At a time when premier hockey sticks are quickly inching toward the $300 mark, the folks over at Verbero hit the market with a new offering that has great features at an affordable price point, but how does the Verbero Latigo Pro hockey stick compete with some of the other high-end products on the market? Read our full review below!
Specifications:
- Verbero Latigo Pro Grip Senior Hockey Stick
- 415 grams
- 95 flex
- PM19 curve
- Grip Finish
- Modifications: Cut down approximately one inch
Features:
- Mid-low flex profile for quick release
- Two way concave shaft for improved control and comfort
- Mid-hosel two-way fuse prevents torsion in the lower shaft
- PhantomLite wetting technology prevents air pockets during the manufacturing process
- Exclusive E800 3K twill weave Carbon Fiber construction
- Dual ridge blade with a responsive poly foam injection for increased durability and enhanced feel.
Design and Construction:
With the Latigo Pro, Verbero is looking to offer a stick containing the best features at an affordable price. According to the company’s website, only Verbero sticks feature Phantomlite technology, which eliminates air pockets and manufacturing imperfections to deliver consistent quality and perfect balance. A mid h
osel two way fuse prevents torsion in the lower shaft, offering more stability on all aspects of the game and greater accuracy on shots, and dual ridge blade construction with a responsive poly foam injection for increased durability with enhanced feel and playability. It provides a soft yet firm blade feel and helps prevent blade torque.
By manufacturing the stick with a combination of space grade carbon and resin, Verbero has reduced the weight of the stick while still offering a strong level of durability. The stick is also run through the Durotec Weight Reduction process, which also helps keep the weight low. In fact, at 415 grams, the Latigo Pro is lighter than the CCM RBZ Speedburner and Easton Stealth CX, although it’s slightly heavier than the Bauer Vapor X1. This was evident the first time I picked up the stick and I was surprised how light and well balanced it felt.
Shades of the design reminded me of the Easton Mako, mostly in terms of the white and gray coloring, although the Latigo Pro also incorporates some black elements into the overall color scheme. The stick doesn’t offer much in respect to graphics or innovative design, with the dominant graphic element a cross-hatch pattern running down the majority of the shaft. This makes the Latigo Pro a fairly minimalist design overall and I’d love to see them do more with their next generation of sticks.
Performance:
I’ve always been impressed with Verbero’s products in the past, so I was excited to get the Latigo Pro out on the rink and see what it could do.
I opted to go with the 95 flex, but I wish I’d gone a little stiffer. The stick tends to feel a little flimsy in your hands and not as rigid as some other top-end sticks, giving it a feel more akin to the old shaft + blade combos than a one-piece stick. Regardless, this didn’t seem to effect the stick’s performance.
The poly foam injection blade offers good puck feel for skaters. It’s not the best I’ve used, but I’d at least put it on par with many other name brands I’ve tested in the past few months.The energy transfer for shots is good, too. The stick loaded up a surprising amount of power on slapshots. Wristers and snapshots were a tad more inconsistent for me, but I think this was mostly due to the lie of the blade because when I got a good shot off, it felt great coming off the stick and had very good power. Accuracy was so-so, but, again, this could have been because of the lie of the stick in conjunction with my shooting style. Throughout my time using the Latigo Pro, I just couldn’t seem to get a good handle on precision placement of the puck.
Another area where I was pleasantly surprised was in the stick’s durability. The “flimsy” feel of the stick gave me pause, so I put some extra effort into testing its durability—particularly the slash zone. On more than one occasion, I set the stick up and took some major whacks at it, but I couldn’t get it to break. After a few months of use, there aren’t any pieces rattling around inside, no stress fractures when I flex the stick, and the shaft and blade still look great. This is definitely a strong feature for the Latigo Pro.
Overall Impressions:
In Verbero’s first foray into the hockey stick market, they hit the nail on the head. For your average rec league player, the Latigo Pro offers good all-around performance and solid durability at a VERY friendly price point of $150, compared to $250+ for the top-end sticks from name brand manufacturers. This makes the Latigo Pro a great value for rec leaguers who want a little more from their hockey sticks but don’t want to pay hundreds more—and also don’t want to sacrifice durability for performance.
Interested in purchasing the Verbero Latigo Pro? Head over to Verbero’s website now.
Was sent one as a sample played two games with it, felt very cheap. Like the old green easton 55s. Had a solid kick point and flex but broke after two basic beer league games.