To say the lacrosse community is split on whether the STX Fuse is an expensive gimmick or an amazing piece of innovation is an understatement. The product certainly has it's haters...most of which have not seen it in person and have not used one. STX has been true pioneers in the design and manufacture of lacrosse equipment for over 50 years.
I remember taking to a member of the R&D team while visiting the STX HQ in Baltimore around 8 years ago about who he saw the future of sticks and I distinctly remember him saying that a lacrosse stick was more than likely to become a one piece design. At the time I must admit that I was skeptical to say the least. Around 2 years ago images of a one piece stick started to appear on social media, these were most likely leaked images as they were quickly removed. In January 2023 during a pre Laxcon meeting at the Bush Street HQ of STX I was lucky enough we see and try out a prototype of the Fuse, not only did it look a lot different but it had a unique feel to it and was extremally lightweight.
So what are the pros and cons of the STX Fuse.
Let's address the elephant in the room...
Price.
The Fuse is the most expensive women's lacrosse stick on the market. The price of women's lacrosse equipment really has gone up in recent years but the STX Fuse has leapfrogged all the other top end sticks to become the highest priced stick yet in the women's game and to be perfectly honest we hope this is price tag that other brands will stay clear of.
It's one piece design is cool but is is practical? Some players that travel need to remove heads from the handle to get sticks in a bag, not possible with the fuse. Being a one piece lacrosse stick also means that a brake in the plastic head of carbon handle makes the whole stick useless but in fairness we see very few breakages of women's heads of handles in modern women's lacrosse equipment.
But here come the pros, its unique piece of gear that provides improved ball feel and eliminates head rattle, so you can focus on what matters at practice and during gametime. Engineered with a high balance point really does give a superb feel when in possession of the ball. Women' lacrosse players love light sticks and the Fuse is incredibly lightweight but really does give you the feel of a high quality built product.
Years ago when rumor was that STX were designing a one piece lacrosse stick I was ready to hate on it but now it's the finished product I actually really quite like it.