Best Pickleball Paddles of 2025 | Paddle Awards

Welcome to the 2025 Speak Pickleball Awards. It was a fun year for pickleball. With new courts popping up daily and everyone from your neighbor to pro athletes picking up new paddles, the gear that drives this sport has never been more important. We're talking power paddles, wild core innovations, and some truly game-changing technology that completely shifted how we think about what's possible on the court.

Here's what makes this special—we started Speak Pickleball just one year ago, and putting together these awards was such an incredible way to look back at how far this community has come. There was so much innovation this year, so much drama around regulations and new tech, and honestly, so many paddles that completely changed the conversation. Every single paddle on this list came out during 2025, and they all deserve their flowers for pushing the sport forward in different ways.

We've got our categories locked in, and for each one, we’re picking one winner and one runner-up. Without further ado, let’s dive into the paddles we think truly stood out this year. 

Environmental Excellence Award

The Environmental Excellence Award honors the brand that takes concrete, measurable steps to reduce its environmental footprint in a sport dominated by plastics, resins, and composites. It spotlights companies proving that performance and responsibility can move forward together. This award is given to brands that embed sustainability into their choices—from materials, manufacturing, and logistics to packaging and end-of-life programs—showing a long-term commitment to doing better by both players and the planet.

Environmental Excellence Award Winner: Revolin
Runner Up: F+B

Revolin Sports manufactures pickleball paddles with environmental responsibility at the core of their production process. Based entirely in Michigan, USA, their domestic manufacturing reduces transportation emissions while utilizing innovative low-temperature curing processes and proprietary LavaFLX and BioFLX composite materials that require significantly less energy to produce than traditional carbon fiber alternatives. The company emphasizes efficiency and waste reduction throughout their operations, with stated goals of achieving zero-waste production while maintaining high performance standards.

Beyond manufacturing, Revolin's sustainability initiatives encompass their entire product lifecycle. They use 100% post-consumer recycled content for packaging materials and algae-based inks for printing, while their RevCycle™ Program enables industrial recycling of Rise series paddles and manufacturing waste into new products through 3D printing technology. The company also partners with One Tree Planted for reforestation efforts, having contributed to planting over 4,000 trees in critical areas including Amazon rainforest restoration and California fire recovery zones, demonstrating their commitment to environmental stewardship without compromising paddle performance.

Outstanding Design Award

The Outstanding Design Award honors the paddle that best embodies a brand's vision through exceptional physical design and aesthetic execution. This award recognizes paddles where every design element—from shape and proportions to surface treatments and branding—tells a cohesive story about the company's identity and philosophy.

This award celebrates paddles that showcase thoughtful design language, where visual elements like face graphics, edge work, handle design, and color choices reflect a clear brand vision. It recognizes products that demonstrate how strategic design thinking can create a paddle that not only performs but also serves as a powerful expression of what the brand stands for.

The winning paddle will stand out for its distinctive visual identity, premium material choices, attention to finishing details, and the way all design elements work together to create something that feels both purposeful and beautiful. This award proves that when brand vision and design excellence align, the result is a paddle that players are proud to carry and use on the court.

Outstanding Design Award Winner: Selkirk Labs Boomstik
‍Runner Up: Franklin C45

The Selkirk Labs Boomstik exemplifies how bold brand vision and exceptional design execution can create a paddle that transcends conventional boundaries. From its audaciously catchy name to its premium $333 price point, every element of this paddle represents a calculated risk that demonstrates Selkirk Labs' commitment to pushing the industry forward. The name alone encapsulates the paddle's distinctive acoustic signature sound and powerful feel, creating an immediate connection between brand identity and player experience. This naming choice, combined with the paddle's clean, professional aesthetic, shows how thoughtful branding can enhance rather than overshadow performance.

