PICKLEBALL PADDLES, THE NEXT GENERATION PART 1 OF A 4 PART SERIES

               PICKLEBALL PADDLES, THE NEXT GENERATION Part 1/4 Coach Joe Palmere Jr. ©

Part 1/4

“BUILD A BETTER PADDLE AND THEY WILL BUY IT,” A new twist on an old saying! Ask yourself, “SELF” why do paddle makers stick to using only three core materials, POLYMER, NOMEX AND ALUMINUM? Short answer, “they are time and performance proven favorites among the players.” Research and change is expensive and when manufacturing prices increase, paddle prices rise.

I tend to think way outside the box. I don’t mind paying the extra bucks for a performance  paddle. Critics will say, “sure you have the extra bucks to spend, or, no paddle in or out of this world is going to help “YOU” play better . . . “LOSER or PICKLEBALL NERD,” take your pick! BUT in my Pickleball World, anything is possible, if you can think it, you can make, do it, or convince someone else to do it for you.

The owners and sales staff of HOLABIRD SPORTS have tagged me with the moniker “PICKLEBALL JOE” . . . “Joe knows Pickleball, and Pickleball knows Joe.” I will take that as a compliment, “I think!”

Every time I visit the Pulaski Highway Store, I grab an armful of store demo paddles and put them thru their paces, inside the Store’s practice court, record ing my observations. Plus it gives me some free practice time. This is one way I connect the dots as to which surface material and core composition work best for me, regardless of the Brand.

Before I reveal my next generation paddle construction, I am going to list a variety of materials that are available for pickleball paddle construction, many are used in other recreational and non-recreational manufacturing. Some you will recognize as traditional paddle materials, “Polymer, Nomex and Aluminum.” And others are not.

This post required a lot of research.  My primary sources of research into the world of synthetics and composites were:

(1) “INNOVATIVE COMPOSITIVE ENGINEERING (ICE),”  http://www.innovativecomposite.com/examples-of-composite-materials/ ;

(2) “THE JAPAN CARBON FIBER MANUFACTURERS ASSN: https://www.carbonfiber.gr.jp/english/index.html

(3) “MATERIALS RESEARCH IBERO-AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MATERIALS: http://www.materialsresearch.org.br ; (

(4) SCIELO CORPORATION, “MECHANICAL PROPERTIES EVALUATION OF THE CARBON FIBRE REINFORCED ALUMINUM SANDWICH COMPOSITES:” https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-14392015000501029

(5) TURNOLOGY https://www.turnology.com/tech-stories/carbon-fiber-a-lesson-in-composites/

First let’s define some common “chemical” terms used in paddle construction nomenclature. Many of these defined terms will overlap and seem confusing at times. But they frequently seen in pickleball paddle advertisements to garnish the salability of their products.

COMPOSITE PICKLEBALL PADDLE

· A “Composite Pickleball Paddle" is constructed from a combination of materials, usually an  open-celled honeycomb inner core covered with one or more surface materials that contact ball.

· The inner core acts as a resilient shock absorber that absorbs & transfers energy of the ball.

· The inner core is  sandwiched between layers of outer surface materials. .

· Most Composite Pickleball Paddle have a raised neoprene outer edge guard around the face, or a resin filled edge finish, to prevent separation and  seal out the moisture.

END PART ONE.