange? If white is all the rage on levels where a white ball is used, why don’t 90% of the offensive guys in the MLL use an orange head? What about an all orange string job?

Ohio Machine vs Denver Outlaws 7.26.14 MLL Players Use Orange Sticks

Let me answer that second question first. In order to keep the players from hiding the ball in their sticks too much, the league actually does have a rule which prohibits the use of orange mesh, sidewall string, or shooting strings, but this orange ban does not extend to the actual plastic of the head itself. So players can use orange heads, but only orange heads.

Conceivably, the orange of the head and the orange of the ball could confuse the goalie, and give the shooter a fraction of a second’s advantage, which can be a difference maker when the ball is moving so fast, and from such a diverse set of possible angles. While the orange head may not hide the ball, it could create an additional orange object for a goalie to track, and that could make his job harder. I’ve never seen this tested, but I’m sure the results would be fascinating however it turned out.

bayhawks_lacrosse_mll

A solid number of Denver Outlaws players use orange heads, but orange is part of the team’s color scheme, so it makes sense, and perhaps this is why Jr does what he does. He did use a blue head for a long while, and used white before that, but maybe he’s just picked up a new trick? As for Powell, maybe he just found a pocket that he liked and it happened to be in an orange head. I wouldn’t put it past him, but somehow, I doubt it. He’s just too smart and cagey not to be doing it for some reason. Maybe he’s just showing off his allegiance to Syracuse?

To be fair, I don’t know that a white ball in a white stick is any harder to see than a white ball in a dyed head, and the same goes for orange. But I do know that the white ball in white stick trick has long been a widely held belief amongst college players. So I’m curious why the MLL guys aren’t following suit in huge numbers. Heck, Zack Greer has been using a neon green stick and he plays for the Denver Outlaws, who actually wear orange.

outlaws_lacrosse

Maybe the pro guys have figured out that the color of the head of a lacrosse stick makes no difference whatsoever. Or maybe we’re going to start seeing orange heads on offensive guys become the norm. Either way, it’s a minor detail, but ever since Rosie tweeted about it, it’s been bugging me.

Can anyone shed some light on what is really going on here? Does this actually work? Why are Casey and Junior using orange? And why aren’t more MLL players trying this out for themselves?