Lacrosse Head Including Pre-Fabricated Pocket Area

Abstract

A stand-alone, rigid lacrosse pocket is formed from a piece of mesh netting that is shaped to exhibit a desired pocket contour. Once shaped, a coating of stiffening material is applied to the netting and embeds within the shaped mesh netting to “fix” the desired pocket contour and form a rigid lacrosse pocket. The rigid lacrosse pocket is thereafter attached to a conventional lacrosse head, using the same stringing technique as commonly used to attach the mesh netting to the head. Advantageously, by pre-fabricating the lacrosse pocket, the need to “work” the netting into the desired shape is eliminated, and a player can quickly and easily change pockets as necessary. A method of fabricating the stand-along, rigid lacrosse pocket is also disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A stand-alone, rigid lacrosse pocket comprising
 a mesh netting shaped to exhibit a desired pocket contour; and   a coating of stiffening material covering and embedded within the shaped mesh netting to fix the desired pocket contour and form the rigid lacrosse pocket.   
     
     
         2 . A stand-alone, rigid lacrosse pocket as defined in  claim 1  wherein the coating is formed of a material impervious to water. 
     
     
         3 . A stand-alone, rigid lacrosse pocket as defined in  claim 1  wherein the coating is an aerosol-applied coating. 
     
     
         4 . A stand-alone, rigid lacrosse pocket as defined in  claim 1  wherein the coating is a rubber material. 
     
     
         5 . A stand-alone, rigid lacrosse pocket as defined in  claim 1  wherein the coating is an acrylic material. 
     
     
         6 . A stand-alone, rigid lacrosse pocket as defined in  claim 1  wherein the mesh is shaped to include a sweet spot in the desired pocket contour. 
     
     
         7 . A stand-alone, rigid lacrosse pocket as defined in  claim 6  wherein the sweet spot is selected from the group consisting of: low-depth, middle-depth and high-depth. 
     
     
         8 . A stand-alone, rigid lacrosse pocket as defined in  claim 6  wherein the mesh is further shaped to include a speed indentation between the sweet spot and a base termination of the pocket. 
     
     
         9 . A method of making a stand-alone, rigid lacrosse pocket, the method comprising the steps of:
 a) providing an individual piece of mesh netting;   b) shaping the individual piece of mesh netting to form a desired pocket contour; and   c) prior to attaching the shaped individual piece of mesh netting to a lacrosse head, covering the shaped individual piece of mesh netting with a coating material to fix the desired pocket contour and form the stand-alone, rigid lacrosse pocket.   
     
     
         10 . The method as defined in  claim 9 , wherein in performing step b), the method includes the steps of:
 placing the individual piece of mesh netting over a form including a pocket-shaped aperture;   removably attaching the individual piece of mesh netting to the form; and   working the mesh netting to create the desired pocket contour.   
     
     
         11 . The method as defined in  claim 10 , wherein in performing step c), the method includes the steps of:
 applying the coating material to the mesh netting while the mesh netting remains attached to the form; and   once the coating material has dried, removing the rigid pocket from the form.   
     
     
         12 . The method as defined in  claim 11 , wherein the coating material is applied as a spray to the mesh netting.