The trend toward the end of 2024 was extending the foam around the perimeter of the paddle to increase power, like JOOLA did with their 3S series. Pickleball Apes used a similar design with extended foam around the perimeter, but with a different goal than power. They wanted to use foam to reduce vibrations, extend the sweet spot, and keep the power from getting out of hand which is exactly what they got by adding a carbon fiber ring around the extended foam to reduce foam expansion.
The Pulse series has what I can only describe as a comfortable stiff feel that offers good feedback in the sense that you always know where the ball is going and if you hit it well or not. These paddles offer aggressive control out of the box. However, after a couple of weeks of play, their performance shifts, becoming faster and exhibiting the characteristics of an aggressive all-court paddle, while still maintaining vibration control and generous sweet spots.
The series is offered in three shapes, each falling into the all-court category but with slight nuances:
My personal favorite was the V and was closely followed by the S. The E is more niche with its extra extended shape that a few people love though more will prefer the S and V.
The only thing keeping these from the Gold award is that they have a little higher static weights than most paddles and paddles that change performance like this with a “break in” period aren’t as predictable as other paddles meaning if you buy two of these then they won’t play the exact same, there will be some nuanced differences between them. However, these feel and play very well once they break in and they are on this award list for good reason.