The paddle's visual design language perfectly aligns with Selkirk Labs' reputation for innovation and premium quality. The bold red and black colorway, complemented by crisp, clean lines, creates an unmistakably professional appearance that commands attention on the court. Most striking is the glimmering MOI weighting system, which serves as both a functional performance feature and a distinctive visual signature that makes the paddle instantly recognizable from across the court. This integration of cutting-edge technology with stunning visual appeal demonstrates how exceptional design can make a performance feature into a brand differentiator, proving that when vision, execution, and performance align, the result is a paddle that players are proud to wield.

Incredible Value Award

The Smartest Buy Award recognizes the paddle that delivers the most performance for the money, offering serious value without feeling like a compromise. It highlights gear that would be easy to recommend to a friend who wants a high-end experience without paying flagship prices. This award is given to products that combine quality construction, consistent play, and long-term durability at a price point that feels like a “cheat code” for players looking to maximize what they get per dollar spent.

Incredible Value Award Winner: Vatic V-Sol Pro Power
Runner Up: Ronbus Quanta

Vatic Pro's journey to creating the ultimate budget foam paddle exemplifies the integrity and commitment that defines exceptional value. Originally positioned to deliver the industry's first $99 foam paddle, Vatic demonstrated integrity by pulling the product from shelves after early reports of manufacturing defects. Rather than rushing a quick fix to market, they took the time necessary to develop not one, but two complete iterations of their foam paddle line. This measured approach to product development, prioritizing quality over speed-to-market, ultimately disrupted the entire budget paddle segment and established new standards for what players can expect at accessible price points.

The resulting Vatic Pro foam paddle series proves that lightning can indeed strike twice for this innovative brand. Building on the success of their Prisms line, Vatic Pro delivered outstanding out-of-the-box performance across two distinct series—the preferred V-Sol Pro and the Power—available in three different shapes with varying handle lengths to suit individual preferences. 

Their approach ensures that budget-conscious players don't have to compromise on finding their ideal specifications. With no-fuss aesthetics that prioritize function over flashy graphics, these paddles remain the go-to budget choice among the new wave of foam options, delivering professional-level performance for players looking to get the most bang for their buck.

Best Kept Secret Award

The Best Kept Secret Award shines a light on the product that quietly impressed throughout the year but hasn’t yet hit mainstream awareness. It goes to the gear insiders talk about before everyone else catches on. This award is given to paddles or brands that overdeliver relative to their visibility—offering top-tier performance, feel, or uniqueness while still flying under the radar of most recreational players.

Best Kept Secret Award Winner: BodyHelix FLiK F1
Runner Up: Luzz Cannon

FLiK's emergence as a paddle innovator represents the perfect example of a brand that has been quietly perfecting their craft while operating outside the spotlight of mainstream pickleball awareness. Originally established as Body Helix, a compression and recovery brand, the company has been dedicating years to meticulous research and development in paddle technology. Their commitment to proper R&D created a foundation that would eventually produce breakthrough innovations. FLiK’s sandbox paddle program demonstrates their dedication to accessible experimentation, offering recreational players the opportunity to experience different cutting-edge tech without the premium pricing typically associated with high-performance equipment.

The culmination of FLiK's patient development process is the F1, which has quietly established itself as one of the hardest-hitting paddles on the market while remaining largely unknown to the mass market. Featuring a patent-pending EPP "terracore" core with circular cutouts and a fiberglass patch in the center, the F1 is a natural iteration of CRBN’s TruFoam Genesis, which arguably lacked a little bit of bite. 

This breakthrough not only put FLiK on the map but also validated their methodical approach to product development. As paddle nerds continue to discover and discuss FLiK's unique offerings, the brand exemplifies how sustained commitment to innovation and engineering can create products that overdeliver relative to their current visibility, making them the ideal recipient of recognition for flying under the radar while delivering exceptional performance.

Top Gear Award

The Top Gear Award honors the accessory that most meaningfully improves a player’s setup, whether by unlocking performance, dialing in feel, or making gear easier to live with. It recognizes the unsung equipment that transforms a paddle into a more personalized weapon.

