Johnkew Podcast Ep. 11: JOOLA Gen-3 vs. Gearbox Pro Power 

I hear ya! At 55, not a day goes by without something hurting... Looking forward to seeing what new technology might help keep these issues at bay.

Oh there are timestamps on Spotify? I don't even know how that happened, ha

You also need the original order number and sales date. If you have those then yes.

I'm sure it's it the works by others. They did not invent theromoformed tech. And the paddles sound like they added EVA foam in the edge. The sound the paddle makes has that same thump, only lighter than full EVA foam paddles. I don't think they can keep people from adding rubber or foam like theirs. Wonder what would happen if GearBox added that to their Pro paddle which was the fastest. Even faster and more spin?

Glad to win the paddle giveaway!! I messaged you on instagram and emailed you

Save yourself the time/money, just buy something really nice now and your game will adjust/elevate to the paddle! (the nicer paddles last longer too) 😅

On other channel, they used the Titan ball machine to generate and keep the power consistent in their paddle testing.

Fixed, thanks!

It seems to depend on who you ask! Luca at Rackets & Runners said the Hyperion is his favorite for exactly the reason you mentioned: faster hand speed/maneuverability than the Perseus, but still plenty of power and pop. But John and Eddie ranked the Hyperion last. Most people agree that the Hyperion has a smaller sweet spot than the Perseus, which in turn is smaller than the Scorpeus.

When you say you've tried them all out, are you referring to the Gen 3 paddles? I'm trying to decide between the Perseus, Scorpeus, and Hyperion, but none of the reviewers seem to have the Hyperion, so I haven't seen as much info about it. I have a 2-hand backhand, so I like the 5.5" handle of the Perseus and Hyperion. I generally prefer paddles with lower swing weight and higher twist weight, so the Hyperion seems like a better fit than the Perseus.

@@mrswitters1974 Pickleball Effect has the Hyperion in their database. 115 SW vs 121 on the Perseus. Same spin (~2000 RPM from Braydon, but John Kew can generate more).

@@zachcarmichael699 Thanks. I didn't realize the twist weight on the Hyperion was so low (about the same as the Perseus). This pushes me toward the Scorpeus. The low swing weight/high twist weight is way better for me. Although I'd prefer a 5.5" handle to 5.25", I've played with a Scorpeus Gen 2 and I didn't have too much trouble with my twoey.

@@mrswitters1974 That's because the gen 2 Scorpeus actually had a 5.5-inch handle, despite advertising 5.25, at least that's what Chris Olson measured it as. Not sure if the "corrected" it with the gen 3 or are still misadvertising.

@@zachcarmichael699 Good to know. I have a Scorpeus Gen 3 coming on Sat. I'll measure it and see where it lands.

Agree with you here. I switch paddles all the time depending on indoor vs outdoor, wind/temp conditions, opponents, singles vs doubles, preferred style of play for that game etc.... Of course the pros are often bound by their sponsorship deals, but maybe they change configurations with weight/grip etc... would be great like you mentioned to have more discussion on strategic paddle modifications.

Very interesting question. I know that pro tennis players tend to use the same type of racquet and strings (of course using many different identical racquets) for years or even decades, but will vary the tension of their strings within a range depending on the conditions. It seems like pro pickleball players switch paddles more often than this, but this might be because paddle technology is evolving so fast at the moment, and it might also have to do with sponsorship deals. Still, a lot of pros play with "Gen 1" paddles even when their sponsor produces something supposedly more advanced. Using an old paddle with the new paddle's paint job, like Ben Johns is supposedly doing now, is extremely common in tennis, and I wouldn't be surprised if it happens more often in pickleball going forward. What this suggests to me is that for a high level player, having a single paddle that you become extremely familiar with and learning to be consistent with it is more valuable than switching paddles constantly. But maybe that lesson doesn't apply to lower level players who won't ever hit millions of strokes with a single paddle. And it's definitely possible to make mistakes in the other direction. In tennis, Roger Federer famously played with a more "old-school" tennis racquet for years after most of his peers had switched to lighter racquets with larger heads, and he had a late-career resurgence after he finally switched to a bigger racquet.

