Unveiling Twistweight: A New Paddle Metric and My Comprehensive Paddle Database 

Great info, would think the new Gearbox paddles somewhat disguise the sweet spot with those low twist weights, but i have heard of people adding weight as well.

great info Braydon....sometimes we overlook the things that really affect our play...we all don't hit the sweet spot so this data helps for all those mis-hits

I like the category idea for spin numbers. People get waaaaaay too bent out on the individual numbers. Will be interesting to compare twist weight numbers and see if it varies like weight/swing weight does in paddles. I've started collecting data on my hoard of paddles. I knew holding them would come in handy eventually. 😂

Next level review research. Swing weight got overlooked for a long time also. Didn't even know this "gadget" existed. Thanks for all you do to get info to "paddle nerds".

Nice to have an actual "sweetspot" metric. Comparing different "hybrid" paddles against the 2X seems to agree with my experience. The 2X really does feel more forgiving with a good size sweetspot. Glad you're now including twistweight in your paddle testing!

2 Questions: 1. Thermoforming seems to increase sweet spot. Does the twist weight measurement device factor in the effect of thermoforming? 2. If you have a paddle with a lower twistweight, would adding weight to the lower shoulders of the paddle increase the twist weight, or would ir be better to add to the middle sides of the paddle?

D0 I need to adjust the weights everytime I rewrap the overgrip on my paddle would love your thoughts.

This is great info! Would personally love to see Ronbus and Legacy numbers in your spreadsheet. Another thing is testing the effect of lead tape on zones that are supposed to help with the sweet spot.

This is Awesome !

Hi Pickleball effects. I love your scientific approach. I have had the opportunity to work with the brifiddi machine and alter my DB sixzero from the original twistweight to 7.6 and SW 116. My question is that change to much? In your opinion how much should you change the twistweight with out it making it to drastic hope this makes sense. for example Ben john changed one of his paddle originally tw: 5.87 to 6.94 and SW 116 to 120.

Love the new twistweight metric! I definitely prefer paddles with higher twistweight and now there is a quantitative metric to help me pick my paddle. I would have never thought to try the crbn x series if it wasnt for this review. Now the crbn 2x is my go to paddle after trying pretty much all the thermoformed ones (including Vatic, Volair, Sixzero, and Ronbus). Thank you Braydon!

Hello, love the database - can't help but see how much of a value the Electrum Pro 2 is at 150 you get a twistweight over 7, and very high spin. Numbers are close to JohnKews database but now I have to dig deeper (or maybe just across) - rabbit hole anyone ??

I like this new metric. I would imagine lead tape added to the sides would also effect twist weight in a positive way and it would be interesting to see how much the twist weight is effected by lead tape. Thanks for all the work put into this.

Will adding lead/weight at the bottom increase the swing weight?

Does the Electrum Pro II really have a sweet spot that big based on your twist weight measurements?

Have you done a gamma ibsiobsidian 16?

Do you happen to know the twist rate on the Double Diamond or Mach 1 Forza?

Great information! Any idea about twist weight on the Selkirk Vanguard (v 2) Mach 6?

Why would twist weight have to do with size of sweet spot. Seems like the internals as they approach the edge would be the most determining factor. I guess if you make it more outside heavy. it's less likely to twist. Seems like a tighter grip or stickier handle would help too. Also dont you want it to twist for say top spin. I think these metrics are just confusing people as paddle feel across the whole seems to be the main criteria. Yes, spin ratio may be the exception to this. I dont want to act like I know what I'm talking about though. haha

Can you add lead tape to increase the twist rate with out increasing swing weight also do recommend owning that swing weight machine you have Bifindii sorry if I spelled it wrong

Could you share the units for Twist Weight? I was surprised to see that the Vatic Pro Prism-V7 has a higher twist weight than the Prism-Flash, but I assume it’s mostly because the Prism-V7 weighs more. A bit of math would be able to determine how much effect some lead tape on the sides of the paddle would have.

What camera do you use, also where can i get the machine to test for twistweight?

Would love to see your analysis on the Gamma Obsidian 13 & 16mm

Thanks Braydon. Good info on twistweight and great database. Quesiton - would adding lead tape on the sides of the paddle increase the twistweight and arguably the forgiveness of the paddle?

Braydon - If you add weight to the side of the paddle, does it show an increase in the twist weight?

Would love to see the Selkirk project 003 numbers

This is awesome! Will you be testing the Legacy Pro anytime soon?

Interested in seeing the Perseus on there. I'm almost certain it's really low which means the thing isn't that stable. Would also love to see the RPM numbers you're getting for each Paddle and see if they match up with what Chris Olsen gets.

Do you have any info on the Gruvn raw 16RX? It’s a unique paddle. Elongated, oval shape with a six inch handle.would be interesting to see the twist weight on it to note if the sweet spot is better with the oval shape like most have pointed out.

I'm not quite on understanding the statement about the correlation btw sweet spot & shape. I thought hybrid shape would have a bigger sweet spot than standard size?

Hi, is there an associated rpm range for the spin rating column? Also, how should we interpret the balance point number? This data is great, thank you.

Do your viewers a favor. Please add Ronbus to this list - they are excellent paddles!

What we could arguably really use is a metric for how quickly pickleball paddles lose their grit.

Great idea adding twistweight to your database. Tennis has been using this metric for decades (check out Tennis Warehouse's University/Learning-Center for more info - apparently I can't post a link). I'd like to suggest another metric - stiffness/flex. The Babolat Racquet Diagnostic Center (RDC) machine is used by racquet manufacturers and pro shops to measure swingweight, twistweight, flex/stiffness, etc. for tennis racquets. Recently, Wilson has released its Bairado Tune Pro machine which can do the same for PB paddles. Here's a YT video of the Tune Pro which I believe I'm allowed to link ... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UIff_IURSYs.html. Senior players and/or those with wrist/elbow/shoulder issues might appreciate having stiffness numbers to help select paddles. I've noticed thermoformed/unibody paddles are noticeably stiffer along the vertical beam/axis than sandwich/Gen-1 paddles. Note - as discussed in the video, I believe your Briffidi measures swingweight either at 0cm or 5cm from the butt cap depending on which adapter is being used. Not sure where the Bairado's reference point is. Will be interesting to see where the PB industry lands in the coming years on standardization of the swingweight measurement.

JUST WHAT WE DON'T NEED: ANOTHER PADDLE METRIC. Maybe we need to introduce the "metric" of time of day and moisture content in the air.. gmafb man.