Best Pickleball Paddles for Beginners – Our Top 5

Pickleball paddles have the potential to give a significant competitive advantage over your opponents. Therefore, paddle selection should be given a lot of consideration. Whether for recreation or professional play, you need an excellent paddle that feels great for grip and play.

Beginner pickleball players need highly forgiving paddles, and they will likely get edge hits or completely miss the ball. Ideal paddles for beginners should nurture your talent, eventually helping you improve. Fortunately, pickleball manufacturers acknowledge the need for beginner paddles.

Therefore, you have a wide section to choose from. We have probed far and wide to bring the best pickleball paddles for beginners.

Best Pickleball Paddles for Beginners

Best Beginner Pickleball Paddles – The Top 5

1. GAMMA Twister Lightweight Composite Pickleball Paddle
2. HUDEF Pickleball Paddle
3. Franklin Sports Pro Pickleball Paddle
4. Amazin’ Aces Graphite Pickleball Set
5. SLK Evo Hybrid & Soft

This paddle falls in the lightweight category, weighing only 7.4oz. The paddle offers unmatched control for the ball and better placement. The paddle has a polymer core that ensures excellent shock absorbency. Therefore, the ball reacts better. Additionally, the paddle gives you unmatched power.

Also, this is the ideal paddle if you have injuries on your arm. The paddle is perfect for beginner and intermediate players with its soft touch. We included this paddle in the beginner category since it will help you get used to the sweet spot.

Pros

• Great face material; for control and power
• Highly forgiving
• Great grip size
• Lightweight
• Nurtures talent
• Great ball response

Cons

• Core thickness not defined

The HUDEF pickleball paddle is beginner-friendly, lightweight, and weighs only 7.8 oz. The player gets better control, touch, and power with the paddle. It is ideal to use at your beginner and intermediate level. The face material is made of composite fiber face and polypropylene material that increases its anti-slip material and excellent shock absorbency. The handle offers a great feel, and it’s great even when you are sweaty.

Pros

• Lightweight
• Power paddle
• Great for spin and control
• Great handle
• Great shock absorbency
• Highly durable

Cons

• Barely textured, therefore, sacrificing spin

The Franklin Sports Pro is a premium paddle designed to help you improve your pickleball game. It has a great sweet spot, ensuring you don’t miss any hits. The paddle offers unmatched spin and great shock absorption, ensuring that the ball reacts to the ball very easily.

It has fiberglass as its surface material to ensure you have great control and contact. The carbon fiber surface also ensures that the paddle is highly reliable and durable. The face is highly textured, ensuring that it also has great spin. If you are a beginner or intermediate player, you should invest your coins in this paddle to help you in highly competitive games.

Pros

• Strong, durable core
• Maximum grip
• Large sweet spot
• Great shock absorbency
• Increased contact and control
• Mid-weight for better control

Cons

• Pricey
• Short handle sacrifices on reach

This is the first paddle set in this review list and falls in the mid-weight category. It takes the top spot for best beginner pickleball paddle set. It measures 8.3 oz, therefore, offering the player great control. It has a polymer core and a graphite face, ensuring that the ball responds accurately. The paddle set is great for beginners and intermediate players. It is a premium paddle set with a hand-stitched contour grip to give the player more control and power.

Pros

• Comfortable grip
• Mid-weight for increased control
• Great quality materials
• Highly durable
• Power paddle
• Comes with balls, two paddles, and a mesh

Cons

• Noisy paddles

This is an elongated paddle designed to give you better reach. Additionally, it has a thick core, ensuring the player has great control. Its soft core technology ensures great shock absorbency enabling the player to place the ball properly and take control of hard shots driven at you.

It is a lightweight paddle that will work as an extension of your hand. Additionally, it offers a great sweet spot, ensuring it is highly forgiving. At a moderate price, you will get a highly versatile and high-quality paddle designed to help you improve greatly in your game. The icing on the cake is that the paddle can last a long time.

