Is the Adidas Metalbone Any Good?

What’s up, guys? Hope you’re doing well! This week I am recapping three paddles that I am testing for some upcoming videos. The Adidas Metalbone, ALW 12.7mm, and the Six Zero Infinity. See below for my thoughts.

Adidas Metalbone Thoughts

Specs:

• Price: $260

• Thickness: 13mm

• Core: PMI Foam

• Face: Carbon fiber (not raw)

• Shape: Elongated

• Handle: 5.5”

• Grip: 4.25”

• Weight: 7.8-8.3oz

• Swing weight: 116

• Twist weight: 5.6"

• Spin RPM: Not tested yet

• Warranty: 1 year(?)

As many of you may know, Adidas has been a bit of a laughing stock amongst the Pickleball paddle community. Their first launch into Pickleball was a very weak attempt and their second follow up was better, but still subpar compared to the rest of the market.

They just launched the brand new Adidas Metalbone and it’s a very interesting looking paddle, however I still think they missed the mark.

The biggest feature of the Metalbone is the bolts that you can screw into the throat of the paddle. This is not a concept we’ve seen in Pickleball before and I commend Adidas for engineering something we haven’t seen before. Each bolt weights 2.6 grams and you get 4 included with the paddle and there are 6 total slots that you can screw the bolts into.

Here’s the problem…I ran stats on the paddle with every bolt configuration that you can use.

The stats effectively don’t change.

With no bolts, the paddle has a swing weight of 116. With all 4 bolts in the highest position, it’s 117.

The same thing goes for twist weight. 5.6 stock, 5.8 with all 4 bolts.

Balance also changes so little that the numbers aren’t worth mentioning.

So, the bolts essentially add static weight but don’t change much else. This isn’t a surprise when you look at the location of the bolts. It’s near the bottom of the throat which is one of the least effective places that you can place lead tape on a paddle.

Had Adidas allowed you to put the bolts above the throat, there would be much more significant changes to the paddles stats.

Stats aside, how is the raw performance of the paddle?

Uhhh…not great. Especially for $260.

It’s loud, it feels hollow, and the sweet spot is subpar.

They advertise PMI foam for the core which got a lot of people interested in it, but it does not feel like the foam that we all think of in Pickleball. It feels a lot closer to nomex.

The paddle is NOT awful. I think it’s a reasonable paddle to hit, but when you benchmark it against the other elite paddles on the market like a Six Zero DBD, Gearbox Pro Power, Engage Pursuit Pro, Vatic Pro, and many others, it falls short.

I’ll have a video out later this month about it, but I can confidently say that for 95%+ of the market, this is not a paddle they will want to use. I truly do applaud Adidas for the effort of a new design, but it’s going to take another iteration before people want to play with it.

Six Zero Infinity Thoughts

Specs:

• Price: $220

• Thickness: 16mm

• Core: Polymer

• Face: Raw carbon fiber

• Shape: Hybrid

• Handle: 5.5”

• Grip: 4.25” (Mine is around 4.4” though)

• Weight: 8.0-8.3oz

• Swing weight: 110-112

• Twist weight: 5.9-6.1

• Spin RPM: Not tested yet

• Warranty: 6 months

Sorry I am so late on my Six Zero Infinity review. With nationals and my trip to California I didn’t have time to finish a review in time. I’ve finished one hitting session with the Infinity and here were my initial thoughts.

It’s about what you would expect.

It swings faster than a regular DBD (110-112 swing weight), but with the lack of perimeter weighting the power has gone down. I played in a league with it and it was so much harder to generate power compared to my Gearbox Pro Power and the new Anna Leigh Waters 12.7mm.

I would classify this as a control paddle. I wouldn’t call it an upgrade or downgrade from the original DBD. It’s a side grade.

You gain faster hand speed but you lose some power. If you liked the feel of the DBD but wanted a bit more control, this might fit you very well.

I will say, they did a great job improving the sweet spot for an edgeless paddle. I still think it’s a hair below the DBD, but it’s better than other edgeless paddles I have used like the Gearbox Pro Power and Selkirk Vanguard Power Air.

I think the paddle is really sleek and sexy, but ultimately performance is what wins at the end of the day. I don’t think I would choose to use it over a DBD, but that’s because I’m looking for more power in my game.

Unless you’re someone who REALLY wants an edgeless paddle, I think you’re better off with the cheaper Double Black Diamond.

If you do decide to purchase, you can use discount code PBSTUDIO to bring the price to about $200 instead of $220.

Link to buy here

Anna Leigh Waters Bantam 12.7mm Thoughts

Specs:

• Price: $230

• Thickness: 12.7mm & 14.3mm

• Core: Polymer

• Face: Raw carbon fiber

• Shape: Standard

• Handle: 5.0”

• Grip: 4.0” or 4.25”

• Weight: 7.5-7.8oz

• Swing weight: 110

• Spin RPM: Not tested yet

• Warranty: Life time

I also got to test the brand new ALW signature paddle and I think it will be appealing for a specific audience.

The paddle I would compare it to initially is the Pro Kennex Black Ace. It has a low swing weight (110), VERY poppy and loud.

A lot of people have accused Anna Leigh of using a juiced paddle this year, because the Bantam that they sell with her signature has largely been junk by todays competitive standards.

With this new signature paddle, I would totally believe she uses it. It’s a bangers dream come true. You have access to a bunch of spin and in fire fights it hits so hard. In my opinion it hits harder than some of the thermos out there.

My first session I actually did have a hard time controlling it, but it’s unclear if that was because of how poppy it is or the small injury that I’m dealing with right now.

I think women may find this paddle really appealing because it has a low static weight, low swing weight, small grip, very poppy and a bunch of spin. There are very few paddles that fit this description. The closest would be the Pro Kennex Black Ace, but in my first session it felt much easier to get a lot of spin with ALW’s 12.7mm.

The main downside I noticed was the sweet spot felt a bit smaller than what I’m used to. More time with the paddle will hopefully help confirm or deny this.

For $230 I think it will be a hard sell for some, but I do think it’s objectively a good paddle.

More thoughts to come later.

Link to buy here

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If you missed it, we recap our experience at Nationals which received very mixed feedback.