The Best Pickleball Paddles, Tested and Reviewed (2024)

What size paddle bash you need? Pickleball paddles are restricted by a size look akin to the 1 airlines use: The paddle can’t beryllium longer than 17 inches and the combined magnitude and width of the paddle cannot transcend 24 inches. A modular paddle is 16 inches agelong and 8 inches wide, but immoderate elongated paddles usage the afloat 17 inches and thin to person much powerfulness than wider options. There is nary regularisation connected the thickness of the paddle; bladed paddles tin beryllium astir one-third of an inch thick, portion heavy paddles tin beryllium up to three-quarters of an inch thick.

What does “pop” mean? You'll spot maine utilizing this word a fewer times successful this guide. Pop is the pickleball parlance for however aggressively the shot bounces disconnected the paddle face—you tin deliberation of it arsenic an analogue to however "bouncy" a hoops is.

Are they heavy? There is nary regularisation astir a pickleball paddle's weight, but astir each paddle hovers astir 8 ounces. I went retired of my mode to trial the biggest scope of paddles I could find and ended up investigating paddles that were wrong astir an ounce of each other. Light paddles thin to beryllium astir 7.5 ounces, whereas heavyweight paddles are astir 8.5 ounces. More important is the organisation of that weight—paddles that connection much powerfulness thin to beryllium top-heavy. I similar paddles with a balanced feel.

Are they each the aforesaid shape? Pickleball paddles thin to look reasonably akin shapewise. In my testing, I tried respective outliers, including a Joola paddle with a rounded signifier much similar a tennis racket, and respective Selkirk paddles with a cutout betwixt the paddle look and grip designed to minimize aerial resistance. I deliberation the modular signifier is inactive best.

What are they made of? Old-fashioned woody paddles inactive exist, but inexpensive fiberglass paddles are however I started playing. You tin nab a beginner acceptable for $30 (see “Best for Beginners”), and it could beryllium six months earlier you consciousness the request to upgrade. That said, the paddles recommended present thin to person a carbon-fiber face, which is stiff and light, offering tons of pop. I besides tested immoderate graphite paddles, which are cheaper, heavier, and softer than c fiber. If your fund doesn’t let you to commencement with c fiber, I’d urge starting with inexpensive fiberglass and past jumping to c fiber. Note that erstwhile I notation materials, I mean what's utilized for the look of the paddle—nearly each paddles person a akin honeycomb-shaped polymer core. Pricier paddles thin to chopped that halfway successful a mode that creates adjacent gaps connected the borderline and usage heat-pressing to seal the look to the core.