If you're looking for a new paddle, and you want to make a data-based decision...this is the guy to follow. I'm hoping he incorporates coefficient of restitution into his data base (like firing a standardized pickleball-like projectile at a standardized velocity at a paddle in a jig...to give hard numbers to the subjective term "pop". Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about but I think that would be helpful data for me to use when selecting a new paddle.
John, you always have the best information!!! No nonsense, just straight to the specs (explained SOOOOO well), and assessments on the court. You never disappoint friend - so helpful always!
John, you, Will, Chris and Braydon all made these specs come to the forefront! So thankful for you guys. Keep up the great work! Love your spiderweb diagrams, very helpful!
Thanks John. You made my decision to order the Thrive Azul (116 SW) and used your code. I’ve been playing with Ruby since Feb. I’m use to this shape of a paddle (Flash, DBD) but needing a little more pop than the Ruby to close out some hand battles. Hoping the Azul helps.
Really good review again, I hope to see a review in the near future of the Honolulu's J2K paddle and the Mark Pickleball Kinetic, my next paddle purchase will be a Kevlar paddle and would like to know how these two compare to the Ruby and the Azul.
i have been using the Ruby for the past 6 months or since it came out and love it....the Mark Kinetic is OK but is not replacing my Ruby...hope that helps
Nice paddle! But seems to be outperformed in every metric by the HPC J2K Pro which has a lower swing weight, higher twist weight, same pop and power and is almost $100 cheaper. Would love to see a head to head on these 2
I got my paddle today. Got everything but the weight card! When I emailed the owner, Scott, he said he would send me another paddle. Very confusing. I just want the weight card. But the information is online as well.
Any plans to review the new Thrive Surge, which I'm guessing is a DBD alternative? So far I'm enjoying the Azul but still working on getting my drops dialed in. Everything else feels amazing.
Nice review. The good news is there are a lot of paddles launching in a short period of time. The bad news is, I'm super confused. Everything seems to be power focused. I already hit it hard do I need more power. Are you sticking with the Ruby or are you going to switch to something with more power and pop? I'm not the kind of player to buy everything that comes out. so these reviews are so important for many of us. Great job John!!!
I hear you - so many paddles being released now. And so much focus on power. The Ruby is still my primary, although I might be switching soon. I have a couple in mind, but I don't want to say until I know.
John do you think a Kevlar face, protects the PP core from the heat corruption of thermoforming? I know Aramid has a much higher temp point for integrity.
That's an interesting question. Kevlar/aramid certainly has heat protection properties, but I don't know how much that would affect the thermoforming process. I like the idea though - I'll put more thought into it
Again, you need to add a comparison of the sound of the paddles. My community as well as many others are requiring quieter paddles and balls, or they will close the pickleball courts. What is needed is both a Herz and a Db measurement which may be more than a little hard. The Hrz of a loud paddle is above 1000 and a quiet paddle is around 600 or below. The Hrz is what the neighbors complain about to the city management. Db, which I test before allowing paddles on our courts is over a 30 db range.
