Looking to Improve at Pickleball? It’s Time to Buy Your Own Paddle.

When it comes to pickleball, Selkirk leads the way with its fantastic lineup of paddles, and its LUXX Control paddle just may be its most polished yet. At the end of the day, controlling your shot and placing the ball exactly where you want it to go reigns king, and this paddle does that best.

This midweight paddle strikes a balance between high-tech specs and craftsmanship, featuring a slightly longer frame (16.45 inches) and a lengthy handle (5.35 inches), which allows for greater reach and more room to perform a two-handed backhand. The Florek carbon fiber face and thick 20mm honeycomb core provide the accuracy you need without compromising your ability to generate powerful shots.

Having the pleasure of playing with this paddle, I just love the way that it seamlessly cuts through the air. Unlike other cheaper paddles that can create drag, this one does not. It almost feels like my reflexes are quicker when I play with it.

This paddle just does it all, from its modern looks to its accurate shot placements to the power and speed it can create—there’s nothing this paddle can’t do. With a presence for controlled hits, each shot feels intentional, while still maximizing power. While it may lack the elite pop of others, its overall performance outshines that drawback. With its current reduced price, it’s hard to beat, making it our pick for the best overall pickleball paddle.

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If you watch any professional pickleball events on TV, it’s likely you’ll notice Onix as a paddle in a few pro’s hands. Onix has a wide array of paddles to choose from, but the Graphite Z5 is a trusted pick that’s big on ball control and clean returns. The takeaway from the Z5 is that you get the best qualities of a graphite paddle for a price point of just under $100, which is an excellent value. Graphite is a favorite for many pros due to the material’s strong design and lightweight feel, making it easy to control each shot and finesse where you want your ball to go.

It plays with a well-balanced feeling in the hand. The Nomex honeycomb core seems to limit dead spots, and the paddle offers enough space to connect cleanly on most shots. (The shape of the paddle gives you a sneaky amount of surface area, too.) In terms of quality, the paddle has a lofty weight and powerful sweet spot, giving it a superior rating. The paddle was especially great on serves, allowing you to whip the ball over the net and get some good spin. The Z5 caters to all skill levels, but it’s especially great as a beginner pickleball paddle—you won’t have to upgrade from it for quite a while.

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Head’s Radical Elite paddle is the ultimate wallet-friendly pick for those who are getting pickleball fever. As far as design goes, the Radical Elite comes with a honeycomb core, a fiberglass finish, and a wide surface area to smack the ball. You also get a comfortable foam handle with a length similar to that of a tennis racket.

While the Radical Elite lacked power a bit, this paddle prioritizes control while staying lightweight, so it’s a great option for learning the game. You can play competitively with the Radical Elite too, but as you see yourself progressing you may want to switch to a paddle with more power. But remember, this paddle retails for around $50, when in reality it plays closer to a $100 paddle. It’s such a good price that it makes for an easy pickleball gift you can give to players of all skill levels (experts can use it as a backup paddle).

Made in collaboration with Ben Johns, who has dominated the PPA tour for years, having won an impressive 123 title wins. This paddle is made with enhanced stability, giving you a precise shot from its charged carbon surface. Basically, it’s been bond-treated for improved strength, which gives you a crisp feel during contact for improved energy return on the ball. In a nutshell, this gives you a “poppier” response.

What helps make this one pro-level paddle is the insane propulsion core. It’s designed with a patent-pending core that gives you explosive power unlike any other, on all shots, from line drives, drops, and dinks to counters. Combine that with an elongated paddle face, and you will have ample hitting surface area to make you a spin master with an enormous “sweet spot,” meaning fewer miss hits, too. One of the best features is that this paddle is NFC chip-enabled. In a world where data is king, this allows you to access training vids based on your style of play, a community experience, and gamification, all through the JOOLA Connect app. This thing truly is next level.

Once you’ve played the game long enough and can consider yourself an advanced player, you need a paddle that demands more than just control. You need a paddle that can deliver heavy line drives, insane spin, and provide all the pop and power you can imagine. That is exactly what you get in the SLK Era Power paddle.

Its fusion core is a blend of polypropylene honeycomb surrounded by EVA foam, increasing its overall stability and taking its forgiveness to another level—something you don’t find too often in a power paddle. I love that even when I miss the sweet spot on a hit, it still feels stable in my hand, which means I can worry less about having to make perfect contact each time. A rare thing for elongated paddles.

Its elongated shape, measuring 16.5 inches with a 5.8-inch handle, provides great reach on every shot and ample space for double-backhands. Combined with its three-layer face of fiberglass and T700 raw carbon fiber, shots on this paddle seem to jump off its surface (according to Selkirk’s website, this paddle can generate speeds up to 2,000 RPMs). This paddle is excellent for aggressive players.

