Pickleball Points

Are you considering purchasing a new pickleball paddle?

Are you confused about all the different types of pickleball paddles available to choose from?

Do you know what type of paddle you want? Control? Power?

Featherweight? Lightweight? Heavyweight??

Extended handle?

Rough surface vs smooth surface?

Agghh!! So many questions, so many choices, so many decisions – just to buy a pickleball paddle!!

With so many choices of pickleball paddles on the market, how do you know which one is best for your style of playing pickleball?

Here a general suggestion to help get you started (from my own experience purchasing a paddle):

If you are planning on purchasing a paddle that is expensive (whatever expensive is to you – remember, everyone’s “expensive” is different), just like a car, I recommend that you TEST DRIVE a paddle.

What does it mean to TEST DRIVE a paddle?

This means you take a paddle (or a few) that you are considering purchasing and take it to a court to play pickleball.

How do I TEST DRIVE a paddle?

Reach out to a local paddle rep (or a few) to ask to “demo” one or more of their paddles. Ask different players on the courts for names of pickleball reps in the area.

Once you find a local paddle representative, simply ask that paddle representative for their recommendations and how you can get together to demo their paddle. Paddle reps are knowledgable about not only the paddles they represent, but also about different types of paddles available.

What can I expect from a TEST DRIVE of a paddle?

Some paddle reps will let you demo their paddles for an hour, some will let you demo for a few days, some paddle reps hold demo-days where they bring multiple paddles to an event or open play for players to play with over a few hours.

Am I obligated to purchase a paddle from the company that I TEST DRIVE?

No.

But, make sure that there is clear understanding from the paddle rep of how long you have to demo/test drive the paddles and any other details when demo’ing the paddle(s).

Here is an article about how to pick the right paddle FOR YOU (from The Pickleball Effect).

And, an article from The Pickler about choosing a paddle: CLICK HERE