PROLITE is literally the original performance paddle brand. They spearheaded a lot of the paddle technology we see today. If you were playing pickleball 10+ years ago, you were probably playing with a PROLITE. With all the competition that’s entered the market in recent years, you don’t see them around as much as you used to. However, with this brand new line of paddles, the LX Series, they are making a push back into the competitive pickleball scene again.
The PROLITE LX Series consists of four different shapes that all use the same technology. For this review, I played with their Supernova Pro shape. After drilling and playing with this paddle for two weeks, here is my review of its performance.
Performance Summary
Going into a review I’ll speculate how I expect the paddle will perform based on its materials and shape. Which I did with this review, and it didn’t play how I thought it would. It was the exact opposite. Usually with a 14 mm paddle you are going to get a solid amount of pop while having to sacrifice a little bit of touch. But that wasn’t the case. It played like a pure control paddle and didn’t have much pop.
As soon as I picked it up I was quickly hitting good thirds, dinks and just touch shots overall. It was giving me the control of a 16 mm core in a 14 mm frame. This gave you the best of both worlds, good control combined with good paddle speed. Although I was able to control the pace and placement of the ball well, it had a sort of flimsy, hard feel to it that I didn’t like.
Another thing that surprised me was the power side of things. I was expecting something with good pop because of its thinner core but it had quite a bit less power than I expected. I don’t mind a paddle with less pop because I can usually generate my own, but I had to add multiple pieces of lead tape to get the kind of pop I needed. Adding so much lead tape negated most of the light, fast feel it had out of the box. Because of that lack of power, the Supernova Pro is definitely going to best fit someone who is confident that they can generate their own power and wants something that’s fast and easy to control.
The bottom line: This is a pure control paddle that performs best with the soft game. It feels light and quick in your hands but that comes with a big dropoff of power. Although you can control the ball well, I wasn’t a fan of how the paddle felt in general, it wasn’t satisfying.
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Quick Stats
The Paddle Design
The LX Series has a few paddle design features which make it unique from other paddles we commonly see in the pickleball world. First of all, the face uses a Hyperweave Carbon Fiber which utilizes a tight cross weave with gold or silver fibers. This gives the paddle that cool shiny look and is supposed to increase the speed, strength and consistency of each shot. It also makes the paddle look different than the other carbon fiber paddles we commonly see that are mostly black, which is a plus in my opinion. It’s nice to stand out without having something with a funky design.
Another feature that is unique to the PROLITE LX series is that their paddles gain more friction and spin overtime. The more you play with the paddle the carbon fiber weave starts to fray which adds more friction to the surface, giving you more spin. This is a neat feature that I have not heard offered by other brands.
Let’s talk about the core. All paddles in the series have a 14 mm thickness. This core thickness is less common. Usually you’ll see 16 mm and 13 mm cores. PROLITE was the first brand to introduce a 14 mm core years ago and many brands have copied them since. Typically the thinner the core the more power you get and the thicker the core the more control you get. But that wasn’t the case with this one. It was quicker in your hands than a 16 mm but it played with the control of 16 mm too.
The last thing I’ll mention here is the grip size. The grip size is 4 ⅛ inches in circumference. This is a small grip. I had to add a couple of overgrips to get it to a comfortable size for me. That is a bit of a personal preference, but I thought it was worth noting.
Attacking
As I mentioned above, the Supernova Pro does not have the most power which is always a negative when it comes to attacking. However, it does have a few features that can help make up for that power and strengthen your attacks in different ways.
My drives from the baseline didn’t do much damage, but because of the thin and short shape, this paddle is extremely quick. Quick paddles are a huge advantage when it comes to short quick flick attacks off the bounce or out of the air. The reason for that is because the paddle is lighter which allows you to flick it faster and get more spin. This shot is crucial to be successful in the game of pickleball which is continually becoming more and more offensive.
The shorter shape is also very beneficial for quick hands battles. While playing with this paddle, I was more confident that if I started a hands battle with a quick flick attack, I would have the hand speed necessary to finish the point and be quicker than my opponent.
One other thing I noticed when driving, serving, and attacking is a tighter sweet spot. The paddle wasn’t super forgiving. Which is par for the course with light, thinner core paddles like this. If you hit the ball near the edge of the paddle there was a noticeable dropoff in speed.
Soft Game
The soft game attributes of this paddle is where it performed the best. As most of you probably know, third shot drops are a crucial shot when it comes to winning pickleball and this paddle offers the performance needed to have a soft, effective third that consistently lands in the kitchen.
I will say that although I was able to absorb pace and control the ball well, I didn’t like how the paddle felt off the face. It has a flimsy, hard feeling to it that wasn’t satisfying to me.
When the ball was moving slower and I had time to set up my shots during dink rallies and drops, the paddle performed great and I was very consistent with it. But when the ball would speed up and I had to defend attacks, I wasn’t as successful. The paddle has a lower forgiveness rating. As long as I hit the center of the paddle I could reset the ball all day. But if I hit the ball anywhere near the edge of the paddle then the ball died and dumped into the net more than I’d like.
When it came to spin, I thought I could generate good spin with attacks that required quick strokes that accelerated through the ball. But when it came to slower shots like dinks and drops, I was getting less spin than I’d like. This isn’t absolutely crucial, however, spin can get overhyped. One thing to keep in mind is that this paddle is actually supposed to gain more spin over time so maybe those topspin drop shots and dinks would be better in the future. In the two weeks I played with it, the spin didn’t change. I imagine it would take a month or so until you started noticing a difference.
Shapes of the PROLITE LX Series
One of the benefits of the PROLITE LX series is the variety of shapes they offer. I love it when brands have multiple shape and weight options like this so you can pick the one that’s right for you.
PROLITE offers four different shapes. Although the series as a whole will play with some similar characteristics, there are performance differences in each shape. Here’s a table showing how they compare side by side and a short description of how each one plays differently.
| Technical Specifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Length x Width |
Handle Length |
Core Thickness |
Weight |
|
Supernova Pro LX: This shape nearly maxes out the USAP guidelines of the allowable head size and is on the wider side. The wider shape and extra paddle surface will offer more control and a larger sweet in comparison to the other shapes in the series.
Titan Pro LX: This shape has a little shorter length and width compared to the Supernova LX. It’s also on the lighter side at 7.5-7.7 oz. If control and speed are what you are looking for, then this is the best shape for that.
Rebel Pro LX: This shape offers more length and is headweighted, which is a combination for more power. You’ll get more power and maybe even a little more spin with this shape.
Rebel Pro XLT LX: This is the same length and width as the Rebel Pro LX but it has a longer handle of 5 ¼” which can help add spin and power to the paddle while also making more room for two handed shots.
Who would like these paddles?
I think this paddle is best suited for someone who wants more control and plays a patient or defensive playstyle. It has a nice combination of control and maneuverability. However, even if you can generate your own power, you’ll notice less power in general from this.
At the time of review, this paddle cost $190. With the paddle costing as much as it does, I would have liked for it to have a more quality feel to match its performance and looks. The biggest drawback for me was the unsatisfying feel it gave me.
Shop Prolite LX Series
We don't offer this paddle in our store, but if you think this is the right paddle for you then you can pick it up from our friends at Fromuth Pickleball.
Shop PROLITEBraydon 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.
