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.
In addition to Mayan Cherry's Janka hardness of 2700 lbf, it has a Modulus of Elasticity (stiffness) of 2745 kpsi, which means it has a bit less flex than an average wood shaft but has more of a solid feel for dealing out hard checks to keep opponents in line.
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?
Mayan Cherry's color tones typically range from honey browns to reddish browns with some occasional chocolates.
In addition, the fine, light parenchyma ring patterns provide thin colored lines that will add to the character of your project once a finish is applied.
The wood is considered to have a "rugged" look that achieves an "exotic appearance" but generally is considered to be less attractive than other Tomahawk Lacrosse hardwoods.
Mayan Cherry's grain is incredibly hard, but it is known to "tear out" when cut, which is why Mayan Cherry shafts aren't as smooth looking as our other woods.
However, its grain is almost always straight and it has incredible hardness, so it will be very hard to dent as well as very durable on the field.
The most important aspect of the shaft is the type of wood it's made with.
Mayan Cherry is an extremely hard wood from Belize; in fact, it's one of the hardest out there.
Mayan Cherry 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
Mayan Cherry 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 1 lb 8 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.
