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Performance mesh wax mesh
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How Performance Mesh Took Over the World

Performance mesh is ubiquitous now, but how did we get here?

We all remember the day wax mesh took over the lacrosse world; this new type of mesh could withstand any weather and always held its ideal pocket shape.

From East Coast mesh to Throne mesh and everyone in between, it was revolutionary to even think about at the time. I can vividly recall stringing up my first piece of wax mesh in middle school, thinking about how game changing it seemed at the time.

Then came all the custom colors and fade mesh that added so much design to our once-dull and dismal lacrosse heads. The idea to coat mesh in a wax and oil blend was like flying cars to older generations. Well, maybe not to that degree, but you get my point. Despite how simple the idea was, this new wax mesh at the time sure had us burning holes in our wallets.

And thus, the wax mesh era began.

While wax mesh had its dominant time in the spotlight and offered great variation to hard mesh and soft mesh, it has almost completely faded away. Some companies still sell it, but we all know there is a new type of revolutionary mesh that has since taken over: performance mesh.

The first time I can recall seeing performance mesh was from the then-small company StringKing. Type 1 StringKing mesh started the performance game with a type of mesh that could withstand the weather and had great durability. The major difference from wax mesh was that this new performance mesh was lightweight and didn’t leave any waxy residue on your sidewalls after restringing. It also seemed to be more design-advanced compared to mesh of the past.

This stuff was truly revolutionary to the game of lacrosse.

Soon after this originally released, many other former wax mesh contenders shifted their focuses to developing their own performance mesh lines. Now, we live in a world where performance mesh is the standard. I rarely find players using anything but performance mesh today.

The funny and almost sad thing is that when I ask a young player about hard or soft mesh, they have little to no idea what I mean. The game is shifting, and so too is mesh tech. Have we seen the best of performance mesh? I surely think not. I have no doubt the mesh game will continue to develop as the game does. I look forward to the future adaptations and developments that will change the way we play the game.

We could try to predict the future of mesh, but that would really be pointless. Both wax mesh and performance mesh were born out of a sense of necessity. Someone saw a need for a better type of mesh, and they created it. That’s how the best innovative products come about, and lacrosse mesh is no exception to that.

What’s next? What will you create? Will it change the way we play the game forever?