Pros

• Lightweight paddle
• Highly maneuverable
• Massive sweet spot
• Thick core for maximum control
• Comfort grip
• Elongated shape for maximum power and reach
• Grit for extra spin

Cons

• The handle is not slip-free

Best Beginner Pickleball Paddle – Factors to Consider

Choosing the best paddle can be challenging if you are new to pickleball. Fortunately, we have compiled a list of factors you should consider when buying these paddles.

• Core Material

Pickleball manufacturers generally use aluminum, polymer, or Nomex in core construction. If you are a competitive player, who loves their paddles producing loud noise on impact with the ball, then Nomex paddles would be great for you. Additionally, you can choose Nomex paddles due to their durability. Nomex is highly dense, which makes them last longer. They also have smaller honeycomb cell sizes to last longer.

If you like quieter paddles, you can go for polymer paddles, and they have bigger honeycomb cells which ensure you have increased power. On the downside, polymer paddles dont offer much control compared to aluminum and Nomex.

The last popular option is aluminum which produces alot of noise and can easily dent. However, these paddles are unmatched when it comes to power and control.

• Weight

Pickleball paddles are very lightweight, ranging from 6 to 14 oz. USA pickleball does not dictate the ideal weight for paddles. The weight of the paddle determines its control and power. The lighter the paddle, the more power you use to hit the ball. Generally, a heavy paddle gives you more power while sacrificing control.

Additionally, as a beginner, you are not used to holding paddles, so heavier paddles might make you tired more quickly. Typically, beginners are advised to go with the lighter versions. Generally, a lightweight one measures approximately 7.5 oz, a mid-weight paddle weighs up to 8.4 oz, and a heavy one weighs more than 8.5 oz.

Also, choosing a graphite paddle is a great idea as it will be easier to swing. Take a look at our best graphite pickleball paddles for beginners and see the 5 best options.

• Paddle Shape

The paddle shape heavily influences its power, forgiving power, and maneuverability. Generally, the whole paddle measures 24 inches, including any edge guard or butt cap. Judging by paddle shape, you can opt for elongated paddles. Elongated paddles will give you superior reach, power, and spin.

However, with elongated paddles, you will have a smaller sweet spot, and the paddle has less speed moving through the air. For a beginner, if you would like the elongated paddle, go for one with carbon fiber as face material to have a greater sweet spot. Elongated paddles with fiberglass material in the face will leave you at a disadvantage due to the shrank sweet spot and less control.

On the other side, widebody shapes have larger sweet spots and quickly move through the air. However, you are at a disadvantage with power and reach.

You can also choose to buy paddles with the classical shape, the original paddle shape. Classic paddles are generally a combination of elongated paddles and widebody paddles. They work great to give you more power, forgiveness, maneuverability, and spin.

• Handle Length

A longer handle will give you more spin and power in your shot. Additionally, a paddle handle length cannot exceed 6 inches. Interestingly, the whole paddle cannot be more than 24 inches. Therefore, choosing a paddle with a longer handle sacrifices the face’s size. Generally, we advise beginners to choose shorter handle lengths with wide body shapes to get more power and consistent hits at the paddle’s sweet spot.

You can choose the handle length according to your style of play. Some players work with both hands, while some work well with only one. Additionally, some players use two hands for backhand drives and one hand at times. For people who play with both hands, longer handles are more conducive, measuring 5.25 inches or more. If you use one hand to play, a 5-inch handle size is ideal. You need shorter versions for players who hold their paddles like a ping pong paddle, with a finger on the face.

The Best Pickleball Paddles for Beginners

Beginner paddles should offer the player great control and a big sweet spot. A massive sweet spot ensures that you don’t miss any balls and that your balls react more effectively. These paddles will ensure you deliver softballs as well as hard ones. For more options, you can also view our best pickleball paddles under $50 as well.

Additionally, you can land dinks and third-shot drives to get that advantage over your opponents. We have compiled premium and pocket-friendly options to ensure that all your needs are met. Notably, it is essential to purchase a paddle specifically designed for beginners to have an advantage during the game. Additionally, we have provided a guide to help you buy a paddle to make your selection.