Hands on with the TRUE AX9 pro stock

[VegasHockey 1280]

My store bought a bunch of TRUE AX9 pro stock sticks and I have been using two of them for about 2 weeks and roughly 30 hours of ice time so I figure I have a pretty decent amount of time with the sticks at this point to provide some feedback to others who are eagerly waiting for the retail version launch. This is not a review as I still need more time with the stick but I have had a lot of people message me, Instagram followers, asking about the AX9 as they know we got a bunch of them in at the shop. 

About me: 

• Age: 39 
• Height: 5'11"
• Weight: 185lbs
• Shoot: Right
• Preferred shaft flex: 70-80 (varies on stick and kick-point)
• Preferred blade pattern: P28/TC4/W28 (max height when possible) 
• Position: Center or Left Wing

Overall the stick feels like the next generation of A-series, which is good. I am a big fan of the A6.0HT and SBP as I have always felt they had a good feel and balance. My biggest issue with TRUE sticks has always been with the blade. The first generation XC9 the blade would fall apart, usually due to the urethane insert being exposed and not inside the actual blade itself, but also the toe of the blade would wear far too quickly. I think all versions of the A-Series had these issues as well, the tow of the blade always seems to wear out very quickly. I personally have never had a TRUE shaft fail, only blades with my TRUE sticks so the overall durability has been pretty good. When TRUE added the BRT+ it made things better as far as overall blade durability but the BRT didn't really address the issues I had with the toe of the blades continuing to fail far too quickly.

Disclaimer: I do not tape the toe of my stick, and yes, I shoot off the toe, so this contributes to wear but compared to any of the other brands of sticks I have used my TRUE sticks blades have always worn much faster and the resin itself delaminates. 

Now, on to first impressions. The looks are awesome. I like how they incorporated the chrome accent but left the rest of the stick fairly plain. I hate flashy sticks so I always felt TRUE has incorporated just the right amount of flair into their graphics. Enough so you recognize the stick brand but not overwhelming as Bauer has dont with the new Vapor series which is overly busy and too loud. 

The shaft shape on the AX9 is more like the Nexus, kind of flat on the sides with rounded corners. It's not as concave as the A-series and not as boxy as the X-series. It's my favorite shaft shape. The flat sidewalls give you a good stable grip and the rounded corners allow you to rotate your wrists nicely. 

The blade seems to be mostly the same, it does look like they did make some changes though as the blades now have a textured pattern. I am not sure if the retial model will come like this since these are pro stock versions but I hope they do release them with the textured pattern. I have never liked the fact that Warrior and TRUE retail sticks are very slick without any type of textured pattern on the blade. I can say that the durability of the new AX9 blade is much improved. After many games and drop-ins, I have seen a single mark on the blade whereas my other TRUE sticks would be showing some wear by now. 

Kickpoint seems to have been moved up a little making the stick much more dynamic. It's still easy to load but it doesn't feel like its a single use stick anymore. If the A6.0HT was comparable to the Vapor 1X Lite I would say this new model is more like a Warrior Alpha DX or a JetSpeed FT2. The kick point is still low, but not so low that you lose power when shooting or the shots come off the stick with low accuracy. The pucks fly off this thing. There were a few goals I nabbed from the top of the circle that the goalie just didn't even see soon enough to react. So if you are looking for a quick release this stick has that. I usually score from below the top of the circle but since I am getting a little more power into my shot I can shoot from a little further out. 

Weight! Thats the big thing here. Damn, this stick is light. TRUE says 393 grams and I would say that might be an understatement as mine came in at 389 before I cut it. I think 390-400 grams is a sweet spot for me when it comes to sticks so it's taking some time to adjust to a stick this light. Really hard passes are sometimes hard to cradle and there have been a few times when leaning into a one-time shot that I could feel the stick lose leverage to the puck due to how light it is. It feels lighter than 389 grams too! TRUE always talks about swing weight and while on paper the Vapor/Supreme ADV and such may be lighter if you hold this in your hand and swing it compared to those sticks the TRUE feels noticeably lighter. 

