If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED
Best for Beginners
Panel Sound Pickleball Paddles (Set of 2)
Best Overall
Engage Pickleball Omega Evolution Extreme X
A Beginner’s Upgrade
SLK Evo Power XL 2.0
Best Upgrade
Paddletek Tempest Wave Pro V3
The sport of pickleball—which can be described as a cross between tennis and badminton, played with a hard plastic ball—is less than 50 years old, having been invented outside Seattle in 1965. For most of that time, paddles were made of laminated wood and were mostly found in gym classes and retirement communities. But pickleball has exploded in popularity in the past few years, and with that newfound popularity comes an arms race with paddlemakers in a quest to make the best pickleball paddles.
I’m not an expert player, but I’ve been hitting indoor and outdoor pickleball courts over several months with friends testing various paddles. After playing with several dozen—and having players of various skill levels try them and share their thoughts—I feel confident that this guide has a paddle recommendation for you, whether you’re a beginner or a pro pickleball player.
Special offer for Gear readers: Get WIRED for just $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com, full Gear coverage, and subscriber-only newsletters. Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.
Pick(le) Your Paddles
Photograph: Chalffy/Getty Images
What size paddle do you need? Pickleball paddles are restricted by a size formula similar to the one airlines use: The paddle can’t be longer than 17 inches and the combined length and width of the paddle cannot exceed 24 inches. A standard paddle is 16 inches long and 8 inches wide, but some elongated paddles use the full 17 inches and tend to have more power than wider options. There is no restriction on the thickness of the paddle; thin paddles can be about one-third of an inch thick, while thick paddles can be up to three-quarters of an inch thick.
What does “pop” mean? You’ll see me using this term a few times in this guide. Pop is the pickleball parlance for how aggressively the ball bounces off the paddle face—you can think of it as an analogue to how “bouncy” a basketball is.
Are they heavy? There is no rule about a pickleball paddle’s weight, but almost every paddle hovers around 8 ounces. I went out of my way to test the biggest range of paddles I could find and ended up testing paddles that were within about an ounce of each other. Light paddles tend to be about 7.5 ounces, whereas heavyweight paddles are about 8.5 ounces. More important is the distribution of that weight—paddles that offer more power tend to be top-heavy. I prefer paddles with a balanced feel.
Are they all the same shape? Pickleball paddles tend to look fairly similar shapewise. In my testing, I tried several outliers, including a Joola paddle with a rounded shape more like a tennis racket, and several Selkirk paddles with a cutout between the paddle face and handle designed to minimize air resistance. I think the standard shape is still best.
What are they made of? Old-fashioned wooden paddles still exist, and you can get a Wolfe wooden paddle for $12 on Amazon. There’s surely someone out there who can thump you and the best player you know using a Wolfe. Inexpensive fiberglass paddles are how I started playing. You can nab a beginner set for $40 (see below) and it could be six months before you feel the need to upgrade. That said, the paddles recommended here tend to have a carbon fiber face, which is stiff and light, offering lots of pop. I also tested some graphite paddles which are cheaper, heavier, and softer than carbon fiber. If your budget doesn’t allow you to start with carbon fiber I’d recommend starting with cheap fiberglass and then jumping to carbon fiber. Note that when I mention materials, I mean what’s used for the face of the paddle—nearly all paddles have a similar honeycomb-shaped polymer core. Pricier paddles tend to cut that core in a way that creates even gaps on the edge and use heat-pressing to seal the face to the core.
-
Photograph: Amazon
Best for Beginners
Panel Sound Pickleball Paddles (Set of 2)
If you’ve never played pickleball, this is a good place to start so you can get a feel for the game without sinking too much dough. (Note: Most pickleball clubs have loaners available and you can probably borrow a paddle from a friend too.) For $40, you get two paddles, a few balls, and, bizarrely, two cooling towels.
I bought this set of Panel Sound paddles when I wanted to try the game with my 8-year-old daughter, who has taken four years of tennis lessons but can’t play that sport yet. I have since upgraded to other paddles, but I have no regrets about this purchase and now loan them out to other beginners. These graphite paddles don’t have a ton of pop and produce minimal spin, but they’re sturdy and have a comfortable grip. While they don’t offer a lot of power in each hit, they do perform consistently. They weigh in at 8 ounces and are USA Pickleball Approved (USAPA), meaning you can use them in a tournament if you want. The other paddles on this list are all tournament-approved as well, so sign up for any contest you want with confidence.
-
Photograph: Omega
Best Overall
Engage Pickleball Omega Evolution Extreme X
The best thing about the Omega Evolution Extreme X is how precise it feels. This paddle has a carbon fiber skin and a polymer honeycomb core with a traditional shape and a middle-of-the-road 7.7-ounce weight. The half-inch core is billed as better for power but this paddle doesn’t have as much pop as others on this list. Then again, power is a double-edged sword when you’re trying to land a plastic ball inside a 22-foot box.
