The Body Helix Flik F1 is the most powerful USAP-approved paddle I’ve tested to date. It delivers top-tier pop, unmatched power, and, unlike most power paddles on the market, it’s built with a full foam core that won’t break down and play with more power over time. If you’ve got the game to control it, the F1 is very unique and could give you the edge you’re looking for.
I would like to thank Body Helix for sending me this paddle to test, however, this article is not sponsored by them. The opinions expressed here are solely my own and are intended to help you find the best paddle for your game.
In this review, I’ll break down the paddle’s construction, its performance on court, how it stacks up against other popular power paddles, and who I think it’s best suited for.
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Body Helix is an early adopter of full foam cores and is the first foam paddle to bring this much power to market with a fully approved USAP PbCOR .43 design. The F1 uses a lighter EPP foam blend, includes cutouts or voids in the core, and features four layers of carbon fiber with a square sheet of fiberglass underneath the sweet spot, as shown in the x-ray above.
Most paddles in the power category rely on Gen 3 (think JOOLA Pro 4 series) construction techniques. While those paddles can perform great at first, they tend to break in (and break down) over time, gaining more power until they eventually exceed approved performance limits. The F1 avoids that issue. Solid foam cores don’t suffer from core crush, and there’s no separation between the core and edge foam, two of the biggest reasons Gen 3 paddles lose consistency and play hotter over time. We don’t want this to happen.
Even though this is a high-power paddle, it delivers consistent performance over time. It won’t change on you like a Gen 3, and that’s a big reason why I’m excited to see more foam paddles entering the power category.
Body Helix FLiK F1
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This paddle is built for offense. Both the power and pop are elite-level. Even more so than the popular JOOLA Pro IV series. But what really stood out to me was how maneuverable it is for a paddle that hits this hard. This is a rare combination. The low swingweight paired with the high pop makes it a serious weapon at the net. Even if I was late on a counter, I could still generate enough ball speed to stay in the point, or end it outright.
And it’s not just a weapon at the net. You have easy access to offense all over the court. Drives, mid-court step-ins, backhand flicks, finishing when your opponents are back, whatever the scenario, the F1 delivers. On top of that, it brings top-tier spin, which is critical for taming all that power. The spin gives you the confidence to go for more on your drives and speed-ups without needing to overly hold back, though you do still need to reign it in a bit, which I’ll cover in the control section.
One of the big upsides to the foam core is the feel. Most power paddles that use a Gen 3-style build tend to feel hollow and stiff. The F1, by contrast, has a softer, more plush impact feel with less vibration. It’s noticeably more comfortable on the arm and felt more intuitive to me from the start.
That said, just because it feels better doesn’t mean it’s magically easy to control. The power and pop are legit, and you have to adjust your game to handle it. If you don’t have good technique or a solid soft game, you’ll pop up the ball a lot with this. It’s difficult to tame.
As a 5.0 player, I never fully dialed it in, though I got it in a good place after a while. After eight-plus hours of games and some drilling, I felt confident in the basics. So things like drops, dinks, drives and then my resets were improving. But against players with big serves or heavy drives, it was a challenge. Taking pace off the ball and keeping returns in was tough, and blocking drives had to be precise or they’d pop up for an easy shake-and-bake.
The paddle leaves very little room for error in those situations. If my paddle face was even slightly open, the ball sailed long. When the other team hit low, fast drives, keeping the ball soft and down was difficult. Higher drives were easier to manage since I could just redirect them downward, but the well-struck ones that were low to the net were a handful.
Overall, how well I was able to control it sort of depended on who I was playing and how I was playing that day. If I was playing well I felt comfortable with it and if I was playing good players but not uniquely powerful players then I think what I gained offensively outweighed what I lost in control. However, if I was playing with my average stuff or playing against particularly hard hitting players then it was tougher to manage.
If you have a strong soft game or play an aggressive style, the lack of control might not be a big issue. But if you’re an all-court or defensive player, this may not be the best option for you. I’ll talk more about the types of players I think this paddle would be good for at the end.
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Forgiveness is a bit below average for an elongated paddle, but not unmanageable and when you factor in how light it is, it actually performs quite well. Its sweet spot is good vertically, there are not dead spots near the top, it’s just a little weaker side to side.
It’ll be good enough for some players though I imagine most will end up customizing it one way or another. I ended up customizing mine by adding:
That boosted the twistweight just enough to give it the stability and weight I wanted through impact but it still felt quick and maneuverable.
