To play pickleball, you just need four things: (1) the balls, (2) a net, (3) space to serve as the court, and (4) a paddle. For the court, you just need a 25 ft wide and 50 ft long space, which should cover both the court and a little bit of space outside. As for the net, you just need to buy a durable one.
For the ball, you have to decide on its size and number of holes. The shopping spree for pickleball equipment is straightforward until it comes to the paddle.
For many reasons, choosing a paddle is arguably the hardest part of the shopping spree. One, a paddle varies in width and length. Two, it can be made of different materials. Three, you’ll always have it on hand, so it must fit nicely on your hands. But most importantly, its price varies vastly according to these factors. But that being said, how much should a pickleball paddle cost?
How Much are Pickleball Paddles?
Like any other product, a pickleball paddle may vary in price according to several factors. But for your reference, if you’re on a tight budget, you can get paddles for as cheap as $20. If you have money to spare, you can buy a high-quality paddle for $100 to $150. You can also save money by getting a pickleball set instead, which often comes with balls, paddles, and a net.
Since it comes as a bundle, it’s usually much cheaper, with a price tag of around $200. That should give you a $100 net, $50 worth of balls, and a $100 paddle.
In short, it isn’t that expensive, though that’s not to say you can buy just about any paddle you can find. You must also consider a few things.
What Should I Look for When Buying a Pickleball Paddle?
Oftentimes, people just consider the price of a product above anything else, but that’s hardly of any importance when buying a pickleball paddle as there’s not that big of a disparity. Rather, you must look into other factors about paddles. Below are some of the things you must consider when buying a paddle.
WEIGHT | How Much Should a Pickleball Paddle Weigh?
Mobility is one of the essential elements of playing pickleball. That’s why your paddle mustn’t be too heavy, as it may hinder your mobility.
The good news is that pickleball paddles are relatively light, as they only weigh 7 to 8.5 ounces. Brands often categorize their paddles according to the weight rate.
A weight of 7 to 7.6 ounces is lightweight, 7.6 to 8.2 is mid, and any other weight above that is heavyweight. A lightweight paddle promotes greater mobility, a heavyweight paddle promotes greater power as it can pack a greater punch. The ideal choice depends on your play style, whether you’re aggressive or defensive.
THICKNESS | How Thick is the Best Pickleball Paddle?
Every paddle has a core, and it’s basically the material sandwiched between the two surfaces of the paddle. 95% of paddles on the market have a polymer core, so there’s not much you need to consider there. However, the thickness may vary from one paddle to another. The thickness may range from 10mm to 16mm.
Similar to weight, there are classifications for each thickness range. A thickness of 10 to 12mm is the thinnest, 12 to 14mm is mid, and 14 to 16mm is the thickest.
A thick core means the paddle can soften the hit of a ball, and as a result, you have better control over the ball. As the core gets thinner, it becomes harder to soften or take the hit, for that matter. But on the flip side, a thinner core typically adds more power to your hits. Put simply, it’s either control or power, your call.
SIZE | How Large is the Perfect Paddle?
A paddle generally has four dimensions relating to size: its length, width, grip length, and grip circumference. Here’s a look at each one:
Length
The entirety of the paddle can be 15.5 to 17 inches long. A longer paddle gives you more reach, but many people don’t know that it also gives greater power for each hit. However, it’s also more difficult to control the ball, and there’s usually a smaller sweet spot in an elongated paddle.
For your reference, a sweet spot in racquet sports is a small location in the racquet or paddle that must be hit to provide optimal results.
Width
The width of a paddle’s head ranges from 7 to 8.25 inches. A paddle that is short but wide is ideal if you want more control and a larger sweet spot on the paddle.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t give your hits as much reach and power.
Grip Length
The grip is usually a quarter of the entire paddle, with a length of 4 to 5.5 inches. This is mostly for aesthetics and is entirely up to your preferences.
Grip Circumference
The end of the grip, which is a circle, will always have a circumference of 1.25 inches, so there’s not much consideration you can make here.
To summarize, when it comes to size, you have three different ways to go about it. You can either get an elongated paddle (long, narrow paddle), a chubby paddle (short, wide paddle), or a classic paddle (16 inches long and 8 inches wide).
MATERIAL | What is a Pickleball Paddle Made Of?
There are generally four types of materials for a pickleball paddle—each with different characteristics perfect for different purposes. Keep in mind that material in this context refers to the material used to make the surface of the paddle.
