Ranking Pickleball Paddle Brands (From Best to Worst) (2024)

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Ranking Pickleball Paddle Brands (From Best to Worst)

15 minute read

Pat Tammaro

Aug 15, 2024

If you're new to pickleball and overwhelmed by choice when looking at pickleball paddle brands, this guide for you. Who can you trust? What pickleball paddle brands do recreational players use? What paddle brands to the pros use? We rank them all from best to worst.

‍When I first started looking into what paddle to buy, I was overwhelmed by how many brands there are. This is far different than any other sport I had looked to buy gear in. How many tennis racket brands can you think of? Probably not more than 7.

Now that I’ve been playing for a few years, I have at least some sense of which brands to trust, which brands most recreational pickleball players use, and which paddles the pros use.

This guide is intended to help the average person get a gauge for where a brand is on the market.

Note, this is definitely a subjective article and you are bound to disagree with some. With that said, this is certainly a good starting point.

You can find a full list of brands in the game on our Pickleball Brands page.

Also, we just launched a new paddle comparison tool. We're adding new paddles everyday. The goal is to help educate you when searching for pickleball paddles and brands.

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Pickleball Paddle Brands - S Tier

For all S Tier brands, we've also listed our favorite paddles as well. You can find them on our Pickelball Brands page.

In addition, a descent amount of S Tier brand paddles are up on our new paddle comparison tool. We're adding new paddles everyday. The goal is to help educate you and allow you to compare when searching for pickleball paddles and brands.

Joola

Joola, pronounced like Yo-Lah, came onto the paddle market SWINGING. They have such a very diverse set of premium paddles. They have my favorite paddle in the game and paddle that I use at this time - JOOLA Ben Johns Hyperion CFS 16.

If that’s too heavy, they have the Vision line-up in both 16mm and 14mm. Joola also manufactures premium table tennis paddles, so if you come from that world, they make some pickleball paddles inspired by the shape of table tennis paddles - the Radius line-up. Great sweet spot on those and really light. If you like the features of the CFS, but prefer a wide body, they’ve got the Solaire line-up.

Try comparing some of their lineup to see the differences between their premier CFS series vs. the Vision series vs. the Radius line up.

Hyperion CFS 16 vs Hyperion C2 CFS 16
Hyperion CFS 16 vs. Vision CGS 16
Hyperion CFS 16 vs. Radius CGS 16 (easy to see the different shape here)

Joola is very popular and very popular for a reason. Super premium paddles and a super diverse set of paddles.

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Selkirk

A lot, including myself, share the opinion that Selkirk has made a recent jump into S tier recently. For starters, they launched Selkirk Labs, an independent research and development division of Selkirk Sport to advance pickleball paddle technology.

They’ve got a great, diverse line-up as well. The SLK Omega Max came out and is an absolute steal for $140, considering how much spin you get and for being an all-around good performing paddle. They’v got the Power Air collection, which is top of the line and probably has the best spin in the game. Super high power, not super forgiving, but as a power paddle, that comes with the territory.

Selkirk is positioned to continue advancing their technology for years to come.

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CRBN

CRBN, pronounced carbon, is the gold standard for me. While they really don’t have a long line-up, which I typically prefer out of my S Tier, they make a top-tier paddle and have incredible customer service.

Gearbox

A lot of manufacturers seem to be copycats of one another. Not Gearbox. They were and still probably are the leader in carbon fiber. They are the only to my knowledge that manufacture with carbon fiber for the whole build. Polymer breaks a lot easier, but these Gearbox paddles are practically indestructible. They have really high spin, even though they aren’t super gritty.

They’ve also got a demo program where you can demo up to 4 paddles. The only cost is $20 to cover shipping and you can try for 4 days. I wish more manufacturers who start a demo program like this.

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Pickleball Paddle Brands - A Tier

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Paddletek

Paddletek has been around for some time and makes great paddles. They haven’t put out a ton of new lines recently, but you could argue it’s because their current line-up is solid.

They make really high quality and consistent performing paddles. Their CEO was a guest on the Kitchen Podcast, and talked about how they match different cores with different surfaces to get maximum playability. While they don’t seem as innovative as others, their products are well thought out. A lot of pros use Paddletek.

You can check out that podcast episode here.

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Engage

Engage has a ton of options to offer in their line-up. Their premier line, the Pursuit, offers a very wide variety of options - long handle, short handle, thick core, thinner core. The Encore paddle is a good paddle that’s a bit cheaper than the Pursuit line. Engage is USA-made so that’s certainly a bonus.

I was and still am very close to bumping Engage up to S tier for 2 other reasons that I love:

Top notch warranty - Full replace on manufacturing issues for the life of the paddle
Cosmetic discount - They offer significant discounts (sometimes up to $50) for paddles that were manufactured with cosmetic issues. These don’t perform any differently and only have slight cosmetic blemishes that occur during the printing process. That’s incredible. You can get some very premium paddles, like the Pursuit line, at ridiculous prices - $170.

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Gruvn

Gruvn has come out with a very wide diverse set of paddles that filled niches that other manufacturer’s hadn’t. The 16H is a really long paddle. Both the elongated paddle shape (16.5 inches) and the long handle (5.875 inches) help provide a similar experience for those who play a lot of tennis. Engage produced something similar, but their paddles hit harder, while the 16H players pretty soft.

They’ve got some much more unique shapes, at pretty good price points, considering they’re raw carbon fiber around $160.

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Pickleball Paddle Brands - B Tier

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Electrum

The Electrum Model E is a fantastic paddle. I’ve got several friends using it who swear by it and honestly I see this paddle everywhere. Electrum falls a little short in that they don’t have a super diverse set of paddles. If you look at their website, I want to say they’ve got 5 different models.

