How to choose a Pickleball Paddle

The most important factor is the paddle's shape. Generally speaking, most power pickleball paddles are long shape. Control pickleball paddles are generally wide-body, while all-round paddles have a standard or hybrid shape.

Increasingly, these lines are blurred; power-focused paddles now often have a hybrid or widebod shape and conversely, wide-body paddles can also provide plenty of power and punch. We have also arranged all our paddles into Advanced, Intermediate and Beginner categories.

The second most important factor is the Core Material construction. Padle construction is evolving rapidly due to the game in the USA, but we have distilled this fast pace of change into some easy to understand categories:

GEN 1 paddles - come with a hollow core or older materials like wood or aluminium.

These are gradually being produced only for beginners or people discovering pickleball for the first time. These materials are durable and offer excellent value for money.

GEN 2 paddles - These have a Polypropylene Honeycomb core, which is a really versatile material that can be used to create paddles providing varying degrees of power and control.

GEN 3 paddles - These have a hybrid core, where the polypropylene honeycomb is enhanced with foam either injected around the edges or as an added layer.

GEN 4 paddles: These paddles completely replace the honeycomb core with a full foam core. The type of foam used can have a variety of proprietary names given by the brands. Sometimes, some brands will also describe hybrid cores as Gen 4 cores, which is why we have given each GEN a distinct description.

The next important factor in choosing a pickleball paddle is the surface construction, which determines the pddle's power, control and spin potential.

The most common material used to be Fiberglass, which is now mostly used in cost effective paddles, mainly for beginners.

More recently, the majority of advanced and intermediate paddles have a surface construction of Raw Carbon Fibre, which provides a rough textured surface.

The most recent advanced paddles also have surface grit sprayed onto them, which provides the roughest texture. This texture is perfect for achieving great angles during kitchen exchanges, as well as extreme spin on serves and dip and kick on driving rallies.

Other important factors include the overall length, thickness, the paddle's weight, the handle length and thickness.

The overall length: longer paddles allow greater leverage and more power, whereas shorter paddles give more control and feel.

The thickness: A thicker paddle gives more control as the core softens with each impact of the ball. A thinner paddle allows more power by producing more pop.

The weight: Lighter paddles offer more maneuverability, while heavier paddles offer more power, but the user needs strength and timing to wield them correctly to gain that benefit.