Numbers wise, this set up changed the swingweight from 114 to 116, twistweight from 6.07 to 6.52, and balance point changed from 242 to 233. If you compare the twistweight now to any other elongated paddle with a 116 swingweight you won’t find anything as good.
| Paddle | Power | Pop | Forgiveness | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Flik F1 | 98 Percentile | 100 Percentile | Medium | Low | $190 |
JOOLA Perseus Pro 4 | 89 Percentile | 89 Percentile | High | Medium | $280 |
Ronbus Ripple R1 | 98 Percentile | 80 Percentile | Low | High | $280 |
Vatic Pro V Core (upcoming) | Very high | High | Medium | High | $110 |
Paddletek TKO-C 12.7 | 91 Percentile | 99 Percentile | Low | Medium | $250 |
You can check out more paddle stats in my database here.
I think the Flik wins out the Ronbus Ripple R1 and Paddletek TKO-C and can be picked over the other two if you want a lighter option. However, there is a case for the JOOLAs and Vatic Pro V Core paddles if you are nervous about the Flik being too powerful and or want something more stable out of the box.
One downside: the Flik F1 is only available in an elongated shape for now, whereas the others offer hybrid or widebody options. That said, Body Helix plans to expand their shape line-up soon.
Additionally, I only compared the Flik F1 to other bigger power paddles here. There are other good options like the Honolulu J2NFK or the 11SIX24 Power Series that offers good options on the less offensive side of the power category.
The Flik F1 isn’t for everyone, but for the right player, it’s a weapon. Here’s who I’d recommend it for:
If you’re not quite at that high level to manage this paddle but still want a powerful foam paddle that’s easier to manage, check out the Honolulu J2NFK. It’s more forgiving, less poppy, and better suited for a broader range of players.
We’ve categorized paddles into three categories. Control, All-Court, and Power. Paddle categories are determined by Braydon after he hits or reviews the paddle.
A paddle’s weight represents the inherent mass of the paddle as measured on a scale. However, relying solely on this static weight measurement can be misleading when assessing the true perceived heaviness of the paddle. Even if two paddles both clock in at 8 oz, their actual heft in your hand can markedly differ due to variations in weight distribution within the paddle. This is why the static weight should be considered with the swingweight of the paddle. See the definition of swingweight below.
The weight value listed in the database corresponds to the paddle’s weight that I used to gather the swingweight and twistweight measurement. It’s possible that if your paddle has a different static weight than then the swingweight and twistweight may be slightly different.
Swingweight is a measure of the paddle’s resistance to swinging about the end of the handle. The higher the swingweight number the heavier it will feel in your hands. A higher swingweight has more power but is harder to swing, lower swingweight is easier to swing but has less power. Sometimes a faster swing with a lower swingweight can make up for power lost in swingweight. The price paid for that is greater impact shock. Stock swingweights will vary between 100 – 140.
Twistweight is the resistance to rotating around the long axis through the middle of the paddle from butt to tip. The higher the twistweight the more resistance the paddle has to rotating on off center hits. This measurement is closely related to the amount of forgiveness or the size of the sweet spot of the paddle. A higher twistweight indicates a bigger sweet spot. Twistweight numbers range from 5 – 8.
Measuring the revolutions per minute (RPMs) off of a serve you get a number that shows the spin potential of a paddle. Using these RPM measurements I’ve created five buckets that a paddle will fall into indicating its overall spin potential. The five buckets are:
1900 or Higher = Very High
1700 – 1900 = High
1500 – 1700 = Medium
1300 – 1500 = Low
1300 or less = Very Low
You can tell a big difference in the amount of spin a paddle generates when you compare a Very High paddle to a low paddle. But the gains from Medium to High to Very High are marginal. We’ve found that having at least a medium rating is often enough if you’re looking for a good spin paddle. However, if you’re a big hitter then you will benefit more from a high spin paddle to help you keep the ball in play more often.
The power level of a paddle is shown in miles per hour (MPH) after taking ten measurements with a speed gun of hitting a serve as hard as I can. This measurement gives you an idea of how hard you can hit the ball when given the chance to take a full swing. So shots like serves, drives and overheads. The higher the MPH reading the more power you can generate with the paddle.
I also show the percentile ranking of the measurement to give you an idea of how it stacks up against the rest of the paddles in my database.
The pop level of a paddle is shown in miles per hour (MPH) after taking the average of ten speed gun measurements of hitting a punch volley as hard as I can. This measurement gives you an idea of how hard you can hit the ball on shorter swings and gives you an idea of how quickly a ball comes off the face when you apply less force on the ball. So shots volleys, dinks, counters, and resets are all affected by the pop measurement. The higher the pop measurement the stronger your counters will be but it takes more skill to keep the ball from floating or popping up on you when resetting a hard hit ball or when dinking.
I also show the percentile ranking of the measurement to give you an idea of how it stacks up against the rest of the paddles in my database.
Looking for the right paddle to fit your game? Take our paddle fitting quiz for three recommendations that will match your style of play.