This award is given to products that change how players interact with their gear—through customization, comfort, protection, or adjustability—and that have earned a permanent spot in serious players’ bags.

Top Gear Award Winner: Pickleball Effect Tungsten Tape
Runner Up: Slyce SLYDRs

Pickleball Effect's Tungsten Tape represents a paradigm shift in paddle customization. Led by Braydon and his team, Pickleball Effect recognized that the traditional use of lead tape, while effective for weight and balance adjustments, posed unnecessary health risks to players who regularly handle and modify their equipment. By pioneering tungsten as a non-toxic alternative, they created a product that not only maintains the precision tuning capabilities that serious players demand but actually enhances them through tungsten's superior density. This has fundamentally changed how players approach paddle customization, offering the same performance benefits with peace of mind regarding long-term exposure.

From recreational players discovering the benefits of personalized paddle tuning to elite professionals like Ben Johns, Federico Staksrud, and Anna Leigh Waters incorporating it into their setups, this tungsten tape has proven its value across the entire spectrum of competitive play. Despite tungsten's rising material costs throughout the year, Pickleball Effect demonstrated their commitment to accessibility by introducing tuning tape as a more affordable alternative to address price concerns. However, the original Tungsten Tape continues to set the premium standard with its exceptional feel and build quality that competing brands are now actively trying to emulate. 

Rising Star Award

The Rising Star Award recognizes the company that made the strongest entrance or leap forward in the pickleball space over the past year. It highlights brands that didn’t just show up, but arrived with a clear point of view and products that earned real attention.

This award is given to brands that demonstrated rapid progress in product quality, identity, and community impact, becoming a name that players suddenly started hearing—and seeing—everywhere.

Rising Star Award Winner: Luzz Pickleball
Runner Up: Chorus

Despite starting the year with negligible market share, Luzz drew some buzz by committing substantial resources to achieving UPA-A approval, demonstrating their serious intent to compete at the highest levels of the sport, although their journey wasn't without challenges. The initial delisting of the Luzz Cannon due to submission classification issues provided a crucial learning experience about regulatory compliance. Rather than retreating from the premium market, this setback reinforced their commitment to delivering high-performance paddles at exceptionally affordable price points, a value proposition that would soon capture significant attention.

Following their initial stumble, Luzz earned UPA-A approval for the Pro Cannon, Inferno, Tornazo, and Glider, building a comprehensive product line that appealed to serious competitive players. The ultimate validation came when elite players like Chris Haworth and other professionals adopted Luzz paddles as their paddles of choice, particularly during the industry's "paddlegate" controversy when UPA-A's new spin testing protocols led to widespread paddle delistings ahead of the Cincinnati Slam. This timing allowed Luzz to emerge as a reliable alternative, transforming what began as a virtually unknown company into a name that players suddenly started hearing—and seeing—everywhere on the courts.

Bag of the Year Award

The Bag of the Year Award celebrates the bag that best solves the everyday realities of being a pickleball player—hauling paddles, balls, shoes, and extras in a way that feels organized, comfortable, and thoughtfully executed. This award is given to a bag that nails storage layout, durability, materials, and on-court usability, making it the one players actually reach for day after day, from casual rec play to full tournament days.

Bag of the Year Award Winner: ADV Flex
Runner Up: FORWRD Ranger

ADV's approach to solving storage and organization challenges shows in their flexible shoe pocket that hangs outside of the bag, which addresses one of the most persistent complaints among serious players—the trade-off between ventilation and internal storage space. The bag's 27-liter capacity strikes a balance for the modern player who needs more than a minimalist carrier but doesn't want to lug around a massive tournament bag for regular play. By integrating genuine travel functionality with court-specific features, ADV has created a product that acknowledges how pickleball fits into players' broader lifestyles rather than treating it as an isolated activity.