This paddle offers excellent ball control with a large sweet spot and an impressive spin thanks to a durable textured carbon fiber surface. The edges are livelier than other paddles, meaning it’s more forgiving than many if you miss the sweet spot. If you want to hit the ball hard, you’re going to need to swing hard, as this paddle doesn’t offer the kind of extra poppy drive you find on some other carbon paddles. But the tradeoff is the ability to confidently deliver a precise shot, impressing nearly everyone who tried it.
-
Photograph: Amazon
A Beginner’s Upgrade
SLK Evo Power XL 2.0
The SLK Evo Power XL 2.0 is the paddle I bought myself from a big-box sporting goods store after a few times playing with the cheap set off Amazon. I bought this paddle based on its excellent feel, and it still has the most comfortable grip of any paddle I’ve tried. Selkirk is one of the most popular paddlemakers, and I’ve tested about a dozen different paddles from the company that were either borrowed from other players or on loan at a sponsored club.
Selkirk bills this paddle, which has a fiberglass face, as an ideal pick for beginners and pickleball-curious tennis players. Indeed, the balanced weight distribution means it performs more like a tennis racket than any other paddle I’ve tried. That said, the Evo doesn’t offer the kind of spin you see from other paddles on this list.
-
Photograph: Paddletek
Best Upgrade
Paddletek Tempest Wave Pro V3
As you improve at pickleball and observe other players, you’ll probably notice that the best matchups aren’t decided by huge hits but rather by a series of soft dinks hit from a crouching position right behind the kitchen line. Pros often serve softer than the folks you’ll see at a typical suburban court. Mastering “the soft game” is the secret to matching up with better players and the Tempest Wave Pro V3 is our pick for unlocking that level. This paddle has a reputation for excellent touch and that’s exactly what I found in my testing.
Paddletek has been operating since 2010 in the Southwest Michigan town of Niles (shout-out to the excellent public courts in nearby New Buffalo, where I did some testing for this guide) and the Tempest series is its best-selling paddle. It’s easy to see why they’re popular, with a massive sweet spot that feels forgiving even when you miss your mark. This paddle weighs up to 8 ounces but it plays lighter thanks to excellent balance.
-
Photograph: Amazon
For Aspiring Spin Doctors
Pro XR T700 Raw Carbon
Pickleballs are cousins to wiffle balls. If you grew up playing backyard baseball, you probably remember that the holes in the plastic balls allowed them to spin in unpredictable ways when thrown or hit correctly. The same is true of pickleball, where a skilled player with the right paddle can put a lot of spin on the ball and cause problems for an opponent. A serve with spin is so much harder to return that the official rules of the game now ban players from swirling the ball during a drop serve.
I will not claim to have mastered topspin and backspin. But the Pro XR paddle got me interested in developing the skill. The paddle is made with T700 Raw Carbon, which is known for producing “filthy” knuckleball-type hits with tons of spin. But the biggest difference is the unique slanted XR-23 handle, which has a 23-degree tilt at the bottom. That tilt changes your grip in a way that claims to promote hitting with spin. Everyone who tried the paddle felt a tendency to pull the ball with some spin, though it’s hard to say whether this was a direct result of their grip or just being conscious of the difference.
-
Photograph: Joola
Best for Power Players
Joola Ben Johns Persus 14 mm
Joola is a relative newcomer to the pickleball game, having started as a table tennis brand. We tested a half-dozen paddles from the Maryland-based company, including a unique round frame paddle more closely modeled on a tennis racket and several from the series made for pro pickleballer Ben Johns, currently the number one ranked player in the world.
This paddle is thermoformed, meaning it’s heat-pressed together and virtually indestructible. It’s a little heavy on the head and delivers the most power of any paddle I tested. Everyone who tried this paddle found it not that forgiving, which makes sense given it was designed for an advanced player. The sweet spot is toward the top of the paddle face and isn’t especially large. Whack one right on the money and the ball jolts off it. For a player without great control, it’s easy to hit too hard. However, this paddle was especially appreciated by my friend Danielle, who injured her rotator cuff a few months back and is changing the way she plays as a result. “Coming off a shoulder injury, it was nice because I barely had to work and I felt like I had a ton of pop,” she says.
-
Photograph: Recess
Most Stylish
Recess Pickleball Paddle
Recess pickleball paddles are known for their unmatched style—these are the prettiest paddles in the game. They come in a wide variety of colorful patterns and have great grips with plenty of cushioning made from faux leather. They also come with an embroidered canvas cover.
With a gritted fiberglass surface over the standard polymer honeycomb core, they do not offer quite the same performance as the high-end carbon fiber pickleball paddles. Recess paddles do seem to have a smaller sweet spot than some other brands. However, when you play a shot well, this paddle is excellent. I’ll take the satisfaction of a well-played ball hit with a stylish Recess paddle over almost anything on this list.
