Stiffness and flexibility are inherently related to each other.
Stiffness in more technical terms is called Modulus of Elasticity, which essentially determines the solid feel of your lax shaft.
Lower stiffness creates higher flexibility, and vice versa.
A high stiffness creates more powerful checks while high flexibility creates more impact absorption to keep the ball in your stick when checked and is correlated with added whip on shots and long passes.
Granadillo has a very high stiffness of 2837 kpsi, which means that it is a shaft that is best suited for people who love to deal out hard checks every time they step on the field.
It has a rock solid feel to it, which also means that its flexibility is low for a Tomahawk Lacrosse shaft.
However, its flex and impact absorption is still better than all metal shafts, so if flexibility isn't a high priority Granadillo is the way to go.
Overall, Tomahawk lax shafts are significantly stronger than most other woods, so each wood's exceptional flexibility and checking strength are what creates slightly different "feels" when you wind up for a stick check, take a fast shot, and throw a long pass.
Below are the same woods in terms of stiffness/flexibility.
For information on flexibility, see the Compare Shafts page or the Flex Testing page for more details.
Modulus of Elasticity (psi) --- Flexibility vs. Stiffness
Every stick I supply is made with wood superior to most/all other wood sticks in the marketplace in regards to hardness, durability, and whip, which are key to success on the playing field.
Because of this, part of the decision process in choosing one of my sticks over the others may have to do more with its appearance than slight differences in functionality.
Let's face it, every player on the field wants to let out his inner lax bro a bit. What's cooler and more intimidating than walking on the field with the exotic grain structure of a Belizean hardwood shaft?
“Granadillo” is known to be quality hardwood that provides exceptional character, color and tonality.
It is prized for its reddish brown coloring that routinely includes blacks, violets and oranges mixed in.
It has proven itself time and again as a premiere choice for both musical instruments and furniture alike due to its hardness and its tonality, which stems from its smooth, consistent grain that minimizes weak spots on a shaft.
Granadillo's smooth "marbled" grain is what sets it apart as a beautiful exotic wood.
It is known to have straight grain patterns that vary for each shaft, and is also known to have frequent figuring, which tightens the grains (strengthening the shaft) and creates beautiful, "wavey" patterns that shine under the polyurethane.
As with all Platymiscium species, the heartwood is also extremely resistant to fungi and termite attack, which is due to its content of secondary metabolites, which attests to its hardness and strength.
The most important aspect of the shaft is the type of wood it's made with.
Granadillo is an extremely strong wood from Belize; in fact, it's one of the strongest out there.
Granadillo has a Janka hardness of 2700 lbf, which to most people doesn't mean much.
The Janka scale measures the wood's resistance to indentation and overall "hardness".
This isn’t a measure of durability in terms of snapped shafts, it’s a resistance to dents, but there is correlation.
In comparison, here are other woods you may have heard of:
Janka Hardness (lbs) --- Dent Resistance
Granadillo is harder than all of these, which is important in the game when you want to lay a hard check into your opponents and maintain a dent-free shaft.
Wood varies a lot in weight from tree to tree, so no shaft is the exact same in weight.
In fact, each shaft is unique in several ways, making your shaft different from all others.
My Mayan Cherry attack shafts average around 13 ounces, which is relatively light for an attack shaft.
While some lax players are drawn to lighter titanium or scandium alloy shafts, they are much more expensive and considerably weaker for a difference in only a few ounces! The wood's extra ounces of partially rotational weight are utterly unnoticeable even to the smallest 85 lb member of the lacrosse team and will not pose a problem on the field.
However, that extra weight will allow you to create SIGNIFICANTLY harder checks to your opponents, making you the most feared member of your team.
Although maybe not its most important feature, a wood lax shaft won't get cold as fast as a metal shaft would.
This means that when you're playing a game on a cold day, you hands will stay warmer than everyone else on your team.
Because each brand of lax heads is different, I do not drill a hole at the top of the shaft.
If you buy a shaft, you will have to drill a pilot hole that is slightly smaller than your screw, so that the screw will go in easily when you put on your head.
If I were to pre-drill a hole, it could be in the wrong place, which will make the shaft useless to you.
Drilling a hole is very easy, and will ensure that you don't compromise the shaft's structural integrity.
Also be sure to add a butt end to the bottom of the shaft.
