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The “Deal” With Traditional Stringing

StringKings recently dropped a new website on the world, and part of that website has been articles on lacrosse stuff. Their post on Traditional Stringing is a clear piece of troll bait, but I’ll bite on it, because I’m a sucker for stuff like that.

Let’s take a look at some of the ad hominem attacks on traditional stringing:

So we’ve been talking around the office for the last couple days about traditionally strung pockets. What’s the deal with them? Does anyone actually use one? Let me rephrase that, does anyone actually use one because it has performance benefits? I have plenty of friends that would use them to joke around with cause they thought they looked cool, but they were joking.

You know about Steele Stanwick, and all of the other guys on the All Traditional Team, right?

I know Steele Stanwick uses one, but that has to be for superstitious reasons.

Gotcha. I’ll assume the same for the rest of them.

His game can’t be improving with his proven inferior set up.

Yeah, the Stanwicks are not good. Wait, scratch that. The whole family is my hero.

They are heavier, less consistent, more vulnerable to break, less weather resistant, and more confusing to string.

False. False. True. False. True. 2 out of 5 ain’t bad.

Are they superior in any way? What am I missing here? Why do people still sell these bad larrys?

Ok, here we go.

I have had a lot of people string me mesh pockets. I can string a mean mesh pocket myself. I’ll take traditional any day. I get better hold, with a smoother and more consistent release with a well done traditional stick, and it can be diamonds or pita. The leather of the pocket stretches a bit with your cradle motion, and I can really feel the ball in my stick, wherever it sits. I don’t need V shooters either. My pocket can be customized 100%, and each tension points represents something I can change. If you have 35 tension points on a mesh stick, you have about 50 on a traditional. I’d say that is an easy point of superiority, especially for a stringer worth his salt.

What is Jake missing? A lot. But that’s ok! Here are the big complaints with traditional:

– In the rain, it bags out. This can be true of traditional, and it can be true of mesh, even waxed mesh, Ever played a game in cold rain with waxed mesh? Your pocket hardens right up. It’s science. How is that an advantage? Stretch your leathers, break in your pocket, and a traditional set up could actually be better in the rain. If you get your leathers from Chris Tiernan, they are already stretched AND waterproofed. I’d actually say they are better in the rain than mesh.

– It takes maintenance. It sure does! But if you’re one of those guys who is constantly messing with their stick, why is this a concern? If you can string your own pants off, don’t you want to use your skills? Nothing wrong with a little maintenance.

– It takes time to break in. This is just true. It’s part of life. Nice things take time to make nice. Put in the work, you’ll be rewarded.

– When your head breaks, it’s done. Not true! Check out the Tear Drop Top String and keep your pocket alive for MUCH longer!

It’s fine not to know about traditional, and why it’s so awesome. It’s what we’re here for.

Ok, enough from me. Answer the question below and settle this once and for all:

How Do You Feel About Traditional?