Set-back Stickheads
The big headed 'Hook' also suffered for a short time from the appearance at the 1986 World Cup of the first sticks with set-back heads. There wasn't a significant impact but it (and others) added to the general confusion, as apparently 'everyone and his dog' were presenting new ideas in head shape. (Metal handled and fully composite sticks had not yet made an appearance so at the time the 'battle' was about head shape and length rather than materials and to a lesser extent, because hockey players at the time tended to be more 'traditionalist', the head/handle configuration. Even reinforcement with fiberglass and carbon fibre was not the issue it was later to become.
One hockey stick produced by AREC for the French inventor, Jean Capét, had the centre of the handle aligned with the centre of the horizontal length of the head. There was a lot of promotion based on 'rotational balance' and the 'sweet spot' and 'power hitting'. The 'Hook' certainly felt out of rotational balance, especially to those who had been playing with short-head sticks that had been made with a very thin 'toe', so as to concentrate the weight of the head closer to the shaft.
Aligning the centre of the handle with the centre of the horizontal length of a short-head, rather than with the centre of the ball created some unusual playing characteristics, for example, the reversed-stick ball position being further from the feet than the forehand ball position, which is the opposite of what happens with a conventional 'traditional' handle head configuration. (When the centre line of the handle aligns with the centre of the ball - or very nearly so - there is no or very little difference in ball position in relation to the stick or the feet of the player between the forehand and reverse playing positions.)
The AREC stick was initially produced without a significantly upturned toe and had a short horizontal length (approximately 105mm), it was in this regard similar to standard short-head sticks of the time. The lack of an upturned toe, combined with the unusual reverse ball position, caused some difficulty in adapting to the stick and when the horizontal head lengths of sticks began to be made longer, by popular demand. A stick with the handle aligned to the centre of the head length was no longer practical for playing hockey. Manufacture of it as an outfield stick ceased in the early 1990s, probably by 1992 but similar sticks, by other manufacturers, have appeared for goalkeeper use.
Read more about this topic: Field Hockey Stick