Here’s a look at each material and why you’d want to choose it over others:
- Fiberglass (composite): A paddle made of fiberglass, sometimes called a composite paddle, is typically less stiff than paddles made of other materials. That means it doesn’t absorb much of the ball’s impact but rather returns it to the ball. Hence, fiberglass offers the most power.
- Carbon Fiber: A carbon fiber paddle is relatively stiff and can absorb most of the impact from the ball. Therefore, your hits won’t be as powerful as you have to put your own force into the hits. However, it gives the ball a better feel as its energy is spread throughout the paddle’s surface.
- Graphite: Graphite is a type of carbon fiber, so paddles made of this material perform similarly to carbon fiber paddles. Perhaps the only difference between the two is that graphite paddles are often cheaper.
- Wood: You won’t find any player using a wooden pickleball paddle in a professional setting. But a wooden paddle is an excellent option if you aren’t planning on going professional anytime soon. It’s cheaper than paddles made of other materials, and it‘s said that it can last for a long time.
There’s also what players call the hybrid, and it’s a paddle made of a combination of the first three materials. You’ll rarely find a hybrid paddle that consists of wood and other materials. If they’re made of wood, there’s a good chance it’s purely made of wood to lean on being the cheap option.
PRICE | Do Expensive Pickleball Paddles Make a Difference?
Many players assume that a price is just a superficial number that has nothing to do with a paddle’s quality. However, that cannot be further from the truth.
Though not always, the price often reflects a product’s quality. After all, most of the $20 paddles you’ll find on the market has a wooden surface. You’ll rarely find one that’s so cheap that’s made of fiberglass. Meanwhile, the opposite applies if you look specifically for $150 paddles. You’ll rarely find a paddle with a wooden surface for that high price, as most of them are made of fiberglass.
The ones from Adidas, for example, costs around $100 to $150, most of which are either made of fiberglass (composite), carbon fiber, or other types of graphite.
You now know exactly what to expect and what to consider when choosing a pickleball paddle. Now, the only thing you need to do is look for a pickleball paddle. Unfortunately, that might be quite difficult, especially if you’re looking for a pickleball paddle with the exact specifications you want. That’s why you should know where to get a pickleball paddle from the internet.
Where Can I Get a Pickleball Paddle?
The best place to get a pickleball paddle is undoubtedly the internet. Granted, you can look for one in a physical store, but that doesn’t change anything about your purchase, other than that you can inspect it beforehand. Even then, looking at a paddle won’t lead to any advantage, especially if you’re a beginner.
With that in mind, here are the four places to get a pickleball paddle.
1. eCommerce Retailer (eBay, Amazon, AliExpress)
If you want to buy a paddle as quickly as possible, eCommerce retailers like eBay and Amazon would be your best choice. You’ll find a lot of cheap paddles there that still have decent performance and durability. The downside is that pretty much anyone can sell on these platforms, so you can’t expect to receive exactly what you see from the images on the product page.
2. Sports Gear Shop
A sports gear shop offers equipment for every sport, and pickleball is often one of their categories. These shops usually have a rather comprehensive selection, allowing you to choose which brand you want to buy a paddle from.
Moreover, the shop usually has a filter feature that allows you to filter by brand, core material, face material, shape, weight, and price. This is where you’ll find the high-end paddles that cost around $150 to $200. Perhaps the main issue with these sites is that you won’t find many cheap paddles since all are branded.
Even if you do, it’s not advisable since the shipping fee is usually high, so if you buy a cheap paddle, the shipping fee would most likely be close to the price.
3. Pickleball Paddle Collection
There are very niche sites that sell a specific product type. In the case of paddles, those sites are called pickleball paddle collection shops.
They offer a more comprehensive selection than sports gear shops and have the same filter feature. The site may also consist of different varieties of the same product, which would come in handy if a specific paddle catches your attention but you don’t like its color. There’s also usually more information about each product, though that may vary from store to store
4. Brand Website
If you want the highest-quality paddles, you can just go straight to the brand’s website. There’s really no advantage to this option, except there’s no chance you’ll get scammed, though that’s often the case with sports heart shops and pickleball paddle collection stores.
Closing Thoughts
When starting out with a specific sport, it’s important to get a good feel of how the equipment works. Unfortunately, you cannot do that if you buy a cheap pickleball paddle. It may affect your performance and even give you a bad experience, discouraging you from playing the game. Therefore, choosing a suitable pickleball paddle is of utmost importance.
