These Wide body paddles are really promising

Reload Pickleball First Impressions

• Watch video here

Yesterday I posted a first impressions of the Reload RLD 1-16. This is the first raw carbon fiber replaceable surface. It isn’t perfect, but I am excited to see where it goes in the future. Here are some highlights:

• Replaceable raw carbon fiber whenever you want, for fresh spin.

• Gen 2 thermoformed

• Joola Hyperion shape

• 1979~ RPM

• Introductory price of $150 for a paddle + 4 replaceable sheets

  • Price per 2 sheets: $40

  • Price per 6 sheets: $100

• 122~ swing weight

• 6.2~ twist weight

I’m excited to see Reload license this concept or start creating more of their own paddles for their eco system. Right now I think it is a bit limiting being stuck to one paddle option at a reasonably high swing weight, but once they have other options such as: Standard, hybrid, 14mm, and other variants, I think it has a lot of potential.

Hopefully for other models in the future the swing weight will be a little bit more reasonable, since that is the biggest downside to the current model. It isn’t completely out of line with other elongated paddles, but it’s still on the higher end of the spectrum.

You can buy it here

11six24 Monarch initial impressions

Because of moving recently my review queue got massively backed up. But I do want to talk about some paddles that I’m really excited to eventually review.

11six24 has been on a roll lately with their releases. They just came out with their wide body Monarch line. They have 3 variants.

• The Monarch Jelly Bean (14mm & 16mm)

  • Price: $99

  • Gen 1.5

  • Fiberglass + carbon fiber

• The Monarch Control (14mm & 16mm)

  • Price: $149

  • Kevlar

• The Monarch All Court (16mm)

  • Price: $139

  • Fiberglass + carbon fiber

The Monarch All Court is the same construction as the Hurache-X Control+ that I reviewed many months back. This means it has a layer of fiber glass sandwiched between carbon fiber and that gives it a really satisfying pop feel off the face. Currently the Monarch All Court is my favorite in the line, with the Jelly Bean in close second.

I have a feeling the Monarch Control is going to get a bit lost between the Jelly Bean and the All Court, unfortunately.

I did a brief 45 minute hitting session with them today and I felt like they share similar characteristics. The pop is more aggressive on the all court, but power levels and control felt pretty comparable between both of them. The main difference was how the ball felt off the face of the paddle.

More drilling might help me notice more nuanced differences, but initially I think the only reason to choose the Monarch Control is if you know you like the feel of kevlar paddles.

The Jelly Bean 16mm will easily be one of the best deals in Pickleball for $100.

The Vatic Prism Flash has held that title for quite some time now, but I think the Jelly Bean will give it some competition, or at the very least, it will be another great option. Here are some of the highlights:

• It has carbon fiber and fiberglass

• It has a very forgiving sweet spot

• The balance, static weight, and swing weight allow this paddle to be very fast in the hand.

  • Static weight: 8oz

  • Swing weight: 107

  • Twist weight: 7.14

  • Balance: 233

I hit it side by side with the Vatic Prism Flash 16mm and I think you get just a bit more pop at the kitchen line with the 16mm Jelly Bean. Combine that with it being very fast in the hand, you get a really nice combo at the kitchen line.

Ultimately I think the Prism and Jelly Bean lines still occupy two different spaces. The Jelly Bean is a wide body while the Prism is elongated and hybrid.

The Prisms have just a bit more control than the Jelly Bean as well. Which one you choose will come down to what shape, swing weight, and control level you want.

So, the Monarch All Court and Jelly Bean get a great first impression from me.

If you plan to pick one up, you can use code PBSTUDIO to save some money at checkout here

🎙️ Latest podcast

If you missed it, this week we talked about the new (terrible) PPA Pickleball video game, and the potential return of the Gen 3 Joola’s with the MOD TA-15 that is coming out soon.