Padel Rackets: How are they built

A padel racket consists, basically of a frame and a main body. The frame is made of composite fibers and resin and it extend downwards to form the core and handle of the racket. The main body consists of a core made of foam material encased in faces of fibers and resin. In terms of usage, we will care about the shape, balance, hardness and durability of the racket. Rackets also come in a variety of weights, in simple terms a standard racket weight is 365 gr (as bought), 360 gr would constitute a light racket, anything below 360 should be reserved for special situations (like a kid's racket), rackets in the range of 370+ are considered heavy rackets.

The usual materials for padel rackets are fiberglass and carbon fibers, and a variety of EVA foams for the core. Fiberglass rackets tend to be the cheapest rackets to manufacture, followed by rackets with mixed carbon and fiberglass and then full carbon rackets. The materials that make a racket have a crucial role on its durability and hardness. Fiberglass is a softer and more ductile material than carbon fibers and, as such, carbon rackets are the harder and more durable rackets, followed by rackets that use a mix of fibers and then fiberglass rackets. All things considered, it's worth noting that a single accident can break the most durable racket in the world. For this it's important not to buy rackets you cannot afford to replace.

Hardness is a key characteristic of the racket and it's the most defining of the "feeling" of the racket. A soft racket will facilitate playing at lower speeds, as the rebound effect allows to play relatively fast balls without effort, for this, low firmness rackets are recommended for beginners and not very physical players. As the firmness grow, the racket behaves better with fast balls, getting a more predictable return and improving the velocity output on strong shots. This increase on control and power comes at the expense of requiring better technique to properly execute the shots. The hardness of a racket is determined by the combination of its core and face materials. Harder rated EVAs and increasing amount of carbon on the faces correlate with higher firmness. Each brand names their EVAs and fiber mixes differently but it should be clear, at least within the same brand which one corresponds to the harder and softer materials. For example: Star vie rates their foams as EVA 30 and EVA 50 with the latter being the harder one, different carbon fibers are usually expressed in terms of a number followed by k that represents the characteristics of the vowen fibers (1k, 3k, 12k and 18k are the most common ones) a lower k number means a harder material (although this may mean a softer racket depending on the brand). Usually, rackets with 3K carbon faces are on the soft side and are marketed as control rackets and 12k rackets are mid to hard depending on the accompanying EVA.

The materials of a racket also determine their general durability with carbon rackets being more durable and resistant than fiberglass rackets. These considerations are general and the characteristics of a racket depend a lot on the fabrication techniques, so you should consider these as guidelines to compare rackets between the same brand. A soft EVA racket from one brand can be harder than a hard EVA racket from another as these denominations are not standardized.

Rackets come in different shapes, shapes affect mainly the balance and sweet spot placement in the racket. The three main shapes are diamond, teardrop, and round. Diamond rackets usually have higher balance and they are designed to hit the ball high on the racket, these rackets favour offensive shots. Round rackets are associated with lower balances and that makes them easier to manoeuvrer, favouring control. Teardrop shaped rackets present mixed characteristics.

How to choose a racket for beginners

Beginners looking to buy their first racket should favor rackets that are easy to play with, in terms of balance, weight and firmness. For this reason the recommended rackets for beginners are in the range of 360 to 365 grams, with round shape, low balance, and soft faces/low hardness, (Soft EVAs and Fiberglass faces). These combination of characteristics will result in a racket that is not punishing of technical mistakes and will help to develop proper technique.

These rackets are associated with low prices due to their composition and usually any of the cheaper options for a brand are beginner appropriate. A notorious exception to this is the ML10 racket, which is a beginner-recommended racket with premium characteristics.

List of recommended rackets for beginners: Kuikma PR 560, PR 990 soft, Nox ML 10, MM2 pro, Head evo and flash series, pretty much any racket below 80 EUR from any major brand, trying to avoid diamond shapes.

How to pick your next racket

For players with some experience, a beginner racket might be less than ideal. As the velocity of balls you and your opponents play, the rebound of a soft racket might make control difficult, and as more technical shots are developed you might want a racket with particular characteristics. I will approach this in a subjective manner so you can pick which aspect of your racket you'd need to improve to get the desired improvement. It's usual for players to require increased hardness, balance, and/or weight in their rackets as they progress.

For players that find that control of fast balls difficult or that they have a sensation that the racket delivers less speed to the ball that their effort on smashes might suggest (the racket "eats" the ball), the correct thing to do is to increase the hardness of their rackets. This can be achieved by changing the face composition or eva firmness in relation to current racket. In the lower to mid end, going from fiberglass faces to mixed fibers and then to full carbon faces it's the usual response, once rackets are full carbon, the usual way is to increase the firmness of the EVA (i.e. EVA30 to EVA50, soft EVA to hard EVA, EVA to Black EVA).

