Diadem Pickleball is a well-known tennis brand that entered the market mid-year 2021 when they released their first performance level paddle, the Icon. It’s a unique molded paddle that quickly found itself in the hands of many players. Diadem never planned on stopping there, though. The release of their second performance level paddle, the Warrior, is a strong sign of their success and commitment to the sport. After playing with and reviewing the Warrior, I’m willing to bet it will be more popular than the Icon.
For this review, I drilled and played with the Warrior for over two weeks. I also shared it with several of my pickleball friends of various levels so I could give you the most accurate review of its performance.
Performance Summary
The Diadem Warrior is a top-tier control paddle. It has a great feel to it that connects you to the paddle. I was hitting consistent drops and resets from the midcourt as soon as I picked it up. I was amazed at how quickly that part of my game came. It normally takes me a couple of drill sessions and a few games to hone in the soft side of a paddle, but that wasn’t the case here. Its excellent feel helped every element of my soft game, especially blocks and resets.
Though the paddle performed well with the soft game, it wasn’t the most forgiving. A higher skill ceiling is required or you’ll find a lot of your drops and resets falling short into the net.
When it came to power, the paddle had a surprising amount of it, which I didn’t expect with its 19mm core. It has enough power to be effective when attacking at the net, but I noticed a significant drop in speed with drives and serves from the baseline. Keep in mind that it’s still a control paddle and doesn’t have significant power, but it’s more powerful than your typical control-oriented paddle.
The gritty surface grabbed the ball nicely and helped add spin with dinks and soft shots, but I couldn’t generate as much spin as other paddles with serves and drives. The paddle is heavier and thick so I couldn’t accelerate through the ball as quickly as a thinner core or lighter paddle to generate tons of spin with drives and serves.
The bottom line: It’s a top-of-the-line control paddle that best suits more experienced players. It has more power and decent spin compared to a typical control-focused paddle, but its heavier weight and thicker core make it a little harder to wield.
Get Your Warrior Today
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 Diadem
Quick Stats
| Technical Specifications | |
|---|---|
|
Weight |
8.5 oz |
|
Length x Width |
16.4" x 7.4" |
|
Thickness |
.75 (19mm) |
|
Handle Length |
5" |
|
Handle Circumference |
4 1/8" |
|
Face |
Carbon Fiber |
The Core and Paddle Design
There are several unique innovations with the Warrior, the most interesting one being its core. The core is 19mm thick, which is the thickest core on the market. A typical thick core paddle is only 16mm. This thick core is part of the reason it has such a nice feel to it.
The core itself is made up of three layers. Two polymer layers are sandwiching a nomex layer. Polymer is the most common material used for cores because of its good balance of power and control. Nomex, however, is known for having more power than polymer and is not used as often. This nomex layer, elongated shape, and heaver weight is what’s giving the paddle that little extra pop to enable you offensively. Control paddles are great, but they usually don’t come with much power, so it’s nice to have a little extra pop.
Another noteworthy innovation with the Warrior is its handle. It’s a slim handle. Why is this significant? Typically, a thick core paddle has a thicker handle too, but Diadem managed to create a comfortable handle circumference of 4 1/8″ to go along with its thick core. It sounds simple, but it’s actually a bit of a breakthrough.
The last thing I’ll mention here is its shape. Its an elongated shape that is 16.4” inches long and 7.4” wide. This elongated shape gives you a little extra reach, moves the sweet spot up the paddle face, and gives you little more leverage to add power on the ball. You don’t see elongated shapes for control paddles too often. This is because a wider body paddle is usually more forgiving which brands like to couple with control. Its’ nice to see an elongated shape paired with control, more brands should do that.
Attacking
I was surprised by how much power the Warrior was giving me. I never would have guessed it knowing it had a 19mm core. Usually, the thicker the core means more touch and less power. I think its heavier weight, elongated shape, and nomex core layer all helped give the paddle some power. It was nice to have the great touch the paddle offered combined with a little punch to enable you when attacking. Although you can’t hit it as hard as a power-focused paddle (it wasn’t designed to) it still had more power than your typical control-focused paddle.
