Standard Paddle Face Off

Last week I asked you guys which paddle type you play your best Pickleball with (Control, all court, or power).

54% of you chose all court, followed by control, and then power.

Appreciate everyone chiming in! It was fun to hear the results.

Bread & Butter Shogun Review

• Watch video here

Finished up my review on the Bread & Butter Shogun today! This one was a lot of fun to do. I didn’t care too much for the Loco when that released, but the Shogun has a very unique feel that I think sets it apart from the rest of the market.

Is it blowing the whole market out of the water? Absolutely not. But, it is a very fun all court paddle.

I want to see this surface used in more paddles, because I really liked how it felt.

Aizec has switched to it as his primary from the Filth as well.

If you want to see more, check out the full review.

If you plan to buy one, you can use code PBSTUDIO to save 15%

Some quick thoughts on standard shape paddles

I’ve been on a big kick with standard shape paddles as of lately. I’ve never really cared for them, but since using the Volair Forza Mach 2 16mm more, I’ve become a much bigger fan.

I think in the past, the standard shape paddles just didn’t have a long enough handle for me to want to use, now more companies are solving that issue.

Today I went out for an hour and hit the Spartus Apollo, Volair Forza Mach 2 16mm, Ronbus Pulsar FX2, and Honolulu Pickleball J3K.

Volair Forza Mach 2 16mm:

Currently my favorite standard shape for the time being. I really love the control I get out of it (IMO, it might be one of the best control paddles on the market), the sweet spot is big, and hand speed is fast. I like how the ball feels off the face as well. I just feel confident throughout the court, which is what any Pickleball player really wants.

It is very soft, but that really doesn’t bother me with all the other things I gain.

So far it feels like the most complete package for my personal play style.

Honolulu Pickleball J3K

This one isn’t out yet, but dang it is a great paddle! Of any paddle I’m going to mention in this list, it had the most pop and power which made it a lot of fun. A lot of times standard shapes are associated with being control paddles, but this one is squarely in the all court category. Maaaaaaybe leaning toward power, but I think that might be a stretch. I need more time with it to decide. I also need to hit the J3K Pro.

The one unfair comparison about the J3K and power is that it has the highest swing weight of 117. The other standard shape paddles in this list are around 107-113, so it is considerably higher in SW than some of the paddles. So, naturally with more weight being in the head it’s going to have more plow through and power. If all of these were leaded up to the same swing weight, the power levels more be more comparable.

117 is also very high for a standard shape paddle. That’s reaching toward elongated shapes in terms of swing weight.

Spartus Apollo

This one is by far the best value in this list. After code PBSTUDIO it drops to $117 which is a phenomenal deal.

The feel of the face is stiffer. My initial thought is the sweet spot is good, though given how high the twist weight is (around 7.4) I would have thought it was going to be better.

By no means does that mean it is bad. It’s a great sweet spot. I just noticed that toward the edges it was more jarring than I expected. That might be due more to the kevlar face material than the twist weight though.

Handle is a little shorter than the Volair Forza Mach 2, but it’s still usable. This length handle wouldn’t be my first choice with a two-handed backhand, but it is manageable.

I think if you’re looking for a kevlar standard shape paddle with great spin and even better price, this is the one.

Ronbus Pulsar FX2

This one was my least favorite in the group. Not because it is a bad paddle, it just didn’t really do anything particularly special.

Maybe I just need to use it more, but each of the other paddles felt like it had something very good going for it.

Whether that was high spin, more pop, power, or a great sweet spot.

The FX2 just felt like it was in the middle of all the paddles in this list. The spin didn’t seem super standout (but it wasn’t bad), the sweet spot didn’t standout, (but it wasn’t bad), are you spotting a trend? Haha.

I think overall, it’s a well balanced paddle with solid plow through for a standard shape, but I think I would recommend one of the other paddles in this list over it.

I was hoping that the grid technology that they announced for the FX2 would add more to the paddle, but in this hour of testing I didn’t notice it doing anything better than a paddle without it.

Maybe it needs time to break in to reach full potential.

🎙️ Latest podcast

If you missed it, this week Will and I talk about standard shapes vs elongated and why one might be better than the other depending on your play style. We also cover the Vatic Pro Oni getting delisted by USAP this week.