Are Pickleball Paddle Erasers Safe?

What’s up, guys? This week we are talking about paddle erasers, kevlar cores, and the Slinger ball machine. I’ve enjoyed hearing from you guys in the polls, so here’s another one!

Are Pickleball Paddle Erasers Safe?

Yesterday I published a video on Instagram talking about whether or not paddle erasers are safe for your raw carbon fiber paddle or not. If you want to watch the video, you can check it out here.

If you want the short version, the answer is, probably not.

I took one of the erasers and aggressively rubbed one area of the paddle for about 10 minutes. It was so aggressive that the eraser started deforming/melting. The paddle was also hot to the touch.

I used a microscope and Starrett SR160 to verify visuals and grit levels throughout the test.

By the end, there was no change in visual or the Starrett meter.

I was FAR more aggressive than anyone needs to be when cleaning a paddle. So, I would say they are safe to use.

One warning is you should ONLY use them on raw carbon fiber paddles. Do not use them on paddles with paint grit. Below are a list of paddles that would be paint grit:

• Selkirk Vanguard Power Air

• Diadem Warrior

• Gearbox CX14 or CX11

• Franklin Signature (not the STK)

• Head Radical Tour Co.

• Engage Pursuit Ultra

If you use it on a paint grit paddle, you will very likely erase the grit from the paddle.

The next marketing word is “Kevlar”

Each year a new trend comes and goes. One that popped up this year a little bit was the use of the word “Kevlar core”.

There are several paddles using this. The ProDrive Ghost, the ACE Diamond, and the Cheetah Predion E16 AF/CF.

If you aren’t familiar with Nomex, it was a material used on paddles prior to polymer cores. Nomex gives great power, but they are VERY loud and the feel of them is terrible when compared to polymer.

The paddle you might be most familiar with that uses a Nomex core is the dreaded Onix Z5.

The industry switched to polymer cores because the feel and noise was so much better.

Now we have Kevlar buzzwords popping up. You’ll see phrases like “It’s used in bulletproof vests”.

Okay cool, so how does that help my Pickleball paddle?

I’ve play tested all three of the paddles I listed and they felt exactly how I expected a Nomex paddle to feel.

• No touch or feel

• Very loud

• Poppy

In my eyes, it’s just an inferior thermoformed paddle. I didn’t like how any of them felt. They didn’t hit way harder than a thermoformed paddle and now my ears are ringing while my resets feel awful.

The one thing I will give credit to Nomex is that the heat resistance is MUCH higher. The odds of a “Kevlar” core paddle having core crush issues from thermoforming is probably next to zero. So, that’s a big plus since core crushing appears to still be an issue.

Even if these paddles are actually using Kevlar it’s effective application didn’t feel different in a paddle to me. Maybe in the real world those changes are more substantial, but in a Pickleball paddle it doesn’t seem to hold up.

Maybe more time would change my mind, but my first tests were unpleasant.

Slinger bag ball machine

I recently purchased a ball machine so that I could complete my 15,000 backhand challenge video (can’t wait to share that one with you guys!)

I thought I’d give some quick thoughts for anyone who might be on the edge of buying one.

I really like it overall. I’ve been eyeing a ball machine for ages, but never pulled the trigger. It seems most machines make you choose between:

• Portability

• Feature set

• Amount of balls held

• Price

There are different ball machines from Lobster, SpinShot, SimonX, Slinger, Erne, and Tutor.

The SpinShot has some incredible features, but it doesn’t hold that many balls, the portability looks awkward, and it can’t store your balls for transportation. The price is also really high.

Machines like the Tutor are just flat out overpriced (In my opinion). I borrowed a Tutor Plus for a week, and if I had bought it myself, I would have felt a lot of buyers remorse. It jammed a lot, setting launch angle was difficult, and portability was very awkward.

The Slinger does a great job of fixing almost all the issues I have with machines.

• It’s currently on sale for $799 which is the cheapest ball machine by quite a big margin.

• It’s VERY portable. While it is larger than all the others, it has great rolling wheels, an extendable handle, and all the balls are contained within the machine.

• It comes with lots of extras. Phone mount, it can charge your phone, and a remote.

• The consistency out of the machine has been pretty good (still shoots out the occasional odd ball like most machines do)

• It holds a good amount of balls.

• It comes with a ball tube (that is contained in the machine) so you don’t have to bring a big dustpan or tube to pick up balls.

To me, convenience was a huge priority in choosing a ball machine. If it wasn’t going to be easy to use and take around with me, I wasn’t going to use it. With all the other machines you need to bring the machine, the balls, and something to pick up the balls separately. Which to me, is a hassle to pack into my car and bring onto the court.

With the Slinger, I grab the bag, put it in my car, and I’m done.

The one complaint I have with the machine is I have to be oddly close to make the remote trigger the machine. If the machine is at the baseline, I have to be at the net to start it with the remote. Not sure if mine is bugged, or if that’s the range of it.

I’ve only had it for 2 or so weeks, but I enjoy it a lot so far. I would recommend it as a first ball machine.

🎙️ Latest podcast

If you missed it, I had Braydon from Pickleball Effect on the podcast to talk about his story, and paddle review process. It was a fun chat.