Mesh has no accuracy. That is also a proven fact. We have tried to correct it with V and U shooting strings, but its no use. If mesh had the accuracy of traditional, there would be nothing but mesh.

Traditional

You know, that one with the leathers. Yes, many people have forgotten about traditional, but its making a comeback and being included in some great hybrids.

Ups

Traditional has much better accuracy than mesh, and obviously so it has a channel right in the middle of it that the ball naturally rides right out of the stick.

Downs

Leather, if you don't know, is an organic material. In other words, it used to be alive. So, if you leave it or play with it in harsh conditions, it is subject to extreme shrinking and expanding. Because of this, it is both hard to string and hard to maintain, since it requires constant maintenance after almost every use. In addition, it has bad ball retention. This pocket is not for somebody who throws a lot of fakes.

Custom

Custom pockets can be defined as pockets not standard, i.e. not mesh or traditional. Many of them try to further exploit the ups of a stick or reduce the downs. Some examples are the pita/dogtrack pocket, rock-it pocket, and others.

Ups

Can greatly increase the ups in a pocket, by using advanced and revolutionary stringing techniques.

Downs

Not many, the only real downside is money. Again, unless your stringing this yourself, which requires a lot of time and knowledge, many stringing companies charge you excessive amounts of money to string something like this.

Hybrids(mesh/traditional combinations)

Becoming more and more prominent as well as more and more bizarre, hybrids contain the "best of both worlds". They revolve around the concept of extreme accuracy from traditional and ball retention from mesh. Some popular hybrids on the market are the corner pocket, mesh x pocket, among others.

Ups

As said above, offers the ups of both mesh and traditional. Ball retention as well as accuracy are excellent.

Downs

The only downside I can think of is the cost. You have to buy both a mesh and traditional stringing kit for most hybrids, doubling the cost. It is also hard to string, so companies charge A LOT of money for stringing these for you.
***So, there you go, a guide to the types of pockets out there on the market now. I hope it helps you when you go to select a pocket type for your next stick.***

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