I haven’t been particularly impressed with Paddletek paddles over the years but they’ve finally introduced a couple of paddles that I can really get behind. Their new big power paddles, the Bantam TKO-C 12.7mm and TKO-C 14.3mm, are good and are becoming even more appealing given the recent durability issues faced by gen 3/foam paddles.
These paddles were developed in collaboration with professional player Christian Alshon. They feature elongated designs with 5.3″ handles, although they also offer longer 5.75″ handle versions known as TKO-CX. In this review, I primarily played with the 5.3″ handle versions and will concentrate my evaluation on those.
After drilling and playing with the paddles for two weeks, here are my thoughts on their performance.
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Paddletek claims to use a unique polymer core material and a blend of carbon fiber and fiberglass in the facing layers to achieve the desired power. Although this approach may seem basic, it is proving to be effective. Another puzzling aspect of these paddles is that despite the absence of technologies like foam-injected sidewalls that enhance stability and forgiveness, these paddles surprisingly exhibit good stability, considering their thickness and lack of such technology. It’s unclear why, but these paddles offer more forgiveness than comparable options with similar thicknesses.
I want to highlight the enhanced durability of these paddles, as it is particularly appealing given the recent discussions about durability issues with the new technology used in Gen 3 paddles that incorporate foam in the cores for increased power.
In the past year or so, paddle technology has seen advancements such as thermoforming and foam integration in the cores. While Gen 2 and Gen 3 paddles utilizing these technologies perform well in terms of power and responsiveness, they are prone to durability flaws such as core crush and face disbonding, which can cause them to fail and fall out of specifications. Despite improvements in thermoformed paddle durability, these issues are resurfacing with the emergence of Gen 3 style paddles. These paddles can break down within a month to eight months of use, leading to frequent warranty claims and concerns.
In contrast, the simplicity of the technology in these Paddletek paddles inherently makes them more durable and significantly reduces the risk of core crush and face disbonding because they don’t use heat in the manufacturing process like thermoforming methods. Moreover, since these paddles achieve a similar level of power as the Gen 3 paddles, they become even more attractive options for players seeking power but don’t want to deal with durability issues.
The power and pop level of both thicknesses are big and just below the measurements I’m getting from Gen 3 type paddles that use foam in the core like JOOLA and Gearbox paddles. While some paddles have high pop and low power or vice versa, these paddles measure high in both areas.
As pickleball play styles continue to involve more drives and attacks, having power in your paddle can help you fight fire with fire. For me, this means it’s easier to hit bigger serve returns and counter punch drives more effectively by getting the ball back on them quickly and deeper into the court which slows down your opponents and reduces their effectiveness in using the power game.
When the ball is coming faster at you, you have less time to react and respond which means you have less time to move your paddle to generate power. But when your paddle can generate the power and pop for you, you don’t need a bigger swing to get the speed you need to do damage to your opponents.
The pop level on the 12.7mm is particularly impressive. The ball really jumps off on counters and when you have a chance to put the ball away. The pop level on the 14.3 is also good, but you could notice the difference between the two when playing. The 12.7 had more. The paddles both have lighter static weights and lower swingweights for elongated paddles and move well at the net. This gave them a nice combo of maneuverability and pop which was great for counters and hand battles.
I noticed that the bounce off the face of these paddles was more consistent compared to the Gen 3 style paddles from JOOLA and Gearbox. This consistency made the paddles more predictable, allowing me to swing bigger and with greater confidence because I knew what to expect. In contrast, with foam-style paddles, there were instances where a few balls throughout each game would unpredictably gain extra speed and float long, high, or wide when attacking.
The power was impressive right out of the box, and I didn’t really notice a break-in period, which is typically when players experience an increase in power as the paddle gets used. The power was strong from the beginning and appeared to remain consistent with continued use. Additionally, I had previously used the term “exponential power” to describe how the JOOLA paddles delivered three times the power with only double the effort, but this was not the case here. Instead, the effort and resulting power were proportional.
There are a couple of pros and cons in this area for the paddle. Pros are that the paddle has a more consistent bounce off the face than the big powered Gearbox and JOOLA paddles which makes it easier to reset the ball and control the pace of play. The JOOLA paddles in particular can be less predictable due to the trampoline effect they have which can cause pop ups here and there when you’re trying to slow the ball down. This was a big plus for me, I definitely was more consistent with my soft game across the board with these over the JOOLAs.
For cons, they have a less intuitive feel to them. The 12.7 has a firmer and stiffer feel to it that’s similar to a 14mm thermoformed paddle but a little denser or heavier feel to it. It offers good feedback and if you like the feel of firmer or stiffer 14mm paddles from other brands then you’ll like the feel of the 12.7mm over the 14.3mm option. The 14.3mm has its own feel that’s tough to pin down because it doesn’t compare well to other paddles out there but the best way I can describe it is that it has that stiffer, crisp feel of a 16mm thermoformed paddle but more hollow. The 14.3 certainly feels softer in comparison to the 12.7 and overtime it started to feel plush to me though the 12.7 always kept the same firmer feel.
The 14.3 paddle proved to be easier to control and resulted in fewer errors overall due to its increased forgiveness compared to the 12.7 paddle. However, it’s important to note that both of these paddles fall under the category of high-power paddles, requiring more skill and effort to control effectively.
The sweet spots on these paddles out performed what you would expect by just looking at how thick they are. The 14.3 was more forgiving and stable compared to other 14mm paddles though not quite as good as the average forgiveness level of a thicker, 16mm paddle. While the 12.7mm had the forgiveness level of a good 14mm paddle. This surprised me for a couple of reasons. 1) The paddles have light static weights which usually correlate with less stability, and 2) the paddles don’t have any edge foam or anything so there’s no specific tech that’s making them more stable. It must have something to do with the different core material they are using and the way the weight is distributed across the paddle. Whatever is doing it, it’s working and I liked this part about the paddles.
These are my favorite high-powered paddles that I’ve played with so far. Their combination of lighter weight, impressive power, good spin, and good stability, along with their superior durability compared to competitors in the high-power paddle category, makes them highly appealing. The main competitors for these paddles are the JOOLA Gen 3 paddles and the Gearbox Pro Power paddles. I noticed that these paddles had a more consistent bounce, making them easier to control compared to the JOOLA paddles. Additionally, I appreciated their lightweight design and forgiving nature, which set them apart from the Gearbox Pro Power paddles.
If you’re in the market for a high power paddle then I think the decision is primarily between these and the JOOLAs. Go with these if you want a little more control and go with the JOOLAs if you want as much power as you can get. The JOOLAs also have more shape options which is nice too so if Paddletek doesn’t have the ideal paddle shape for you then JOOLA probably does.
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.
The term “forgiveness” pertains to both the size of the sweet spot and the stability of the paddle. A paddle that is more forgiving offers a larger sweet spot, greater stability, and yields more power when hitting off-center shots. On the other hand, a less forgiving paddle has a smaller sweet spot and does not provide as much power when hitting off-center shots.
While there seems to be only benefits of more forgiving paddles, less forgiving paddles are often more maneuverable and is easier to generate more paddle speed.
Looking for the right paddle to fit your game? Take our paddle fitting quiz for three recommendations that will match your style of play.
