According to the STX Company website, in the early 1960's, the lacrosse players who would later start up STX, began experimenting with synthetic materials to create a lighter and more resilient stick. What they created became the lacrosse stick of the future. These "early" sticks had a solid double-walled head made of Dupont “Adiprene” urethane rubber affixed to a hickory shaft. Each stick was now the same weight and balance because they were made from the same material and the same mold every time. With this model, STX was awarded the first U.S. patent for a synthetic lacrosse stick and the game would never be the same. In 1970, the NCAA Lacrosse Championship game was still dominated by wooden sticks, but just one year later, the 1971 Championship Game was played using all synthetic sticks. STX has pioneered nearly every equipment innovation in the game. STX has been credited with numerous contributions to both the men's and women's game with several key products such as the straight double wall head, the mesh pocket, the pinched sidewall head, the open sidewall head, the forward canted head, the aluminum handle, the composite handle, the offset handle.
There are several important reason as to why this particular evolutionary step was so important. During the previous 100 years of competitive play within modern lacrosse, the all wooden one-piece lacrosse stick was very time consuming to produce. The quality of the wood was not consistent – many producers made trips to lumber mills to hand-select the wood that would eventually be used to craft the stick. Sticks were made specifically for players who were “lefty” or “righty” and that they were not really inter-changeable. As one would imagine, sticks that were made specifically for a left handed player were much more scarce than ones made for a righty and in many instances if a lefty stick would succumb to the stresses that were placed upon it during a fierce competition and splinter or break altogether – the player would be out of luck – and would have to switch to a right-handed version if they wanted to continue to play during that match. In addition to the likelihood of eventual breakage, players were also faced with sticks that were neither uniform in shape, balance, nor feel.
April 21, 1970 was yet another year that was critical within the evolution of the game of lacrosse. More specifically, US Patent number 3,507.495 was granted that provided for the following as taken directly from the abstract of the disclosure. “A substantially shatterproof lacrosse stick head has a closed pocket delineated by a transverse top wall and two side walls diverging upwardly and outwardly from a throat toward the top wall, the head components being formed of an elastomer characterized by toughness, impact resistance, and limited flexibility. A stop having divergent sides and similar physical properties is positioned within the head proper and has upwardly-outwardly divergent stop walls. A layer of relatively soft resilient material is positioned on the inner surface of the stop. A handle is detachably connected to the hand.”
Old School LAX Freak
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The Perfect GIFT !!!
For that Old Timer or Your High School Player
After 7 years in the making - I have decided to move forward with what I have been able to assemble and publish the book. I keep finding content - but had to draw the line somewhere. Currently, it is available through the BLURB.com website - but in the future - I hope to be able to offer it through many different outlets.
Do you have a picture of an old STX lacrosse stick to share - email us !
