Reccomend some paddles for me to Demo....

T

TennisAddiction

Semi-Pro
I haven't played pickleball since high school and recently joined a gym with indoor courts but I have no idea where to start when it comes to demoing a paddle. Do tennis racquet specs translate at all into paddles? :-D

If so, I'm currently using a Blade 98. I know the weights are different but what does someone who uses an 11.2-11.4 oz racquet typically use when it comes to paddles? I'm assuming grips would be similar also? 1/4 grips are my jam. Any help would be appreciated!
 
In tennis I play around 11.4-11.6 with a swing weight around 325.

In pickleball, they don't list swing weights or balance points, so one brand's 8oz may feel quite different than another's depending on how it is balanced. I waffle back and forth between an 8oz OneShot and an 8.5 Gearbox GX6 that I added lead to. Both are super fast to swing compared to a tennis racquet, so it really comes down to feel. I would think you would prefer 8oz and up.

For grip sizes, I use a 4 3/8 in tennis and my pickleball grips are around a 4 1/8th. I prefer them smaller in pickleball. I tried a couple brands that had non-tennis shaped grips that I liked the feel of the paddle, but didn't like the feel of the grip. I started a thread here looking for paddles with octagonal grips.

Diadem just came out with their Warrior that looks promising and I'm hearing really good things about it. I have mostly liked my Gearbox GX6, but they are coming out with a CX14 on the 23rd of this month that I am interested in. The step up in their technology from gen 1 to gen 2 paddles was significant and I'm hoping the new ones knock it out.
 
IMHO, if you can generate power and swing speed, get a lightweight paddle and add lead tape if needed for stability. The light weight will help for quick volleys, since in PB, you're not ripping groundstrokes like crazy. I also find that I like going down 1/8 in grip for PB since there's a lot more wrist action with swings and not as much vibration. With that said, I usually go 4 1/8 and then add an thin over grip. You don't have to get a crazy expensive paddle either but it doesn't hurt. The biggest difference I find from the expensive paddles vs the cheap ones is the consistent feel when striking the ball.
 
I've been using the Head Gravity paddle (8.1 oz) and I'm really liking it. The textured face gives good spin potential, and I find its good for "banging" and pretty good for dinking as well. The only thing I would say is it took a little while for me to get the feel on soft shots with this paddle, but after playing with it for a bit, I got the hang of it.
 
StringGuruMRT said:
I wondered why Sports Illustrated would be doing paddle reviews, but thought this could be interesting... Not sure who that was meant for, but it was good for a laugh! :)
Click to expand...

It's one of the most useless "review" articles I have seen. It looks like they just searched for some paddles on Amazon that they could get a referral commission on.
 
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