ADV uses superior materials, thoughtful construction details, and design solutions that address real-world player pain points rather than checking feature boxes for marketing purposes. The bag's capability to stand on its own, laptop sleeve, toiletry pocket, hanging hooks, magnetic sleeves, and plenty pockets reflect a deep understanding of how serious players actually use their equipment. ADV's confidence in backing their product with a 10-year warranty signals a manufacturer willing to stand behind long-term durability claims. 

Best Creator Segment Award

The Best Creator Segment Award recognizes the content creator who has most significantly advanced the pickleball community's understanding of equipment science, technology, and performance through dedicated research and educational content. This award celebrates creators who go beyond reviews to deliver deep, analytical insights that help players make informed decisions about their gear. 

The winning creator demonstrates consistent commitment to rigorous testing methodologies, transparent reporting, and sharing knowledge that elevates the entire community's equipment literacy. Through their work, they have transformed how serious players evaluate and understand the technical aspects of paddles, balls, and accessories, creating a more educated consumer base that demands transparency and innovation from manufacturers.

Best Creator Segment Winners:  John Kew | Tales from the Ball Cannon, Justin Barton | Pickleball Pursuit Nerd Town

John Kew's "Tales from the Ball Cannon" segment on the Kewcast represents the pinnacle of independent equipment testing and analysis in the pickleball community, driven by his remarkable commitment to replicating official testing standards in his own basement lab. By successfully recreating the PBCoR test, Kew has provided the community with unprecedented access to real, quantifiable data metrics on paddle performance that previously only manufacturers and certification bodies possessed. His rigorous approach to testing has yielded crucial discoveries, including his early reporting of heat-related performance issues with Vatic Pro's first iteration of foam paddles, demonstrating how independent analysis can identify problems that might otherwise go unnoticed. Perhaps most significantly, Kew has demystified the PBCoR formula itself, educating players on how this critical measurement actually works and correlates to real-world paddle performance, transforming abstract certification numbers into actionable insights that help players understand what they're truly getting when they purchase equipment.

Justin Barton's "Nerd Town" segment on the Pickleball Pursuit Podcast has established itself as the definitive source for deep-dive technical analysis and industry transparency in the pickleball equipment space. Through meticulous research and insider access, Barton has consistently delivered game-changing exposés that have fundamentally shifted how the community understands equipment technology and marketing claims. His comprehensive investigation into what "titanium" actually means in paddle construction educated thousands of players about the reality behind material marketing, while his detailed breakdowns of manufacturing processes and R&D methodologies have created a more informed consumer base. Perhaps most valuable has been his insider knowledge around USAP testing procedures and his early insights into the emerging foam paddle revolution, providing the community with crucial information that allowed players to understand and prepare for major industry shifts before they hit the mainstream market.

Prom King Award

The Prom King Award celebrates the paddle that has captured the hearts of players everywhere through sheer likability and widespread appeal, proving that sometimes being beloved matters more than being technically superior. This award recognizes the paddle that consistently shows up on courts across skill levels, because it possesses that indefinable charm that makes players genuinely enjoy using it. Like the popular student who wins prom king through personality rather than perfection, this paddle earns its crown through consistent reliability, approachable performance, and the kind of user experience that keeps players coming back. It's the paddle that friends recommend to friends, that gets borrowed and never returned, and that somehow manages to be everyone's comfortable fallback choice.

Prom King Award Winner: Bread&Butter Loco
Runner Up: Luzz Inferno

The Bread & Butter Loco represents one of the hardest hitting foam paddles available in today's market, building upon the foundation of Bread & Butter's original Loco design while incorporating founder Doug's vision for combining exceptional power with distinctive character. While the bold aesthetic might suggest pure marketing spectacle, the paddle's performance credentials are entirely legitimate—players consistently experience the immediate power delivery that matches its aggressive visual presentation. The combination of real performance with memorable design has created a product that performs as impressively as it appears.

