So finally, one of us at Lacrosse Playground has gotten their hands on the new Warrior Warp. I’ve personally read a ton of reviews of the Warp and one thing that each review has said is that their review is unbiased. I honestly don’t understand how anyone of these people can write an unbiased review… A review is honestly one simple question; do you like this product? With one of two answers; yes or no. That is bias in its own right, but I digress. I’m going to split this up into the facts about the Warp and my opinion on it. Here’s my ‘unbiased’ review of the Warrior Warp. Take it as you will.
The Warp is the newest offering from Warrior Lacrosse, blah blah blah, you probably know all of this stuff. The facts about the Warp are that it is the newest rendition of the Evolution X, specifically the Evo 5, with a pocket made out of polypropylene, which is a really solid, water resistant, polymer. This plastic is also used in Tic-Tac cases and probably the plastic chairs you see in school. The strands of the plastic are connected to a Kevlar (ooooooh Kevlar) outter ‘thingy’ which connects it to the head for a super solid connection that isn’t meant to rip with normal gameplay and abuse.
The pocket is really water resistant, more so than many mesh products on the market, and the pocket retains its shape and has no break in time. Each and every mid/low/high pocket warp will throw the exact same. Best off all things, it’s college legal. Yay.
So those are the facts. Honestly, I Googled most of the information and just spit it back out to you. Here’s my opinion on this whole debacle. This isn’t meant to trash/praise Warrior, I’m just telling you what I think… get your pitchforks, get your torches. Here we go.
So my biggest problem with the Warp is that I just don’t feel secure with the ball at all. If you have ever used a pocket strung like Chris from Mainely Mesh strings his pockets, you know you are going to have a ton of hold in every direction. The Warp doesn’t give me that peace of mind that I need when playing. The ball wasn’t secure. It reminded me of when I tore my ACL and meniscus. If anyone has had a similar injury, you know what I mean when I say ‘your knee feels loose and unstable’. That’s how I felt with the Warp. I could pass just fine with it. Shooting took a while to get used to but I got the hang of it eventually. But cradling the ball through a hard dodge never felt normal to me and that is what I disliked the most.
The pocket is pretty hard basically all the time. I can’t really think of an example of its hardness. Maybe like brand new String King 1X, but that isn’t a good example because the ball doesn’t feel like it’s going to bounce out when you catch it when using 1X. The Warp always feels like it’s going to bounce out, even when it’s been used constantly for three weeks. Now this will probably make you have softer hands after using it for a while so maybe that’s what they were aiming for, but I was hoping for something that felt like a broken in piece of mesh.
There are things about this head that I like a lot. Like I said before, I can pass and shoot just as well with the Warp. It took a little bit of getting used to, but the way that my normal stick passes and shoots is the same exact way. There is a solid click off the scoop when you pass. A lot of people don’t like a click, but I absolutely love the click off the scoop. It gives a ton of extra feel for the ball in my opinion, without adding any whip. The Warp does extremely well in that regard.
My final conclusion of the Warp is that it’s not for me. I’d rather stick to my normal stick that I have been using for so long. THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE WARP IS A HORRIBLE PRODUCT. Anthony Falcone and I both test the products that we review extensively. Sometimes products are given to the both of us for reviews. It offers two separate opinions. This time, we unfortunately couldn’t get a Warp from Warrior, in fact this Warp isn’t owned by me, it’s my brother-in-law’s stick. That being said, he absolutely loves it. So my final conclusion on the Warp is that I do not have one a final conclusion. I don’t want to tell you to buy it or to not buy it. I want you to try it for yourself and see if it fits your game. If a buddy of yours has it, ask him to try it. See if you can mend your game to it. Obviously it isn’t a bad product if someone like Wesley Berg, Justin Pennington, and Kyle Hartzell are able to use it. If it fits your game, then by all means use it. If it makes you a better player, then by all means use it. If it doesn’t make you a better player, then don’t buy it. String your own sticks.
This brings me to my last part, it isn’t a part of the review, it is just an opinion that I need to get out there. The Warrior Warp WILL NOT ruin stringing. Ever. I say that in complete confidence, I have an associate’s degree in economics, and I’m working on a BS in two engineering fields. It is way too expensive for every company to market their own version of the Warp and String King and East Coast Dyes (among others) are not going anywhere. So please, stop bashing Warrior for trying to be innovative. This product is ridiculously inventive, great for the game, and its growth. Also, lacrosse is not that only sport that is “completely customizable” because of stringing a lacrosse stick. Baseball, yeah baseball, is just as customizable. No two broken in gloves are the same. They are molded to that specific player over time and each one is different. I digress, if you can get your hands on the Warp, try it, see if you like it, and make your own opinion.