Players that feel like the racket does not deliver consistency in their shots, or that have recurrent problems with particular shots should look into the shape of their racket. Hitting balls outside the zone where they are supposed to be hit (the sweet spot) reduces the quality of the shots, by identifying the preferred zone of impact of the player an appropriate shape can be chosen. players that hit high, middle and low should pick a diamond, teardrop or round shape respectively.

These shapes are often associated with a particular balance, hence, if a player needs more power in overhead shots and can sacrifice a bit of manoeuvrability can pick a higher balance. Players that require a easier time changing directions, defending or executing technique should choose a lower balance racket. It's advisable to be moderate when changing racket balances, so don't jump from a 260 mm balance racket to a 270 mm one directly, going first to 265 mm is a safer bet. Contrary to all other aspects of rackets, balance is an objective measurement (when expressed in mm) and can be compared across brands.

Other Racket Features

Some rackets present particular features that might interest some users, here is a non-exhaustive list of such features.

Weight/Balance changing systems: Some rackets have associated technologies that allow to change the overall weight and weight distribution of the racket, in order to fine tune to the user's preference. Examples: Bullpadel vertex and hack lines; Adidas Metalbone series.

Longer Handle: some rackets prioritize a longer handle over face or core surface. This is particularly important to people that uses both hands for certain shots. It's important to note that a longer handle does not increase the leverage of rackets as all are the same total length. Examples: Babolat rackets, Star Vie triton, Varlion bourne and maxima, volt 1000.

Rugosity: there is a widespread usage of added rugosity in the faces of rackets to increase the effect that it's transferred to the ball. There are two main types of rugosity: Sandpaper or finishing rugosity, that it's the most efficient and rougher one, but wears off with time and might deteriorate the cosmetic aspect of the racket as it does, the racket feels like sandpaper to the touch. The other one is ridge or epoxy rugosity that is imprinted in the mould, it's not as effective but it does not wear off, racket feels smooth but with small bumps.

Racket Accessories

There are a variety of accessories that can be used to customize the balance, weight or other properties of the racket.

Overgrips/Grips: Overgrips are used to customize the grip of your racket to your comfort. 1 to 3 are an usual number of overgrips to use.

Frame Protectors: Frame protectors are common aftermarket products designed to increase the durability of your racket. Plenty of rackets come with frame protectors attached or built in. Frame protectors affect the balance of a racket increasing it significantly. In the same way, while compromising durability, removing factory protectors is practically the only way of lowering a racket's balance.

Shock out: These little inserts are designed to reduce vibrations and can be used to alter the balance of a racket by altering their placement. They can also affect the hardness of the racket if used on the hitting surface. You can find them pre-installed in some SIUX rackets. Note that you cannot add shock outs to a racket and lower it's overall balance.

Hesacore: The hesacore grip is a silicone grip with a hex patter that greatly reduces vibrations and has a more polygonal shape than a regular racket grip. It comes pre-installed in high end Bullpadel rackets and can be also bought separately and placed on other rackets. It's recommended to use at least 1 overgrip over a hesacore grip.

Racket's FAQ

"I am just starting playing padel but I have previous experience with tennis/badmington/squash/pickleball/ping pong/any other racket sport, do I go with a beginner racket all the same?" - There is enormous skill transference between padel and other racket sports, so going for a beginners racket would be a waste if you have more than 1 year playing other sports. I would still recommend you choose a intermediate racket in term of hardness with a mid to low balance so you it helps you to adapt your technique.

"My racket's paint chipped/cracked, is this normal, will it affect it?" - Good quality paint does not usually crack or chip away but generally speaking for softer and/or lower quality rackets this can happen with use, as long as the fibers below the paint are ok, the properties of the racket aren't affected.

"There is a crack in my racket, how long it will last until it's broken for good?" - A crack that is oriented towards one the holes on the face of the racket will propagate very quickly depending on how hard you hit the ball and how soft/hard the racket is. Usually a radial crack will affect the racket in a couple of weeks. Cracks oriented perpendicular to the center of the racket take a lot longer to kill the racket.

"I feel discomfort/pain in my elbow/wrist/hand after playing with X racket, what can I do?" - A racket that generates pain of discomfort, other than muscular pain due to the effort is not normal and you should stop using it until you solve the problem. These pains can be due to two causes mostly: a inappropriate grip, that is either too thin or too thick or due to vibrations. A regular grip should be thick enough so that your fingers don't touch your palm when you handle your racket and the space between your fingers and palm should be at most 2 fingers in a general case. In case that the problems comes from vibrations, the options are to use shockouts, replace the grip with an Hesacore or similar, and to change the racket to a softer one.

Disclaimer: This article is based on anecdotical evidence, and it's not written by a medical professional, you should visit a doctor (a physiotherapist most likely) if you are having pain and he will be able to suggest the appropriate treatment. These treatments may include exercises to strengthen the surrounding area and might eliminate the problem for the future too. Additionally, proper warm-up and stretching, as well as good technique, can also help prevent the development of epicondylitis.