The Loco's remarkable market success speaks for itself. Every production batch has sold out since the initial pre-order launch, a streak that continues despite increasing competition in the foam paddle segment. This sustained demand stems from word-of-mouth advocacy from players who become genuine enthusiasts after experiencing the paddle firsthand. 

Perhaps what makes the Loco particularly compelling is its deliberately straightforward tech. Its simplicity rather than over-engineering proves that sometimes the most effective solutions are the most simple ones. This philosophy has elevated Bread & Butter from a beloved brand known for clever marketing into a serious performance brand, with the Loco serving as proof that exceptional products can achieve widespread popularity through substance rather than hype alone.

Innovation Award

The Innovation Award honors the product that most meaningfully pushes pickleball technology, materials, or performance into new territory. It goes to the gear that changes how players think about what’s possible on court. This award is given to the product that showed a clear, functional leap forward during the year—whether in construction, feel, performance, or problem-solving—backed by real-world testing and feedback from dedicated players.

Innovation Award Winner: CRBN TruFoam Genesis
Runner Up: Honolulu J2NF

The TruFoam Genesis quite literally broke the mold by reimagining how pickleball paddles are made. Prior to its release, polypropylene cores were the industry standard, with foam materials only relegated to supporting the perimeters. The Genesis introduced the first tournament-legal paddle constructed entirely with a foam core, following an 18-month development period. This innovation directly addressed durability issues that had affected Gen 3 paddle designs, notorious for their high failure rates from core crushing, affecting recreational and competitive players.

The Genesis still remains as an excellent paddle that generates exceptional spin, and with durability that has proven to match its marketing claims. While subsequent foam-core designs have been introduced to the market over the past eleven months, the Genesis established the technical feasibility and regulatory acceptance of full-foam construction in competitive play. It demonstrated that foam-core technology could meet both performance requirements and tournament regulations, single-handedly changing the trajectory of paddle innovation from almost every pickleball brand in 2025.

Paddle of the Year

The Paddle of the Year Award is the top honor: it goes to the paddle that defined the year in pickleball. This is the model that combined performance, feel, consistency, and impact in a way no other paddle quite matched. This award is given to the paddle that rose above trends and hype, proving itself across skill levels and playing styles, and earning a reputation as the benchmark others were measured against throughout the season.

Paddle of the Year Award Winner: Honolulu J2NF
Runner Up: Selkirk Labs Boomstik

Honolulu Pickleball has engineered one of the most influential iterations in the foam paddle with their innovative notched foam design, fundamentally solving accessibility issues that plagued the first generation of foam paddles. While Honolulu typically employs a shotgun product development approach, this particular model stands out for its breakthrough engineering that creates an expansive sweet spot combined with accessible power delivery that previous foam paddles failed to achieve. 

The paddle's clever construction demonstrates the kind of thoughtful problem-solving that has become characteristic of Honolulu's design philosophy, addressing real performance gaps rather than pursuing incremental improvements. Most notably, the long handle version maintains nearly identical performance while providing significantly more handle length, directly addressing one of the most persistent complaints about last year's dominant paddle, the J2K, regarding insufficient space for two-handed backhands.

What elevates this paddle to the year's top honor is its rare combination of technological innovation, broad accessibility, and practical completeness as a competitive paddle. The paddle delivers exceptional out-of-the-box performance while maintaining room for players to develop and grow with the equipment, creating a product that serves both intermediate players seeking reliable performance and advanced players demanding responsive feel. The notched foam technology represents genuine innovation rather than marketing-driven modifications, providing a new tactile experience that has influenced subsequent foam paddle development across the industry. 

Combined with its affordable pricing, impressive durability, and wide appeal across skill levels, Honolulu has created a paddle that has fundamentally shaped how the market approaches foam paddle design, earning recognition as the year's most significant paddle through substance, innovation, and lasting impact on the sport.