OUTDOOR PLAYER-STICK GUIDE

This guide explains Mercian’s outdoor player-stick logic

Use it for outdoor bend / shape and response decisions. Indoor and goalkeeper sticks have their own specialist shapes and guides, so their labels should not be inferred from this guide.

MERCIAN STICK BENDS

Which hockey stick bend should I use?

Choose the shape from the skills you actually use.

The bend of a hockey stick changes where the curve sits and, on some shapes, how the face or head is formed. That can make certain techniques easier to execute. It does not tell you how good the stick is, what carbon level you need, or what level of player you are.

Start with the skills that matter most to your game. A more specialist bend is useful only when its specialist features solve a real playing need.

Not sure where bend fits into the whole decision? Start with Guided Stick Choice.

QUICK GUIDE

Start with the hockey you actually play

Simple, manageable all-round handling and no specialist low-bow need

StandardStraighter, straightforward all-round route

Passing, hitting and a broad mix of modern skills

ProBroad all-round low-bow route

Drag flicking, aerials, lifting and 3D skills are central

Ultimate V2Aggressive specialist low-bow route

Reverse-stick play, lifting and close 3D handling are major priorities

XtremeSpecialist low-bow / face-shaping route

A concave face materially helps flicking, aerial work and ball-cupping

DSHConcave-face specialist route
01STANDARD

Simple, straighter and all-round

Standard is Mercian's simple, straighter all-round route.

Choose it when easy all-round handling and core skills matter more than specialist low-bow shape. It is a natural place to start for many younger players and first or early-stage sticks, but that does not make it a lower-quality bend.

Do not assume

Standard is not something a player has to “progress beyond”. If specialist shape does not solve a real need, straightforward can be exactly right.

02PRO

The broad all-round low-bow route

Pro is Mercian's broad all-round low-bow route.

Choose it when passing, hitting and a broad mixture of modern skills matter more than one specialist technique.

Do not assume

Pro does not mean basic. It is an all-round shape used across Mercian's performance range.

03ULTIMATE V2

Aggressive specialist low bow

Ultimate V2 is Mercian's aggressive specialist low-bow route.

Choose it when drag flicking, aerials, lifting or 3D skills are genuinely important enough to your game to influence the shape of the stick.

Do not assume

Do not choose Ultimate V2 simply because you are an advanced player. The specialist shape should earn its place through the hockey you actually play.

04XTREME

Specialist low-bow and face shaping

Xtreme is Mercian's specialist low-bow / face-shaping route.

Choose it when reverse-stick play, lifting, drag flicking and close 3D handling are central enough that the specialist shaping is useful.

Do not assume

Xtreme is not a player-level label and is not automatically better for all-round play.

05DSH

Concave-face specialist route

DSH is Mercian's concave-face specialist route.

Choose it when ball-cupping, flicking, aerial or overhead work and 3D skills are important enough that the scooped face should influence the choice.

Do not assume

DSH is a specialist tool, not a universal upgrade.

AFTER BEND

Once you have chosen the bend, compare the response

Choosing the bend does not finish the decision. Several current Mercian sticks can use the same bend but respond differently.

When you choose a bend, the next view will show every current Mercian stick available in that bend, organised from softer and more forgiving through to more direct and powerful where those options exist.

1Bend / shape
→
2Response / feel
→
3Individual stick
→
4Price, availability & preference

Nothing should disappear from the choice unless it genuinely does not match the bend you selected.

See the complete Mercian current-range map

SEPARATE DECISIONS

What the bend does not decide

Fit & lengthThe right physical fit is a separate decision.
ConstructionBend does not decide the right carbon percentage or lay-up.
ResponseBend does not decide how stiff, powerful, soft or forgiving the stick should feel.
Buying nowBudget, price, stock and availability come later.

IF TWO BENDS SOUND RIGHT

Ask which skill is important enough to change the shape

If specialist low-bow skills are central to your game, compare the specialist routes that support them. If they are not, keep the shape broader and solve power, touch and feel through the construction instead.

For first and early-stage sticks, Standard may already be the right answer because the priority is simple, manageable all-round handling. For performance composite sticks, Pro is the broad all-round route when no specialist shape has a material advantage.

REPLACING AN OLDER MERCIAN?

Keep old and current bend names distinct

Older Mercian sticks may use bend names such as Ultimate, HEX or Mid. Those names stay out of the current-choice guide so old and current ranges are not mixed together.

If you are trying to replace an older stick, identify the model and approximate year first. Then compare what you want to preserve or change against today's current options rather than assuming there is a direct successor.

THE SIMPLE VERSION

Choose bend for the skills it materially helps.

Then use response and construction to choose between the sticks that remain.

A more specialist bend is not automatically a better bend.

CURRENT OUTDOOR STICK VIEWS

See every current stick in the bend / shape route you chose

Standard and Pro currently share the governed all-round result view while Mercian’s product-source labelling is normalised. The specialist bend routes remain distinct.

All-round / Standard / ProUltimate V2XtremeDSHUnderstand response / feel

LEGACY BENDS STILL AVAILABLE

Mid

Mid remains discoverable as a distinct legacy shape while legacy stock is being sold. It is a 22 mm bend positioned 300 mm from the head and is not part of Mercian’s current 2026 bend set.

See the legacy Mid-bend option