Surgeon

The STX Surgeon was the new for 2011 offensive minded STX head model. The throat is too narrow for NCAA play, but there is a Surgeon 10 that is NCAA legal. The Surgeon features the STX, ACP (All climate performance) technology that maintains head shape in all kinds of climate. The STX description for the Surgeon is of a head with a longer, contoured throat for enhanced control when cradling. The Surgeon has the side profile and forward cant shape that the STX Superpower also has. As I look at it, though, the forward movement of the shape or cant level is not that extreme. The look of the face is long and narrow and gives the head a pinched appearance.

STX rocked the Surgeon last year as their hot, new, feeder, finisher model, and they advertise quick release and pinpoint accuracy as hallmarks of this head, but a lot of that as ‘we’ all know is the pocket inside. The scoop blade is flat, smooth and measures a full inch across. The curve of the scoop across the top of the head is fairly extreme. The company calls it ‘pointed’, putting design emphasis on accuracy and pocket channeling. When resting the scoop on the ground very little plastic touches the grass or whatever. The scoop sides are fairly thick and should prove to be strong enough to maintain that ‘pointed’ top that they are going for.

The Surgeon weighs about 152 grams, putting it in the mid-range area of head weights. We like the Surgeon for attack men and midfielders that are offensive minded, and it has a little bit of a matted look to the finish, as in not that shiny, but it dyes well. Hole placement should make stringing and pocket maintenance pretty easy for most any pocket style. The Surgeon encourages a higher sitting pocket, in the Superpower tradition, and we recommend that the ball is cradled high in the face.

The ball stop sits flat on the throat in contrast to the Superpower that has the pedestal piece for the ball stop that stands well above the throat surface.

SCOOP RATING – Fair to average