Every week someone has a new stick and it's normally thrust into my hands a few minutes before a game! I can't think of any heads fresh from the store that are strung to be game ready. In fact most appear to be strung in order to give lessons on unstringing! There is no absolute wrong or right way to string your head but a general rule of thumb is that if the mesh part is tied to the plastic part you're 75% done. Once you've restrung your head there are still several steps to take before it is game ready. 

First off, create that pocket! I have an old lacrosse ball that I drilled a hole into(secure the ball in a vise, you CAN NOT hold the ball tight enough and it will shoot across your garage and scare your dog! Not to mention that you can seriously hurt your hand with the drill!) and then inserted a long handled screwdriver. Presto change-o, I had a pocket pounder! Much cheaper than the Warrior model as well! I like to mash the pounder into the mesh a LOT. Normally I pound one side 5-6 times and then I flip it over and pound another 5-6 times. Over the next hour or so I repeat the process. Sometimes taking breaks to try out my progress on my lax wall helps break up the boring part of pounding. Once my arms are ready to fall of from pounding I proceed to step two.

You'll want to find an old dull butter knife or another long handled screwdriver for this step. Now that you have the basis of a pocket pounded out you can start the fine tuning. I like to put a lax ball in the spot where I want my pocket and then place the knife/screwdriver under the side walls of the head but on top of the side wall string and get the ball in there nice and tight.You may have noticed I'm using neither a butter knife nor a screwdriver. I'm not sure what the thing I use is but it works great for breaking in a pocket! It's 8 sided and I can twist it to move the ball up and down to get it exactly where I want it This will help stretch your mesh around the pocket and help it maintain its shape. I leave the head with the ball stuck in it over night most times. In the morning I remove the knife/screwdriver and go back to the pocket pounder for a while. After I'm satisfied that my pocket is where I want it, I get out the lax wall again and see how it throws. Remember, if it throws too low, your shooters are probably too tight. If it throws too high then probably your shooters are too loose.