Overall I am very impressed with the new AX9. While I thought the A6.0 HT was a very solid stick it felt like it was designed more as a single-function stick and was not dynamic. It was good at quick release, but everything else was just good, not great. The AX9 has taken this up a notch and I think it does everything great. 

Edited February 14, 2020 by SkateWorksPNW

[Sniper9 529]

What flex ?

[stick9 890]

Pssst...

https://modsquadhockey.com/forums/forum/14-ops/

[VegasHockey 1280]

27 minutes ago, stick9 said:

Pssst...

https://modsquadhockey.com/forums/forum/14-ops/

Yeah, prob should have an admin move it there 😉

7 hours ago, Sniper9 said:

What flex ?

75 flex 

Edited February 15, 2020 by SkateWorksPNW

[Mario123 2]

Can anyone comment on how whippy or stiff the flex on True shafts is?

i find it seems to vary greatly among manufacturers. 

[Hills 712]

To me it varied between different True sticks. IIRC the True A6.0 SBP felt like it was 10 below the XC9 I was using. I couldn't pass with it because it was too whippy.

[VegasHockey 1280]

On 2/16/2020 at 1:25 PM, Mario123 said:

Can anyone comment on how whippy or stiff the flex on True shafts is?

i find it seems to vary greatly among manufacturers. 

The new AX9 plays very close to a Vapor Flylite in terms of stiffness comparison. It's definitely more stiff and the kick point is slightly higher than on the A6.0 HT model. 

[colins 246]

On 2/17/2020 at 6:26 PM, Hills said:

To me it varied between different True sticks. IIRC the True A6.0 SBP felt like it was 10 below the XC9 I was using. I couldn't pass with it because it was too whippy.

 

I find the A5.2 SBP the same - 85 Flex feels more like a 75 Flex Jetspeed or 77 Bauer Nexus. 

75 Flex A5.2 played too whippy for me.

[darkhors 88]

I have an 80 flex AX9 and it feels like what I would expect an 80 flex to feel like. In comparison, I have 2 Xcore9 Marner prostocks that are 80 flex and it feels pretty similar to those when they were new. The kick point is different, but I don't feel like i have to do anything different when playing with either one of those to load the stick properly. 

I had an older A6.0 and I agree that those felt at least one flex level lower than what you would expect. I had a 75 and it felt like I was playing with a 65. I couldn't get used to it because it was too whippy.

To me, it seems like they have solved that problem with the AX series though.

[Sniper9 529]

I found the a series 75 to be pretty damn good and can manage with the 68 intermediate. You guys think I should go with the 68 ax9 then, as the 75 would feel too stiff if I liked the 75 in the a series? I briefly had the xc9 in a 68 and it did seem a touch stiffer than my a6.0 in 68. Not by a full flex rating though, maybe 5 at most. 

[VegasHockey 1280]

9 hours ago, Sniper9 said:

I found the a series 75 to be pretty damn good and can manage with the 68 intermediate. You guys think I should go with the 68 ax9 then, as the 75 would feel too stiff if I liked the 75 in the a series? I briefly had the xc9 in a 68 and it did seem a touch stiffer than my a6.0 in 68. Not by a full flex rating though, maybe 5 at most. 

If you like a 75 in the A6x I would go with a 68 in the AX9. 

I should note that the shaft on the AX9 68 flex will be smaller than the 75 flex. TRUE changed the shaft dimensions for intermediate sticks this year so the dimensions are smaller than the previous years and the senior sticks. 

[Sniper9 529]

3 hours ago, SkateWorksPNW said:

If you like a 75 in the A6x I would go with a 68 in the AX9. 

I should note that the shaft on the AX9 68 flex will be smaller than the 75 flex. TRUE changed the shaft dimensions for intermediate sticks this year so the dimensions are smaller than the previous years and the senior sticks. 

Booooo! Well then I guess I'm going with the 75.... That really sucks. Appreciate the heads up on that. 

Edited February 20, 2020 by Sniper9