Over the last couple of years, Honolulu Pickleball has quietly become one of the more innovative brands in pickleball. They were one of the first companies to build a truly complete foam paddle, and they continue to produce some of the best paddle shapes on the market.
Now they’ve taken another step forward with their new Crystal Blue Endurance Grit surface. The new texture tested extremely well in my durability testing and has now been added to their popular CR power foam series, including the J2CR reviewed here.
The result is a lightweight hybrid power paddle with explosive offense, elite long-term spin durability, and one of the fastest-feeling hybrid setups currently available.
Special Note: All Honolulu Pickleball paddles come with a discreet bible verse etched near the top of the paddle face.
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Affiliate disclosure: I was sent this paddle to test, but this review wasn’t paid for or approved by the brand. Everything here reflects my own testing and opinions. If you click the links on the page or use my discount codes, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you that supports my testing and reviews.
What stands out:
How it plays: A lightweight hybrid foam paddle with elite durable spin, explosive pop, and aggressive offense. Their new Crystal Blue Endurance Grit (UPA-A approved only) ranks among the best durable grit textures I’ve tested while the low swing weight gives the paddle very fast hands and easy acceleration.
Bottom line: Very good offensively at the kitchen with its high maneuverability, pop, and spin but requires some skill to manage well and keep the ball down.
Performance ratings are based on playtesting, paddle comparisons, and power, pop, and spin tests.
This paddle is available in a widebody (J3CR), elongated (J6CR), and as a hybrid shape (J2CR) though this review only covers the specs of the J2CR we received. Measurements are from my test unit and may vary.
The paddle has an extremely light swing weight for a hybrid while still maintaining a respectable twist weight, giving it a unique balance of speed and decent forgiveness. You can keep it light and fast or tune it into an oversized sweet spot setup with added weight. My recommended setup is included later in the review.
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Key Performance Traits
Power & Pop
The J2CR sits more in a reactive offensive category than a pure max-power category.
Stock, it lands on the 73rd percentile in power in my paddle database. It’s enough pace and spin to apply pressure from the backcourt though it relies heavily on swing speed and acceleration.
Pop is really the defining trait here. At the 93rd percentile in pop, the paddle feels explosive in hand battles and when combined with its lightweight nature becomes especially dangerous in counters and quick exchanges at the net.
Once weighted, the power level noticeably increases and the paddle becomes a much more complete offensive weapon. Drives carry heavier through the court while still maintaining good hand speed because the starting swing weight is so low.
This is one of those paddles where customization meaningfully changes the performance profile and gives you multiple setup directions depending on what you want from it.
Control
The J2CR is poppy and offensive enough that it won’t be easy for everyone to immediately pick up and play with. But despite the high pop level, the paddle has a good sweet spot and a predictable response that help make it controllable and manageable for players with the right skill set.
If you have solid hands and can manage a more reactive paddle face, the consistency of the response helps you dial it in. But this still isn’t what I’d call an approachable power paddle for everyone, especially in the transition zone and when defending pace.
If you’re already coming from a highly reactive paddle like the Selkirk Boomstik or Vatic Pro V Sol and control those well, you’ll probably adjust to the J2CR without much issue. But if you’re coming from an all-court paddle or a lower-end power paddle, the higher pop and reactive nature here will likely feel tougher to manage and may be difficult to fully dial in.
Feel & Feedback
The feel profile stays very similar to the original J2CR.
Impact feedback is stiff, crisp, lively, and hollow rather than plush or heavily dampened. Sometimes adding a durable grit coating changes the impact feel of a paddle, but that really didn’t happen here.
If you prefer dense, muted, or plush foam feel profiles, this probably won’t cater to you.
Forgiveness & Sweet Spot
For such a lightweight hybrid, the forgiveness level is very good out of the box, though I wouldn’t describe it as oversized stock.
Adding weight expands the sweet spot significantly while still preserving the fast maneuverability that makes the paddle unique in the first place.
