July Paddle Summary

What’s up, guys? A lot of paddles are coming this month, and in case you don’t have time to sit through all the videos and podcasts, thought I would write you a bit of a recap and also give you some updates on my back! Before we get started, here’s a poll below for you.

Your July paddle summary

Gearbox GX2 Power series

• Price: $280

  • Code PBSTUDIO will save 10%

• Shapes:

  • Elongated

  • Hybrid

  • (Unclear if there will be a widebody)

• Swing weight:

  • Elongated: 117

  • Hybrid: 110

• Release date: August 7th

• Listen to us talk about it on the podcast

Overview

Man, I am really impressed with these paddles. Gearbox has been hit or miss the entire time I have been in Pickleball. Some people are obsessed with everything they do, while others can’t stand what they build.

Since the Pro Power Elongated, I don’t think they’ve had a major hit.

I think that’s going to change with the GX2 powers. It feels like Gearbox finally heard all the feedback and took all of it to make these.

1. The swing weights are finally in reasonable places. The hybrid is 110 (which is on the low end for a hybrid) and the elongated is 117.

2. Edge guard and not edgeless. Gearbox sweet spots have always suffered from being edgeless, despite all the claims they’ve made that their edgeless paddles competed with edge guard based paddles

3. Internal perimeter weighting near the bottom corners to increase stability

Those few simple changes have finally produced a Gearbox paddle that has very few drawbacks. In the past, there was always one thing that made the Gearbox have an issue that most people couldn’t tolerate. Whether it was way too heavy, or the sweet spot was too small.

I played the GX2 Power Hybrid in a tournament this weekend and thought it held up awesome. The only drawback I’ve noticed so far is that control may be difficult, but if you’re buying a power paddle, that’s basically to be expected. I wouldn’t say the control is significantly worse than other power paddles like a Joola Pro IV.

The great improvements they made from the last GX2 are:

• More feedback on ball contact

• More sound compared to the last GX2 (it sounds very gen 3 on contact)

• Larger sweet spot

• More power

My initial impression at the moment is this will be one of the most direct competitors to the Joola Pro IV line. While it doesn’t feel exactly like a Pro IV, I do think it’s in the ball park and has similar amounts of pop and power.

But the real advantage will (hopefully) come in their SST carbon fiber core being far more durable than a gen 3 style polymer core. The Pro IVs have started to report core crushing issues, and that shouldn’t be a problem on these. Of course, time will tell though. There’s plenty of time to test these paddles before the full release.

Now I want to be clear, more time is needed to really understand the paddle and see what flaws it might have, and a power paddle is NOT for everyone. The GX2 power will not be for every type of player, but for those that love power, I think these are going to be a big hit.

This and the Honolulu NF are the only two paddles to recently tempt me to switch from the CRBN2 TruFoam.

Honolulu J2NF series & FC+

• Watch the NF first impressions here

• Price: $195 (you can pre-order now)

  • Discount code: PBSTUDIO (or PBSTUDIOK for kevlar)

• 3 models

  • NF (potentially called the NFC?)

  • NFT (“titanium” or polyseter)

  • NFK (kevlar)

• Shape: Hybrid

• Swing weight:

  • NF: 110

  • NFK: 111

  • NFT: 112

  • FC+: 109

• Ship date:

  • July 13th for the NF

  • Late July for the FC+, NFT, & NFK.

• Purchase here

Overview

The NF series from Honolulu is a full foam core with a gen 3 style ring. the “NF” stands for “Notched Foam” because the surrounding gen 3 ring is notched into the EPP foam core like a puzzle piece. It’s unclear how/why this would impact performance compared to a non notched version, but hey, I guess it looks cool in the x-ray!

These are some of the first full foam core paddles we’ve seen with very high stability and low swing weights, which is a very attractive combo. Not only that, but they are some of the harder hitting foam paddles we have seen to date.

At the moment I would put them in the bottom to mid tier power category. There are a lot of power based foam paddles coming, so that might start shifting the rankings around a bit.

I think these are going to be very popular this year with their lower price point compared to the BluCore, TruFoam, and 008. Similar to the J2K last year, there’s a lot to love about these paddles.

The NF is going to give you the most amount of pop at the kitchen line and also feel the stiffest. This is because of the carbon fiber, fiberglass, carbon fiber layup.

The NFT is going to have a softer feel and more dwell time compared to the NF.

The NFK is somewhere between the NFT and NF. Personally, I found this one to be the least attractive, but there was nothing inherently wrong with it. I just think it didn’t stand out as much as the other two.