Epicondylitis, also known as tennis elbow, is a condition that causes pain and inflammation in the elbow, specifically around the bony bump on the outer side of the elbow. It is often caused by overuse or repetitive strain on the tendons that attach to this area of the elbow, leading to small tears and damage. There are two main types of epicondylitis: lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) and medial epicondylitis (golfer's elbow). Tennis elbow is typically caused by overuse of the forearm muscles and tendons that attach to the outer elbow.

Specifically, epicondylitis may be caused by our racket. Rackets that have an improper grip width, that are too hard, too heavy or light, or that for some other reason transfer a high amount of vibrations through the arm and end up affecting the elbow. If you are starting to experience pain, first I recommend you rest until the pain is no longer there and then it is worth checking what changed in your setup that might be affecting you. Remember that the normal amount of pain is no pain at all!

Discomfort coming from the racket: Sometimes, you buy a racket that causes you discomfort. Some rackets can be more prone to this than other but it's worth considering that if there was an increase in the hardness of the racket this may be the cause. Rackets often increase in hardness as their price increase, if the core material is advertised as harder, pro, or with a higher number, of if the percentage of carbon in the faces increase.

Solution: If you suspect the problem might come from the racket, changing back to a softer racket should help. Choosing rackets with increasing amount of fiberglass in their faces is a sure way of reducing the racket overall hardness.

Discomfort coming from the grip: Usually we do not play with the racket as it comes from factory, depending on our preferences we may add one or more overgrips, or even change the grips completely. It's important that we are comfortable with our grip and that it doesn't require undue strength to hold the racket, as playing with an overly tight fist can cause pain.

Solution: The grip should not be too thick or too thin and the rule of thumb is that when grabbing the racket using the continental grip, the distance between our fingers and the palm should be around 1 finger in thickness. This is not a hard rule but if you are deviating too much from this, consider it may be the source of your problems. It is also recommended to change overgrips once they are slippery as a slippery grip requires extra effort to hold on to.

Accessories designed to help with epicondylitis: It's worth noting that while there are accessories and rackets designed to help with epicondylitis, they are not a substitute for proper treatment and management of the condition, also these accessories are only listed here because they are marketed as reducing vibrations. It's up to the buyer to decide if they are worth trying.

Hesacore/X grip/ Nox custom grip/ Ariv undergrip: There are several silicone undergrips that replace the original racket grip and are supposed to reduce vibrations. The hesacore is the most widely known and perhaps easier to get.

Noene anti shock padel grip: Replacement grip designed to stop vibrations.

Shock out inserts: These little inserts are designed to reduce vibrations and can be used to alter the balance of a racket by altering their placement. They can also affect the hardness of the racket if used on the hitting surface, thing that you should avoid if you are worried about elbow pain. Shock out has a line of other vibration reduction products.

Rackets designed for sensible elbows: Royal Padel polyethylene-core rackets are marketed as being particularly soft which would naturally make them absorb more vibrations. Fiberglass rackets, women-marketed rackets and other soft rackets in general are also good choices.

Rackets to avoid in general if you are suffering of tennis elbow the rule of thumb is to avoid flagship rackets, any racket that a pro player users is likely to be on the harder end of the spectrum. Do not associate the elbow problems to bad quality on the racket as a high quality racket can also cause and worsen the condition.

Rackets I personally think transmit too much vibration: Vertex 03 Control 2021/2022, Bullpadel Neuron.

Contribution by u/PadelDoctor (https://www.reddit.com/r/padel/comments/15buddw/im_marcel_bogaart_padel_specialist_5_times_dutch/)

For me Noene has been a gamechanger (-96% vibrations). I have had a padelelbow for a period of time. This is my experience (I have helped 1000+ people).

1. weight, end weight of the racket should not exceed 380 grams (end weight is begin weight plus add-ons like grips, Noene, prorector, Hesacore etc).
2. round rackets (low balanced) are more likely to help you
3. glassfiber rackets with soft eva (eva30) or softer like Starvie Titania Speed with Noene is a real gamechanger. NOXML10, Varlion LW3 or Black Crown Piton Air also can do the job.
4. stretch your arm
5. warmup with an elastic band
6. cool down after a match with ice
7. so not play in the rain or with to hard balls
8. if you need treatment: EPI treatment (needles with electricity seems to work the best in Spain and in the past with me)
9. do not use cortisol injections
10. gripsize (not too thin(!) as this will make you squeeze to much
11. hesacore will make it bigger but absorption is only limited and my experience is, you will get sweaty hands sooner as it is not made of a breathable material.
12. relax during play (only strengthen your muscles if you hit the ball, not in the time between hitting the balls).
13. a racket which is too light is no good either. To accelerate the ball you need force x mass. Less mass means you need for more force
14. when we play padel we get so much endorphins and dopeins, we do not feel we are hurting something. The day after will tell us the truth.

If you can not lift a glass of water, do not play.

Do not forget to have fun!