OVERVIEW
First, let me comment on the name of the paddles: Höggøx. Being of Scandinavian descent, I love the name Höggøx. Höggøx is an old Icelandic (which is itself a dialect of Old Norse) which means “hewing axe.” While a hewing axe is a large axe for felling trees, it was also a popular Viking weapon. Iceland was colonized by Flóki Vilgerðarson, whose favorite weapon, according to legend, was a Höggøx.
So, after using and testing these paddles, I dreamt up this catchphrase: Embrace the legacy of the Vikings and unleash your inner warrior on the pickleball court with the MAK Höggøx Paddles!
Hokey? I don’t know – I thought it up, therefore I love it.
So, are the MAK Höggøx paddles weapons and, if so, why do they qualify as weapons?
Both the paddles in the review are lightweight, coming in at 7.8 ounces. You would think that such a lightweight paddle would not have much power, but they are also both only 13 MM thick. I prefer thinner paddles because the cores don’t absorb as much energy as a thicker paddle, so the ball comes off faster. The two paddles in this review are very powerful.
The knock on thinner paddles, however, is that they suffer when it comes to the soft game, especially third shot drops. With some practice and patience though you can start to really add top spin to your thirds & you will be amazed how they drop over the net causing your opponent’s fits! If you’re a banger the power and spin will have you driving with a lot of confidence.
THE TWO HÖGGØX PADDLES
The Höggøx paddles come in two shapes: the standard shape and the blade shape.
Below are the dimensions of both paddles.
As you can see, the “standard” shape is similar to your more typical paddle, and has a balanced weight, which helps with control.
The “blade” shape is not as wide as the standard shape. It is longer with more head weight for driving through the ball.
As I said, both paddles are powerful. Since I don’t have the equipment other reviewers have, It was hard for me to determine which one was more powerful, but my impression was that the blade paddle was. It also fits my game better, since I have a two-handed backhand.
PERFORMANCE
Let me get right to the point. The two paddles provide significant power when it comes to serves and ground strokes. I had to really concentrate to get my serves deep because the paddles want to hit low laser beam shots. However, after I got accustomed to the paddles, I was able to get my serves deep with a lot of top spin. I attribute this to thinner core.
The spin, both top spin and side spin, are assisted by MAK’s Shape the ball™ technology. This is a phrase MAK is using to describe their method to impart more spin on the ball by using a thinner/more pliable core coupled, with the raw carbon fiber skin to get more grip on the ball during the compression of contact. When the core “gives” and the raw carbon “grabs” the paddles can achieve high spin rates and better directional control on the ball.
Regarding third shot drops, the standard shape performed a bit better than the blade shape for me. It is true that I had to lift the ball a bit more than I do with, say, my Six Zero paddles, but that is merely an adjustment.
Around the net, the blade paddle felt a bit stiffer than the standard paddle, but I’m okay with that. Because I normally use only thin paddles, they felt about the same as any other paddle I use.
I’m tempted to add some lead tape to the blade paddle, but I fear that it would become too powerful. If I do, I’ll update this review to reflect the results, but now I’ll just use it as is.
SUMMARY
If you are an experienced player with a decent all-around game, then you would probably be better suited for the blade shape paddle.
If you are a player working on your soft game and third shot drops, you would probably be better off with the standard shape. After a while, you could migrate to the blade shape.
If you have a two-handed back hand, I would recommend the blade shaped paddle.
PRICE
Here’s the best part – the paddles sell for $119.99. This is a substantially lower price than almost all of the paddles on the market. The company also has other paddles that are slightly lower priced.
HOW TO ORDER THE PADDLES
The paddles are sold directly by the company with no middleman at this link: https://makpickleball.net/
Click on the “PRODUCTS” menu tab.
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