The majority of the most popular paddles on the market all use a raw carbon fiber facing material. The material is primarily well liked because of its high spin potential. Diadem has obviously noticed and wanted to join the party. Their new Warrior Edge has a raw carbon fiber face and does in fact have a similar high spin rating compared to all the other paddles that use it too. There are some characteristics about it, though, that make it play a little differently than the other paddles in its cohort. I talk about those in the Shape & Design section below.
The Warrior Edge follows Diadem’s last performance paddle, the Warrior. It’s not meant to replace the original Warrior, but adds to Diadem’s growing catalog of paddles.
After drilling and playing with the paddle for over two weeks, here’s my review of its performance.
Performance Summary
I’m categorizing this one as an all-court paddle. The paddle had a crisp, light, and semi hard feeling to it and was semi poppy out of the box. But after a week of drilling and playing with it nearly everyday it broke in a bit and that semi-hard feeling went away and was replaced with a more soft, plush feel.
You notice real quick that it has a high spin rating and joins the ranks of the many other raw carbon fiber paddles that also have higher spin ratings. You can see the ball dip a little more on your serves, drives, and rolls at the net. It’s a nice asset to have.
When it came to attacking, I was surprised how much power it had. It wasn’t a power paddle but it did have more pop than their original Warrior and enough to put in the all-court category. It’s a midweight paddle at about 8 oz but it is well balanced and moves easily in your hands. I never felt behind the ball in hands battles and it was easy to accelerate through the ball with any stroke. It was a good combination of spin, speed, and decent pop that enabled offense well.
Talking about the soft game. I liked the feel of it when you hit the ball but wasn’t 100% in tune with it. I never knew for sure if I hit it well or if I popped it up a little. My soft game didn’t take a big hit and it still performed well there in most cases. Routine dinks, drops from the midcourt and blocks all performed well but my drops from the baseline weren’t quite the same. I kept floating those more than normal during the entire two weeks I played with it. This might be the first paddle I’ve played where I could take pace off the ball well with blocks, but didn’t have that same touch with my thirds. I think if I kept playing with the paddle I’d get my thirds to behave like I wanted but it didn’t come to me in the two weeks I played with it.
The bottom line: The Warrior Edge has a nice combo of spin, speed, and decent pop that improves your attacking ability. It has a nice feel that is controllable in most cases but I was less consistent with drops from the baseline.
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Price: $175
Quick Stats
Ratings are 1-100. 70s = C grade, 80s = B grade, 90s = A grade.
| Technical Specifications | |
|---|---|
|
Weight |
8.0 oz |
|
Length x Width |
16.5″ x 7.5″ |
|
Thickness |
16 mm |
|
Facing Material |
Raw Carbon Fiber |
|
Handle Length |
5″ |
|
Handle Circumference |
4.125″ |
Paddle Design and Technology
The Warrior Edge has a traditional elongated shape that’s 16.5” long and 7.5” wide to give you some extra reach and moves the sweet spot up on the face. Diadem went with a 5” long handle though I would have liked to see them make that at least 5.25” or even a little longer than that. The bottom of elongated paddles are pretty dead and I think there are more benefits to a longer handle than leaving that dead space there.
It has a 16 mm core and is 8 oz in weight. This is thinner and lighter than their original Warrior which was 19 mm thick and 8.5 oz. The biggest drawback to the original Warrior was its heavier weight so they addressed that with the Edge.
Diadem also introduced what they are calling their Aero Guard. It’s essentially a couple of grooves built into the edge guard and it’s supposed to help with aero dynamics though I doubt it really does much.
Finally, they are using a raw carbon fiber face that was made popular by Electrum and is also used in CRBN, Engage, Joola, and a few other smaller brands. It’s a great facing material that adds plenty of spin and lasts longer than spray on type grit surfaces.
Attacking
The paddle has some nice attacking qualities that enhance your offensive ability. The spin allows you to be more aggressive around the court, especially on drives, serves, and returns. On the power side, it responds well when you have time to put a big swing on it. It’s not a power paddle but it gave me more than I expected considering its thicker core and 8 oz weight. On counters it had decent speed but it wasn’t as much as their Icon and other power paddles.
The Edge falls into the midweight category at 8 oz but it is well balanced and moves easily in your hands. I’m personally a fan of paddles that are on the lighter side as long as the power is still there and I thought it had enough power. Another thing you can run into with slightly lighter paddles is stability issues but I didn’t feel like that was a problem. Its 16 mm core felt stable at impact and was never cause for issue.
It’s elongated shape was great when at the net and helps pick more balls out of the air to attack or dink. I felt I was getting good spin with my roll volley attacks and could be aggressive there. I did notice with volley dinks that I would pop those up a bit more than normal. The ball jumps off the face pretty quick and makes it more difficult to control with delicate shots like that.
Soft Game and Defense
The soft game was a bit polarizing for me with the Edge. I enjoyed the feel of it and could execute routine dinks, blocks, and drops from the midcourt well but for some reason I never felt connected with my thirds or defense from the baseline in general. The ball jumps off the face pretty quick which takes away some feel from the paddle and makes those shots less consistent for me. I’m not saying that I could never hit a third well, but I never felt like myself with those shots during the entire two weeks I played with it.
Interestingly, I felt comfortable with it nearly everywhere else on the court. This may be the first paddle I’ve played that felt good when taking pace off the ball with blocks and resets but didn’t have that touch with my thirds.
Other Player Comments
Comparison to Other Raw Carbon Fiber Paddles
Comparing the Edge to other similar and popular elongated Raw Carbon Fiber paddles out there, here’s how I would rank each paddle against each other. A lot of these comparisons are really close so I did my best. I thought it came in third on the control side. It only beat the CRBN because it’s more forgiving. The Electrum is the clear winner for control here. On the forgiveness front, none of these have tiny sweet spots but I gave it third place for this one. For spin, I put it as a tie with CRBN though the Joola and Electrum are not far behind. It was difficult to rank them for spin since they all perform well in that category. For power, the Joola CRBN take spots one and two while the Edge comes in the third spot and the Electrum is the clear fourth spot on this one.
Who Would Like This Paddle?
I think this is a good all around paddle but I didn’t feel like there was anything that significantly differentiated it from other raw carbon fiber paddles I’ve played. It’s priced within $10 of the CRBN and Electrum and $40 cheaper than the Joola Hyperion CFS 16. If you know you want a raw carbon fiber faced paddle then picking what to get may come down to small things like the grip size, weight and looks when deciding which one you want. Fortunately for Diadem, the looks of this paddle are clean so they have that going!
The Edge has a nice combo of spin, speed, and pop that improves your attacking ability. It has a nice feel that is controllable in most cases but I never felt completely in tune with my thirds. If you’re looking for a good all-court paddle that has a high spin rating and is maneuverable then this should be an option you consider. However, if you are looking for something similar but offers a bit more control then I’d look at Diadem’s original Warrior paddle or the Electrum Model E.
Is this the right paddle for you?
If you think this is the right paddle for you. Pick one up from our friends at Fromuth Pickleball for 10% off using code 10EFFECT.
Shop DiademBraydon competes at the 5.0 level and plays in 5-10 tournaments a year. He plays/drills 3 to 4 times a week and would play more if time allowed it.