Serves – The heavier weight of the paddle added power and made it easier to serve the ball deep, but I couldn’t put any significant speed on the ball.
Drives – Like the serve, I couldn’t crank the ball to put high pressure on my opponents with drives. But, it was often powerful enough to get a weak response and set up an easy drop shot. Generating spin with drives didn’t come as easy as you’d think with its gritty face. Though the gritty surface grabbed the ball nice on soft shots, I couldn’t accelerate through the ball as quickly as lighter and thinner core paddles to generate tons of topspin on drives.
Speed-ups – The paddle has enough power to be dangerous when at the net. Speed-ups could be disguised well because you didn’t have to swing hard to put enough speed on the ball to beat your opponent’s reaction time.
Counters – The Warrior did have more pop than other control paddles so I got a little more pace on counter punches. This was important to me. As you start playing at higher levels you need more speed to beat your opponents, especially when at the net.
Volleys – When you had time to put a bigger swing on the ball the paddle responded well and you could generate enough power to put the ball away. Hand battles were a little tougher with the Warrior, though. It is heavier and thick so it felt clunky in your hands and I felt slower when I got into fast volley exchanges as the net.
Soft Game and Defense
This is were the paddle performed its best. My entire soft game was enhanced and was more consistent. It has a great feel to it, but I do want to say that it’s not the softest paddle on the market. Though you think it would be with its 19mm core. Paddles like Selkirk’s Vanguard or Paddletek’s Tempest Wave have a softer feel, but the Warrior can be controlled just as well.
Drops – My drops from the baseline and midcourt were more accurate with the Warrior. I hit better drops more often. I felt a great connection to the paddle and instantly knew if I hit a good drop or left it a little high or long. However, the paddle isn’t super forgiving outside the sweet spot, so if you caught a ball around the edge it often found its way into the net.
Blocks – This is another area the paddle performed well and was a highlight for me. The paddle’s touch and ability to absorb pace off the ball made me better at blocking the ball. I didn’t leave my blocks up nearly as often when I was playing with the Warrior.
Dinking – Dinking came naturally with the Warrior as well. My defensive lift dinks didn’t pop up as often but it also had enough power to be aggressive with push dinks without over swinging. The grit of the paddle grabbed the ball really nice with short, soft dinking strokes. I could easily add a slice on my backhand and topspin with my forehand dinks. The elongated shape gave me the confidence to go after more volley dinks and keep the pressure on my opponents that way too. The paddle’s thick core and heavyweight made the paddle very stable, which helped me be more consistent with my dinks and kept off-center shots in play.
Other Player Comments
Who Would Like This Paddle?
I’d recommend this paddle to more experienced players who are looking for a top-tier control paddle with an elongated shape. Its excellent control is coupled with good spin and decent power to enable you offensively. However, it does feel a little slower in your hands because of its heavier weight and extra thick core.
If you’re a less experienced player, this may not be the paddle for you. I would recommend looking for a wider body control paddle that is more forgiving.
A Warrior Story
A week or so after I completed the review for the Diadem Warrior, I competed in a tournament. I played in 4.5 men’s doubles. It was a round robin format that finished with a bracket. My partner and I had a rough start and were losing some close matches and not so close matches. I was playing with an Engage Pursuit MX, which is my usual preferred paddle. But that day I wasn’t dialed in on my drops and kept leaving them just a little too high. Making it difficult to advance to the net and score points when we were serving.
Partway through the day, I switched to the Warrior in hopes it would help me tighten up my drops. And it did. We pulled off a big win at the end of the round robin and ended up beating two teams in the bracket that we previously beat us en route to taking the gold! It was such a fun way to end the tournament and I’m giving some credit to the Warrior for helping me improve my touch and drops on a day when I was a little off.
Get Your Warrior Today
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 4.5 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.
