My Thoughts on the Vanguard Control

What’s up, guys? This week I go over my thoughts on Thrive Pickleballs value proposition, my trip to Vegas, and thoughts on the new Vanguard Control.

Last weeks poll results

Last week I asked how much warranty influences your purchasing decision. Here were your answers:

32 said “it influences my decision heavily”
130 said “I prefer it to be good, but doesn’t have a big impact on my decision”
54 said “It has no influence on my decision”

So, on that same note, I have a follow up question to that poll below.

My Trip to Las Vegas

Watch the video here

Last week I went to Las Vegas with John Kew, Braydon Unsicker (Pickleball Effect) and Pickleball Will.

We went out with Thrive Pickleball to try out their paddle fitting process and film a bunch of other content. It was a bunch of fun. I really enjoy hanging out with those guys. They are all top notch people and content creators. If you want to check out what we did on the trip, I made a vlog about it that you can watch.

Thrive Pickleball

On the same note of that trip, we got a demo of Thrives value proposition and their paddle fitting.

Thrive has a unique value proposition that I haven’t seen another company offer yet. They allow you to select the swing weight of the paddle you purchase from them within a select range.

Similar to how some companies let you choose a specific weight. The difference is that the static weight tells you very little and more often than not the swing weight is a better indicator of what people really want.

On their Threat 16 model, you can select from a swing weight of 117 up to 124.

Now here’s the reason this might matter to some of you. Have you ever bought two of the same model and they felt different to you? That’s likely because of the static and swing weight of the paddle. If you got one that was 117 and another that was 124, they would feel very different. Especially if you tried putting identical lead tape setups on them.

So, with Thrive you could select identical swing weights and know that you’re getting two of the same paddle. This would also make it easier to match two tournament paddles.

On every paddle you buy, you get a card with your paddle that tells you all of the stats for your paddle. Balance, static weight, how many points head heavy, swing weight, twist weight. Something that no other company has offered before.

The other cool part is on their website they’ve done the swing weight and twist weight measurements to tell you how much your swing weight and twist weight will go up if you put it in specific locations. That way if you get a 116 swing weight paddle and 6.5 twist weight, you could add lead to the areas they mention and know exactly where your paddle will end up without having to buy a swing weight machine.

This is something I would love to see more of the industry adopt. It would be really helpful for the tournament players who don’t want to invest in buying a Briffidi SW1 to run the stats themselves.

You can check out their website here

Early thoughts on the Vanguard Control

I don’t know when or if I’ll have a full video on the new Selkirk Vanguard Control, but I wanted to share some thoughts.

For your reference, I’ve played about 3 games with the paddle. Far from enough games to give a deep analysis. All of my games were with the Epic model, because my middle brother is using the Invikta right now. Most of my thoughts are going to come from looking at the Vanguard on paper.

Why does Selkirk have three similar paddles?

It feels really odd to me that Selkirk has the Halo, Luxx Control Air, and now the Vanguard Control.

The Vanguard Control seemingly undercuts their premium Control Air while also having a more durable raw carbon fiber surface.

The Halo seems like what the Vanguard Control could have been, but it had less spin than the latest Vanguard Control and wasn’t made in the US.

I’m just confused why Selkirk feels they need 3 control paddles at varying price points. The big “bonus” of the Vanguard Control is that it’s made in the USA. Which is awesome, but if we are talking strictly performance benefits, you aren’t going to see a big upgrade from other paddles that have existed on the market.

In fact, I’d argue that a lot of times made in USA comes with certain downfalls. While China has been able to produce raw carbon fiber paddles for several years, the US companies only just started being able to do it. On top of that, made in the USA paddles frequently have very cheap feeling handles (I’m looking at you Engage and PaddleTek). Selkirk was also a part of this until the latest Vanguard. Even with that, it’s still not as premium of a handle as other overseas paddles.

Selkirk claims to innovate, yet we are releasing a gen 1 raw carbon paddle in 2024?

Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing that’s inherently wrong with gen 1 paddles. Most players below 4.5 (Heck, maybe even below 5.0?) would be better off with a control paddle.

What confuses me is it took Selkirk two years to update the Vanguard 2.0 and the best we got was a raw carbon fiber face and octagon handle? I mean….seriously? For a company that focuses on trying to lead innovation through their Labs program, I would say they are severely lacking in actual innovation.

The last paddle that Selkirk released that felt truly innovative was the 002. Since that paddle, everything feels like they are playing catch up.

Why is Selkirk making their Invikta shape so confusing?

Selkirk now has three variants of their Invikta that people might not be aware of.

The 002 Invikta which has a 5.25” handle.
The Luxx Control Air Invikta which has a 5.35” handle
The Vanguard Control Invikta which has a 5.5” handle.

I have no problem with Selkirk making the handle longer. In fact, I think that’s better overall compared to the original Invikta shape. I’m just confused why Selkirk has 3 of their top tier paddles in varying shapes. Feels like this could easily be confusing for a consumer looking at the Invikta shape, buying a new paddle, and having a different handle length than expected.

Selkirks shape naming system with the S2, Epic, and Invikta was a relatively easy naming scheme to follow. Now it feels like that doesn’t actually mean that much for the Invikta.

The pros of the Vanguard Control

While it may seem like I have nothing but bad things to say about the Vanguard, I do think there are a few things that may make some people consider this paddle heavily.

1. Life time warranty. If you prefer to buy a paddle and use it for a year+, that warranty Selkirk has is second to none. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of someone getting denied for a valid warranty claim. In fact, I’ve heard about a dozen stories of people getting paddles swapped when they probably shouldn’t have.

2. Made in the USA. While I REALLY don’t think this is as big of a benefit as some people believe, it might be really important to you. If it is, this is a solid offering for a made in the USA paddle.

3. Weight variety. They have midweight and lightweight options. The lightweight options can go as low as 7.3oz on the Invikta which is craaaaaazy. My midweight Invikta was a 114 swing weight and a lightweight model was 107. So, if weight and swing weight are really important to you, this is an option that not a lot of companies offer. Especially in that low of a static weight.

4. Tighter quality control. For what Selkirk has offered, you can pretty much always know exactly what you are going to get. I’m not going to claim they’ve never screwed up a paddle, but I definitely don’t hear about the quality control variation from Selkirk that I do with a lot of other companies. I’m curious to see if their grit ends up being as consistent as they are claiming.

Closing thoughts

In 2024 I find the Vanguard Control to be an odd release. It offers you things that companies have been offering for half the price for almost a year now. The last Selkirk paddle was the Control Air and they follow it up with another control paddle that should have been released a year and a half ago?

As I hit the paddle more, I’m sure I will find that it’s a fine paddle for what it was designed to be. However, my biggest question becomes would you rather buy 1 Vangurad Control for $200 or buy two Vatic Prism Flashes for $180? There are a lot of paddles for half the cost that would perform just as well if not better.

This paddle probably isn’t targeted for most players reading this newsletter. It’s likely for the people who are buying from a big box sporting store, or are newer to Pickleball and looking for an upgrade from a brand that they recognize. I’m sure it will sell incredibly well to that demographic despite being “older” technology.

Who knows, maybe when I get to hit the Invikta model some more I will realize I was way off base.

🎙️ Latest podcast

If you missed it, this week we had a podcast with all the top paddle reviewers. We went over our trip to Vegas, what the best paddles are for most players, our favorites, our least favorite, and a variety of other topics. It’s a great one!