Hey everyone,
I'm looking for some advice on a new padel racket. My current one is completely banged up, so it’s definitely time for a replacement.
A bit of context: I’ve been playing padel for around 7 years, but not super regularly, just with friends, recreationally. That said, I usually play against guys who consider themselves intermediate to advanced, and honestly, I do pretty well against them, in fact some of them I absolutely destroy lol (no bragging, just facts 😅).
I also play competitive tennis (federated) for about 5 years now, semi-seriously. That background makes padel a pretty natural sport for me to pick up.
The goal here is to take padel a bit more serious, and by that I mean I want to have fun, but participate in some local tournaments and be competitive, always with a fun-drive mindset of course.
The racket I’ve been using so far was a random buy, didn’t pay much attention to specs.
Kuikma
Head size: 543 cm² / 84 inch
Weight: 367–377 g
I’ve had tennis elbow issues in the past, so I’m quite sensitive to very stiff rackets. In tennis, I’ve always preferred a balanced setup, something in between control and power. In tennis, I currently use a Head Speed MP, which I really like because of its big sweet spot and all-round balance.
I’d like to take the same approach for padel: find something balanced between control and power, comfortable on the arm, and not too stiff.
Any recommendations for rackets that fit that profile?
From what I've read so far, I think the Head Speed Team would be a good fit, just want to confirm with you guys, and hopelly hear more opinions.
Also, what's the real difference between the shapes of the racquets? I know there are 3 main shapes, but I didn't quite well understand the real differences.
Thanks!
A round shape offers a bigger sweetspot, more control and it is generally easier to play with. Diamond is the opposite, but it has a “bang”.
Unless you’re Ale Galan, I really don’t think you need a diamond racket. The one perfect X3 smash you hit a game will not be offset by the downsides. Think of it like a car - would an amateur get the best out of a formula one car, or would they do a quicker time and get around in one piece with something a bit more reliable/easy to drive.
The Adidas Metalbone ctrl is a solid racket, or the Nox Quantum 12k
Nah - I’d go with something round and a control racket. In terms of tennis elbow, do you have a desk job? I’ve found that padel and being on a keyboard all day do not mix well.
I got a cheap elbow support from Decathlon, which helped a lot: VULKAN Vulkan Classic Tennis Elbow Strap Brace £15.99 https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/mp/vulkan-classic-tennis-elbow-strap-brace/ba71a32a-eee8-408c-936d-dfcd86de3bca/c1
The best Padel Racket Brand for someone with tennis elbow problem (either active or past) is the Royal Padel. Check the options with polyethylene foam. It's the best for tennis elbow. You can find different shapes racket with poly foam and fiberglass face (more forgiving, more trampoline effect, easier for the elbow) or the M27 Poly which has carbon face (round control racket with decent power for a poly foam). I've tried all of them and the M27 was my previous choice. I also had issues with tennis elbow - playing intermediate level so I understand your needs. They are not cheap, they are not easy to find (best way is to order them directly from their website if they deliver in your country). Now I'm playing with a Bullpadel Neuron which is perfect for me - but it all depends on your elbow sensitivity and how you can adapt to a slightly stiffer racket than the RP poly.
I had tennis elbow problems before (both in padel and tennis).
I tried different recommended rackets (ML10 luxury, royal crowd, etc) and to be honest they didn't help that much. Problems were the same as if other more stiff rackets. I also tried the elbow braces and what not and no luck. Maybe try a round one that is intermediate in weight/softness but honestly, it may be even worse if you are used to a higher center of mass and start hitting with a round one causing you to miss the sweet spot.
(With tennis, actually moving to volkl smaller head rackets (was playing 95in) did help, but in padel didn't have that luck).
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What I recommend is doing strength exercices to help. I used a theraband (https://www.amazon.es/-/en/dp/B000KGOMBC?ref\_=ppx\_hzsearch\_conn\_dt\_b\_fed\_asin\_title\_7&th=1 this one, but I think you can find some cheaper alternatives) and other bands and did things like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sS4dzm8zMk
The other part I would look at is technique. I had a coach that saw me and noticed I used too much wrist. Usually coaches don't like folks to use the wrist because you lose control, coming from tennis and years of table tennis competition I never had an issue with control and even helped me with some shots, but he noticed that moment the shot isn't 'perfect' (hit the sweet spot, and being the body giving power to the shot and not the arm/wrist) my wrist was in a lot of tension, which translated to issues in the elbow. This was mostly on the one hand backhand (maybe because in tennis I did 2 handed bh). I 'redid' my backhand stroke and the issues with the elbow never appeared again even with the hardest heaviest rackets I used.
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Racket shapes, basically in a simple manner, they move the center of mass to different points (diamond higher, round lower) and in theory change the sweetspot size (round ones have bigger sweet spot than diamond ones).
