With the release of the new Tactik 3.0 and Havok 2.0, let’s dive into what makes Maverik’s latest releases so popular and look over what changes they’ve made to the new models. But first, we have to understand what made these heads popular in the first place. These heads initially gained traction due to the new STX Forward Cant design.
What is the STX Forward Cant? The initial backward tilt of the STX Forward Cant was designed to increase the trajectory of your passes. This means you don’t have to take your stick back as far when passing. Less wind up means you pass the ball sooner, thus a quicker release.
The abrupt arrival and departure of the Forward Cant design is a time we might not see again given the new growing trend of head manufacturers tending to the specific needs and wants of current players. The most exaggerated form of the Forward Cant we saw was shown in the STX Ultra Power which was designed with increasing shot speed to its maximum potential in mind through the Power Ramp.
While this head was very successful initially, players quickly realized that to play with a head like the Ultra Power, a player must create a new set of mechanics that might not be as viable in different situations such as a box lacrosse game or in tight situations on the crease. While the forward leaning design surely added a couple miles per hour on the few wind-up shots a player might have in a game, the need to wind-up for any crease shot made this head less desirable.
While the Power Ramp may have had its flaws in the shooting game, Maverik found that giving the stick a Forward Cant has more positives when you apply it for ground balls. If the head points forward from the pocket depth more, your bottom hand won’t have to get as low on groundballs. With that, Ground Control was born and with it came designed into the new and improved Tactik 2.0 and the infamous original Havok.
When these heads came out it was difficult to go to a summer tournament and not see an LSM with a Havok or a midfielder with a Tactik 2.0 on any given field. Not only were both heads wicked on groundballs, but Maverik had also toned down the Forward Cant just enough to where it had perfected the release angle for shooting with a pole (Havok) or short-stick (Tactik 2.0).
So here we are back in 2022 and there is a new rendition of these once wildly popular heads, so what has changed from the old models to the new ones?
Havok 2.0
- Narrower Face Shape
- More aggressive Flare
- Less return (Forward Cant from original offset point)
- More aggressive offset
- More defined pocket placement (based on angle from original offset point to deepest point of bottom sidewall)
- More pointed scoop
Tactik 3.0
- More aggressive offset
- More return (Forward Cant from original offset point)
- More defined pocket placement (based on angle from original offset point to deepest point of bottom sidewall)
- More pointed scoop
While these terms make sense to me, it really matters if they make sense to you. In layman’s terms, the Havok 2.0 will feel like the ball sits a bit lower and deeper in the head, your channel will be more defined, the ball will not come out as aggressively as the last model but you will still feel it, the ball won’t push up towards the shooting strings as much, and the head will not feel as wide.
On the Tactik 3.0 side, the ball will feel like it sits lower and deeper in the head, the ball will release with more Forward Cant and likely more juice to it. However, it won’t push up towards the shooting strings as much as the more pointed scoop will pull your channel up and make it more defined.
So will these new releases reach the popularity of their originals? That’s for you to decide. I can rant about head metrics all I want, but at the end of the day it is all theoretical and the only way to really know if a certain head will fit your game or not is to string it up and try it yourself.