@@johnclikeman5041 Great points. I've played exclusively with the Ruby for the past 6 months. Prior to that, I was switching back and forth between 2-3 paddles. I do feel I've benefitted from sticking with a single paddle. I'm going to try the Gen 3 Scorpeus and the J2K (similar to Ruby) and see if I prefer one over the other. (Still love my Ruby, but the spin has decreased dramatically, so I don't want to get another one.)

Mine was 8.2oz and I felt it was terrible to control. Swing weight was way too heavy, and even with lead tape the sweet spot felt tiny. Its saving grace was power on serves and overheads. My lead tape was at 4 and 8. Maybe I should remove those and just try lead in the handle to counterbalance the head-heaviness. Also, you can't lower swing weight; you might shift it more to the handle, but any amount of lead tape is going to objectively make a paddle heavier (static weight) and increase SW.

No.

Watch his review on the proton series one paddles. That has a special surface coating that has much longer durability than other surface types.

Too bad! The VM2 is pretty incredible!

Flaherty is an awesome community. I bet we know a lot of the same people. Won't get there next week however... I'll probably be at Lifetime if the weather is bad; Method if it's good. Maybe I'll see ya!

@@EddieK-PB Cool that's awesome, we probably do! Thursday is looking like my best opportunity to get to Method, but we'll see how the week shakes out.

The results in my database for the Gearbox are for a new paddle

Great questions! BTW - John can smack the crap out of a serve, so your results may vary! LOL

@@EddieK-PB haha that's what they all say! would love more videos of John playing

Gotta love the 'Anna"! Does a lot of the work for ya... Hope your elbow gets better soon. I struggled with it for 6 months, so I know the feeling.

@@EddieK-PBwhat makes it eventually goes away.

I'd like to hear what you find. I've used one of those $50 red light therapy belts from Amazon. It did help some when I had pain but nothing as dramatic as Kew reported.

I’m interested in his device, it is 30 day risk free, so might be worth a shot. I like my $70 lumicure pro torch from lifepro. I use the pulsed setting, and I do notice results, but barely. Prp has made the largest difference, and swapping to a lower swing weight and lower twist weight paddle, Mach 2 forza, has really helped me be able to play more with less pain.

My Ruby lost so much spin that I won’t buy it again. What about yours?

@@kyler5595 I have two Rubys, ive only been using one . I haven't played with the second one yet. I cant FEEL the difference of the texture on the face in the most hit sweet spot center area, once I switch to the second one I hope to see if there is a difference. In my mind there is a nagging feeling of loss of spin on my drives.

I bought a J2K to replace my Ruby, which I love. The J2K has a touch better control, a bigger sweet spot, more spin, and just as much power. It's also readily available and cheaper. Check it out! I'm also going to buy one of the Joola Gen 3 paddles. I'm leaning toward the Hyperion. It's a similar shape to the Ruby, same handle size (5.5"), and will have similar swing and twist weight, especially with a bit of lead tape.

Solid offering from HPC! Looking forward to talking about it soon...

Nice! I think we've met before, right? Your avatar looks familiar

We did. We played in a dupr league a year ago and I saw you at the PPA

Great question! You'd think the sweet spot would move towards the top edge, but subjectively, I did not find that to be the case. Perhaps John noticed something different.

Yes, good question. I feel like the sweet spot on the elongated paddles (Perseus, Hyperion, Magnus) is located about right where it normally is, so not really higher. But there might be something to it being a little higher on the Scorpeus. I usually have a harder time adjusting to standard sized paddles, coming from longer paddles, but these don't seem to throw me off

The brand “Pikkl” has them for sale on their site already.