The FC+ is a non notched foam core paddle with a Joola style gen 3 ring around the EPP foam core. It has the most dwell time and a softer contact feel than the NF version. I think there’s a lot of similarity with the NF, just with less aggressive pop.

I wish Honolulu didn’t release so many options. I think it will give consumers decision fatigue. The simple answer is, they are all good. It just comes down to small changes in feel that some players might prefer.

Body Helix TerraCore XC

• Price: $190

  • Code PBSTUDIO will save 10%

• 1 Model at launch (elongated)

  • More models to come later

• Swing weight: 115

• Release date: July 15th

Overview

We don’t have much play time on this yet, but our initial impression was that it was very poppy. It appears to have a full EPP core, but with a bunch of circular holes through the core or indents (unclear if the holes go all the way through like the TruFoam yet). It also has what appears to be a fiberglass sized patch just like the TruFoam.

Despite the similarities on paper, the swing weight is considerably lower than the TruFoam and the paddle appears to be a lot more aggressive.

GRUVN LAZRHD 16 Solid Foam

• Price: $179 (pre-order now)

  • Code PBSTUDIO will save 10%

• Shape: Hybrid

  • More models to come later

• Swing weight: 118

• Ship date: July 22nd

• Purchase here

Overview

The GRUVN LAZRHD 16 Solid Foam (say that 10 times fast…) is a full foam core and again, on the more aggressive side. We have limited time with this one right now, but there are a number of people who seem to be enjoying it quite a bit. My initial concern is that the swing weight of 118 is a bit on the high end for a hybrid, but not the end of the world. When you have the other foam core options launching soon with noticeably lower swing weights in the same shape, it may make this one look a bit less attractive.

The other mild concern is that it scored 0.44 on the PBCoR test. If I’m recalling correctly (and things have changed constantly, so this could be outdated) 0.44 will no longer be a passing result in May of 2026 and any paddle with that score will have to be retired.

Now, does that really matter right now? I would argue no, unless you love to hang onto your paddle for a long time. I imagine many people reading this newsletter replace their paddle long before 10 months arrives. Particularly with how fast technology is evolving.

I mean heck, 10 months ago full foam cores with EPP didn’t even exist. Who knows what we will have 10 months from now.

But, I thought you should be aware of that just in case the paddle does indeed have to be retired in 2026.

Vatic Pro V-Core Power

• Price: $109

  • Code PBSTUDIO will save $10

• Shape:

  • Elongated

    • Long handle

    • Short handle

  • Hybrid

    • Long handle

    • Short handle

  • Widebody

• Swing weight:

  • V7 LH: 123

  • V7 SH: 120

  • Flash LH: 116

  • Flash SH: 112

  • Bloom: 114

    • Vatic says that for mass production they will try to lower this

• Rough launch date: Late July

Overview

Vatic dropped a bit of a bombshell on the foam core industry and announced their new V-Core power models with full foam for $109, $99 after discount code.

This is a substantial price drop considering that two months ago the only full foam core paddles you could buy were $280+. New technology always trickles down into lower prices, but I didn’t expect to see a price this low so quickly.

If you want to hear more about the paddle, we did talk about it on our recent podcast here.

What you need to know for now, is that these are powerful. These are not doubt in my mind in the power category of paddles. They are very poppy which can make them difficult to control.

The sweet spots are also a bit on the tighter side which may make them slightly less attractive compared to the other options coming out.

But for $99, you really can’t complain.

I’m excited to look into these more. Vatic Pro, again, gives consumers great paddle performance at a more than reasonable price.

11six24 Alpha Pro Power

• Price: $199

  • Code PBSTUDIO will save $10

• Shape:

  • Elongated

  • Hybrid

  • Widebody

• Swing weight:

  • Hurache-X (elongated): 113

  • Vapor (hybrid): 109

  • Pegasus (widebody): 106

• Rough launch date: Late July (Not set in stone)

Overview

The 11six24 Alpha Pro Powers are going to be an interesting release. I had my first full drill session with these last night, and while I think they are quite good, I think it’s going to be a confusing release to recommend to people.

They already released a very successful line of power paddles early this year, and following it up with another power paddle (that isn’t a huge jump in terms of power) is very interesting to me.

My initial impression is that there isn’t a huge difference in overall fire power between the two, but rather you are changing how the paddle feels on ball contact. The original power series are stiffer (and possibly more poppy at the kitchen) and the Alpha Pro Power has a more springy response and feels like it pockets the ball more.