While its price may be a bit of an investment, and there is a bit of a learning curve with elongated paddles like this, its overall performance easily outweighs those setbacks, especially for advanced players. If you’re seeking a pro-level paddle that swings well, puts ample pop on each shot, and looks good doing it, the SLK Era Power is for you.

If you’re looking for a paddle to make a statement on the courts and one that can easily fit in at a country club, Tangerine’s Gardiner’s Bay is that paddle. The Gardiner’s Bay aesthetic is one inspired by the luscious greenery you’ll find along Long Island Sound and Gardiner’s Bay, NY. However, this pick is more than just a pretty paddle, as it performs quite well, too.

With a generous sweet spot and elongated face, this paddle is a great choice for players of all levels. It has one the lightest weight of our featured paddles, with a featherweight of only 7.6 ounces, allowing you to whip around on your strokes for max power. The fiberglass surface gives it a nice responsive pop while the paddle’s thickness perfectly balances accuracy and power. The blue and white stripes perfectly match the chestnut brown leather grip. It is also USA-P approved as well. This fun paddle adds a pop of color and a pop on your shots.

A $270 pickleball paddle is no easy investment, but those who want premium gear will find interest in the Selkirk Power Air Epic. One of the elite models on the PPA tour, this is one “epic” paddle. For starters, the Power Air has an elongated handle and stand shape that creates a generous surface area, while the handle makes it perfect for double-handed backhands. Second, the Power Air’s performance is some of the most advanced—it’s truly a power player’s dream. Selkirk added the air opening to create faster swing speeds, as it feels like serves have some extra whip to them.

A third key finding from playing with the Power Air Epic was the overall feel of the paddle. It’s like holding the paddle equivalent of a Ferrari: fast, lightweight, sexy. The handle is luxe and cushioned, and the extra wrapping near the end of the handle helps you get a more secure grip. There are no pronounced edges on the Power Air for the ball to take a weird shot off of, so there’s actually a chance you get a clean return even if you connect near the edges of the paddle.

The Power Air Epic is meant for serious players only (and the price tag reflects that), and the sleek design shows that you’re using the best technology in the game.

For those looking to put their shots on “spin cycle,” the Quartz paddle from Six Zero is for you. The face of the paddle is crafted from raw textured T300 carbon which gives it the perfect hitting surface for maximum traction on the ball. Translation: more RPMs and way more spin. Then, you also have the lightweight design, allowing for way faster swings and quick hands, which again can translate to more revolutions on the ball. Not only does it give your top tier spin, but it has a great flexibility to give you good control over you shot placements, too.

It has a solidly large sweet spot for shot forgiveness, and thanks to its one-piece unibody construction, it was also designed with durability in mind. For a paddle that is performance-driven and for a price under $100, this is one of the best paddles on our list. They also have multiple pops of color that wrap around the head of the paddle and really stand out on the blacked-out face, so there’s a choice for everyone, too.

The one paddle that I have been [patiently] waiting to get my hands on is this highly anticipated Honeyfoam TKO-X model, which builds upon the brand’s super successful Reserve special edition model. At the heart of its build is the proprietary three foam design that gives it even more energy return delivering excellent power on every shot. The ball jumps off the surface, so much so that it took a couple of points for me to adjust (but in a good way.) Once I got it figured out, my opponent was left scrambling to return my aggressive forehands. Its advanced edge guard also dampens shock quite well, no matter how much power I put into it.

But, it’s not all power no touch either, as I could easily control shots in the kitchen as well, making it a surprisingly well-rounded paddle. This is partially thanks to its elongated design, which makes those hard to reach shots just that much easier. While it is one of the most expensive options in our guide, its soft touch and great power make this my new favorite competitive paddle.

This paddle is filthy good, and if you consider yourself a power player or dream to be one, this is the paddle you want in your pickleball bag. It’s crafted using the same thermoforming techniques you’ll find in the paddles on the tour—using similar materials like T700 Carbon fiber—giving you premium power in the palm of your hand for half the cost of the tour models. This process results in a sturdy yet very lightweight paddle for great control and even more power on your shots. Basically, the carbon fiber face and a single-piece design allow you to generate more torque while amplifying its sweet spot and reducing vibrations on shots.

The rest of the paddle is pretty solid, too, as it has a slightly longer handle for easy double-handed control, good aesthetics, and it’s a fairly light paddle. There is not much to dislike about its performance, and though it is a bit of an investment and better suited for more advanced players, it can definitely elevate a beginner’s performance right out of the gates.