We do plan to discuss shoes on the pod at some point

Although 3-4 MPH doesn't sound like much, it actually makes a big difference on a pickleball court, given its small dimensions (20 x 44 ft). A better way to use the database is to look at the percentiles. For example, the Perseus 3 falls at the 95th percentile for power, versus the Volair M2F, which falls at the 55th percentile. The average human reaction time is 250 milliseconds, so what appear to be small differences in speed on paper translate into a much more impactful difference on the court. E.g., the Perseus 3-16mm clocked 57.6 MPH on serves. At that speed, it would take the ball 520 ms to travel baseline to baseline (44 ft). And the M2F clocked 54.7 MPH, so the ball would take 550 ms to travel the same distance. Thirty milliseconds may sound minuscule, but that's actually taking away 12% of your reaction time. And where speed differences become REALLY important is at the kitchen, because you're only standing 14 feet away from your opponent. So taking my punch volley speeds (37.3 MPH for the Perseus 3 and 34.0 MPH for the M2F), the Perseus ball covers 14 feet in 255 ms (right up against the average human reaction time), versus the M2F at 280 ms. So you're getting 10% more time to react to the M2F than the Hyperion 3. And when you're dealing with the limits of human reaction time, every millisecond counts. And here's the most interesting thing: the Anna Bright Scorpeus 14mm paddle is the first to break the human reaction time for punch volleys. It clocked an average of 38.6 MPH, which translates into 247 ms for the ball to travel across both kitchens. So unless you're anticipating where the ball is going with a high degree of accuracy, you're not going to have time to react.

So the league should consider limiting the pop speed based on exceeding humanreaction time

@@HowieB-isMe3885 No. This is not an objective standard time. It is how fast John Kew pops. A pro can generally pop it much faster. And 3.0 woman will generally pop it a lot slower. So the number Kew provides is helpful, but only evaluated against his other numbers. Not another tester's number. Further, good players READ the opponent's paddle and not just the ball so before the ball even contact their paddle for the return, the players are already reacting. Hence, their reaction time is much faster than one would be if the reaction time began only at point of contact. I hope this makes sense. I believe that Dr. Kew will confirm this. And I believe that the only Pickleball tester on youtube with an earned doctorate is John. :)

Once they have extensive experience and get used to both paddles, the Joola should dominate. Better power, pop, spin, and arguably no lesser control. It's BOTH the Indian and the Arrow. In any sport, the better the skill, the more equipment makes a difference. It's the lower level that are not capable of wringing out performance from cutting edge equipment.

The Perseus will break in to gain more power. Just as your Gearbox did.

@@2musiclover534 True, didnt think of that. Hopefully so and hopefully will keep all the advantages too of the Perseus! Thanks!

@@clintroberts1 I heard that you do give up a bit of control, but not much. Best wishes - you have one of the best paddles currently on the market.

@@2musiclover534 I feel there is more control with the Perseus, not sure if that is what you meant

Joola is advertising both as the same circumference: 4.25 inches

What's the new tech that's being used if he's using the old core?

Plus we get your 10K subscribers too, right?!

Thanks for the clarification!

I'm glad you had a similar experience as me. What sort of issues are you treating on your hands?

@@johnkewpickleball I’m 63 and took atorvastatin for a year until I had joint pain bad enough to quit using it. But it left my hands with what felt like permanent inflammation. I bought a red light panel from Mito Red Light and use it about 3 times a week for 5 minutes and it really helps.

If I'm right, red light therapy is different from what Kew reviewed? Sounds like his added lasers.

@@2musiclover534 Red light therapy is a field of study and quite interesting. My panel came from Mito Red Light and it has four wave lengths. Some wave lengths penetrate deeper than skin. If you are interested I’d recommend watching some credible youtube videos about it.

This is getting meta, haha

Good points, thanks

Sorry to hear that! What paddle were you playing before?

@@johnkewpickleball I was using the prism flash and the ronbus pulsar r1. I was hoping to find something in between the two in terms of pop. Never experienced tennis elbow before in my life. Any recommendations? Great videos btw the best there is. 👌

The specs say 4.25" which is pretty standard. I assume you are referring to the Joola.

@@robertw4196Yes…this issue had been mentioned in various RU-vid reviews. Poor quality control.

I've got next-level color blindness

@@johnkewpickleball just messing with you. Luv that. I don’t feel so alone 🤣

These pickle nerds stole my Melin vibe, so I gotta move on to something else!

Eddie's gonna be sporting a fedora on the next pod