With that said, because the Model E is so good, they make their place in the B tier. One of the things I don’t like about Electrum is their 6 month warranty. A lot of manufacturers such as Joola, CRBN, Gruvn are offering 1 year warranties these days.

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ProKennex

ProKennex is known for paddles that help with tennis elbow. You can read up about the story and kinetic technology on ProKennex’s website. Their paddles are known for having good spin. They hadn’t been known for having a super diverse line-up, however that has changed recently with the Ovation and Pro Flight series.

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Franklin

Franklin really has 1 paddle that was made popular because of Ben Johns - The Signature Pickleball Paddle, formerly the Ben John’s Signature Pickleball Paddle. For $100, it’s a good value paddle, but it’s been known that the grit wears off after about 1 week of play. Some pros still use this paddle, but as sponsored players, they can afford to play a new paddle every day of the tournament.

To me, it feels like Franklin is just dabbling in pickleball and isn’t investing like some of the top-tier companies are.

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Pro XR

Pro XR to me feels like a company that needs to prove it before they charge what they do for some of their paddles. They manufacture probably the most unique grip on the market and market it as causing a “quicker reload action”. I’m not saying the grip doesn’t help; it’s definitely different, but might be preferable for some. I’ve played one match with my friend’s Pro XR. I felt fine with a continental grip, but when trying a semi-western grip, it felt foreign. Maybe after some time of playing with that style of grip, I could get used to it and prefer it.

Their paddles do have really good grit and spin really well (over 1500rpm). It’s just the handle that’s unique. I’d love to see them offer a demo like Gearbox does.

If you like trying new types of paddles, they may be worth a shot because of their unique handle.

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Head

Head is one of the tennis brands that ideally you’d like to see them put a little more effort into pickleball. Maybe they do, but it doesn’t quite seem like they’re innovating as fast as some of the top tier companies.

With that said, the Head Radical Tour Co paddle is a steal of a paddle at $129. I would really like to put Head in A tier, but they really only have one standard shape and that’s that teardrop shape. They need a bit more diversity in paddle shape and handle length before I’d consider them above the B tier.

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Onix

Onix is an interesting one, because I almost feel like they could be in the C tier. I’ve kept them in the B tier because they manufacture arguably the most popular intermediate paddle. I’ve still got the Onix Z5 as my favorite intermediate paddle under $100 at $89. Yes, the Nomex Honeycomb Core is loud and doesn’t have control most advanced players would want, but we have to remember this paddle is under $100.

Outside of the Z5, the Evoke Premier is the only paddle they produce worth talking about, which is why I’ve considered dropping them to C tier.

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ProLite

Prolite has been around for ages. In fact, I believe they were the first brand to develop composite (non wood, honeycomb core) paddles and appeared to dominate the market some 10 years ago.

Nowadays, it feels like they are playing a bit of catchup. I don’t think they make bad paddles. They are USA built and built well, but several of their paddles I’ve seen tested sit around 1,100 RPM which is below average these days for spin. At the price point for their top tier paddles ($200), I’d expect a bit more.

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C Tier Pickleball Paddle Brands

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Gamma

I put Gamma in the same category as Franklin and Babolat who are tennis manufacturers that have dabbled in pickleball, but won’t invest like top-tier companies have. I’ve not loved any of their paddles. They don’t get great spin nor have crazy advanced technology and yet they’ll charge close to $200 for some of their composite paddles (505 & 206).

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OneShot

I used to like OneShot more. They used to manufacture paddles of similar quality to some of the top-tier brands at a lower price point. Now, it appears like they make more gimmicky paddles like the Aeroshot and the FlipShot.

Aeroshot - 4 vents on the side of the paddle
Flipshot - 2 faced paddle (1 for power and 1 for control/spin almost like table tennis)

It may simply be the state of pickleball paddles where we’ve got close to 25 brands trying to compete in the industry, as compared to tennis where there’s closer to 5 or 6. Because of that, they’re trying to distinguish themselves.

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Babolat

I would pass on Babolat paddles. They’re a tennis brand who hasn’t put much effort into pickleball. The line-up is not super diverse and haven’t seen anything special about their paddles.

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Vulcan

I really don’t know a ton about Vulcan so maybe that’s unfair to place them here. I don’t see a ton of players around me in Raleigh using their paddles. I do know they sponsor Jay Devilliers with the V740 Max paddle. I’ve heard that’s got some nice grit to it, but I haven’t personally played with them or even seen their paddles in person.

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Pickleball Paddle Brands - F Tier

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Adidas

Adidas is the only brand in my opinion that gets the F tier. They used to have some paddles near the $200 mark, which was also incredibly ridiculous, considering most shouldn’t pay above $100 for what they were offering.

I don’t see that price point out there anymore for them, so they must have done so poorly….

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Frequently Asked Questions

Best Pickleball Brands

The best pickleball brands on the market today are Joola, Selkirk, CRBN, and Gearbox. All offer a premium paddles a wide variety of shapes, paddle lengths, and grip lengths.

Best Pickleball Paddle

We think the best pickleball paddle on the market for is the JOOLA Ben Johns Hyperion CFS 16.

Of course, this isn’t the paddle for everyone. We’ve got a thorough pickleball paddle guide that includes paddle for all types of players.

Even better though, if you're really looking to compare paddles, we highly recommend using our paddle comparison tool.

What to look for in pickleball paddle brand

You’re looking for a company who manufactures high quality paddles, is innovative, has a great and diverse product line, and has good customer service.

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Where to go from here?

If you're looking for a paddle, regardless if you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player, we've got some recommendations for you. Check out our paddle buying guide.

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If you're still brand new to pickleball, but maybe come from a tennis background, Key Differences Between Pickleball and Tennis may be a valuable read for you.

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