I think the paddle has objectively good traits, but I don’t know that changing the feel is going to be worth $40 more than the original power series to a lot of people.

It’ll be one of those series where you can’t go wrong with either, but I don’t know if both really needed to exist at the same time.

Also an interesting move for 11six24 to jump up to the $199 price mark since they’ve been known for having top tier paddles at extremely competitive prices. But, perhaps that is going to be the nature of a lot of brands with the tariff scares we’ve seen this year.

Either way, I’ll keep you guys posted as I use them more. There’s potential there, I just don’t think it is a clear cut upgrade from what they have now.

CRBN TruFoam 4 (hybrid!)

Overview

Unfortunately I’m not allowed to share specs yet, but I wanted to let you guys know that the CRBN TruFoam 4 should be coming later in July and it will be their new hybrid shape.

I know they advertise the CRBN3 as a “hybrid” but it is not a hybrid at all. They just called it a hybrid because it was between their widebody and elongated with a long handle.

Anyways, it’s about time CRBN got on the hybrid train. Everyone wanted this at release. I just wonder if it might be too little too late with the full foam market heating up.

I suppose the one advantage they will have is that many of the full foam paddles coming out are pretty clearly in the power category, the CRBNs tend to sit below that. So, for players wanting a bit more control but like how foam feels, these could still be a great option, just expensive.

Avoura Rivelle & Revaya

• Price: $199

  • Code PBSTUDIO will save 10%

• Shape:

  • Elongated

  • Hybrid

• Swing weight:

  • Revaya (elongated) 111

  • Rivelle (hybrid) 111

• Release: July 8th

Overview

Avoura is a smaller and newer company. Some of you who are deep in the gear world might remember when they released the Rhapsody 13 earlier this year. It was a widebody gen 1 paddle trying to compete with the PaddleTek.

I believe they use a metallic type of gel at the edge of the paddles to boost the twist weight, along with using a design where the paddle is widest at 3-9 to boost the twist weight even further.

All of it is an interesting concept. They are also fully made in the USA, and are quite a bit cheaper than the PaddleTek options out there.

Now, let’s talk our first impression of them.

Unfortunately, we weren’t huge fans out of the box. I’ve heard these touted as PaddleTek competitors, but in my opinion, the PaddleTeks still feel a lot better.

The Avoura models feel like they flex at the throat a lot, and for both of us that was really off putting. I wouldn’t say it is bad for everyone, just our preference of it.

I think that throat flexing just makes it feel cheaper in my hand or not as satisfying.

Along with that, it still has some of the drawbacks of a gen1 style paddle where the sweet spot and energy return just isn’t as good as the newer gen 2, gen 3, and even some of the full foam core paddles.

I would need more time to give a really great breakdown, but my initial impression wasn’t very high on the paddle. At least, not when the market is as competitive as it is right now.

Other releases

Other releases coming soon, but we don’t have a lot of info for:

• Bread & Butter Wild Thang

• Enhanced Pickleball full foam core

Update on my back health

Since my last email, I’ve made some pretty big improvements with my back.

One of the things I focused on heavily for June was significantly increasing my step count and sitting less. I mentioned in my last newsletter that a lot of my issue probably comes from the fact that I sit for way too many hours of the day.

Happy to say that my step count went up a lot. My watch 30 day average says I’m sitting at 13,601. My goal most days is to aim for 15,000+. Prior to this, I was closer to 7,000.

I’m trying to take 3 walks a day. Morning, afternoon, and evening. These range from quick 15 minute walks up to 1.5 hour walks. Just depends on the day and how flexible my time is.

I can’t overstate how big of an improvement I’ve seen from this. Pain went down considerably, and I’m currently on a 12 day streak of playing Pickleball (with 4 of those days being heavy tournament prep+tournament days) and my back is holding up much better than it would have in the past.

Tournaments would knock me out for days at a time and give me a lot of back pain. While I could tell my back was pretty beat up after this weekend, it is bouncing back very quickly.

Along with the walking, I’m doing 3 days of glute/core exercises and back extension holds. I’ve been working my way up on the back extension holds. Started at 30 seconds, now I’m up to 1:20.

I could probably increase the back extension hold times quicker, but I’ve learned too many times that when I try and speed this process up, I usually regress.

I’m over trying to fix this quickly, and more committed to the long term solution, even if it is slower.

I know I still have some ups and downs ahead of me, but it is great seeing the improvement in June with heavy focus on my step count. Now that I see my back is becoming more resilient, it’ll be easier to add in more exercises.