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The Crystal Blue Endurance Grit is the big upgrade here.
The face texture is aggressive and grabs the ball extremely well across all areas of the court, from hard topspin drives to softer roll dinks, while maintaining that texture far longer than traditional peel-ply raw carbon surfaces.
In my accelerated wear testing, Blue Grit ranked #2 overall in durable grit retention with:
That especially high Rz retention score is important because it means the grit peaks themselves are holding up over time, which plays a major role in long-term spin generation.
The main drawback is that the paddle has a high enough grit texture that it is UPA-A approved only and not USAP approved. For tournament players, that matters because USAP approval is accepted almost everywhere while UPA-A legality depends on the event. For most rec and club players, though, UPA-A paddles are commonly accepted and usually not an issue.
| Paddle | Cert | Ra Starting Value | Ra Retention | Rz Starting Value | Rz Retention |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11SIX24 HexGrit Durable | UPA-A | 8.13 | 98% | 42.3 | 93% |
HPC Blue Endurance Surface Durable | UPA-A | 8.19 | 97% | 41.3 | 92% |
6.0 Diamond Tough Durable | USAP | 6.52 | 95% | 32.48 | 92% |
Chorus Harmony Grit Durable | USAP | 7.11 | 94% | 35.97 | 83% |
Spartus PermaGrit Durable | USAP | 6.67 | 93% | 35.1 | 87% |
Thrive Ignite Raw + Coat | USAP | 7.54 | 90% | 36 | 88% |
Selkirk InfiniGrit Durable | USAP | 5.7 | 90% | 30.93 | 85% |
Raw Carbon Avg Raw | 6.9 | 81% | 33.45 | 82% |
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Goal:
Improve the paddle’s stability and plowthrough while keeping the swing weight relatively low, maintaining the fast hand speed that makes the J2CR unique, and increasing the balance point for a more solid feel through contact.
What you’ll need:
Placement:
Why this placement:
The J2CR starts with such a low swing weight that there’s plenty of room to add weight without making it sluggish.
The strike zone strips create a meaningful jump in stability and power while specifically reinforcing the area where contact happens most often. After initially testing only the strike zone setup, I added weight to the bottom corners because the paddle still felt like it needed a little more mass behind the ball on drives and thirds.
That lower placement helped the paddle carry through contact better and reduced some of the “getting pushed around” feeling while still preserving the paddle’s fast nature.
The Result:
This setup gives the J2CR a massive sweet spot (especially for a hybrid with a 112 swing weight), and better plowthrough while still keeping the swing weight below average for a hybrid paddle. The paddle remains fast through the air but feels more complete.
| Metric | Stock | Setup | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Overall Weight
|
8.0 oz
|
8.5 oz
|
↑ 0.5 oz
|
|
Swing Weight
|
107
|
112
|
↑ 5
|
|
Twist Weight
|
6.3
|
7.3
|
↑ 1.0
|
|
Balance Point
|
232 mm
|
233 mm
|
↑ 1 mm
|
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I’d recommend the J2CR Blue Grit most to intermediate to advanced players who want a lightweight hybrid paddle that leans hard into offense, fast hands, and aggressive counters. It especially fits players who like lively, reactive paddles and don’t mind managing a higher pop profile in exchange for easy offense. If you’re deciding between this and something like the Power 2 Vapor, I’d lean J2CR if you want the more aggressive and poppy option, while the Power 2 Vapor is the better choice for players who want a more controlled power delivery.
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Reviewer Profile
Braydon Unsicker is the founder of Pickleball Effect and has been reviewing pickleball gear since 2020. He’s known for independent, data-backed paddle reviews and hands-on testing that help players cut through marketing claims and make smarter equipment decisions.
Affiliate disclosure: I was sent this paddle to test, but this review wasn’t paid for or approved by the brand. Everything here reflects my own testing and opinions. If you click the links on the page or use my discount codes, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you that supports my testing and reviews.
