UPDATED ANALYSIS
Recent events have confirmed my belief that different paddles will give you different results based on weather conditions. Note that I avoid playing indoors because of a number of reasons, not the least of which is that paddle technology has changed so much that it is hard to determine which paddle (for me) is best with the softer indoor balls.
Anyway, I have LOTS of paddles, a number of which are my favorites. This past week the wind was pretty heavy at our courts in Blairsville, Georgia. The first day I played, I used by Body Helix X-4 14 MM paddle. It weighs 8.1 ounces, but I added .2 ounces to the bottom of the paddle.
I found that I was able to overcome most of the issues associated with the wind and, on occasion, was able to use the wind to my advantage on serves. See my review here: https://theadventurousboomer.blog/body-helix-x-4-paddle-review/
The next day, the wind was even heavier. I started out using my LUXE LX 16 MM paddle. I consider it a power paddle, even though it only weighs 7.75 ounces, probably because of its unique design. In calm weather, it is a fantastic paddle, especially in net firefights. In heavy wind, though, it did not provide enough weight to let me control the ball the way I wanted to. I still recommend it for people who want a bit more pop, perhaps even for indoor play. See my review here: https://theadventurousboomer.blog/review-of-the-luxe-lx-paddle/
To counter the wind, I switched to my 14 MM Six Zero Double Black Diamond paddle. There is a reason that this is one of the most popular paddles on the market. It is well-balanced, and provides a bit more pop because of its slightly higher swing weight (116). I had much more control with my DBD than my LUXE, although I will still go with the LUXE when the wind is calmer just for a change of pace. See my review of the DBD here: https://theadventurousboomer.blog/review-of-the-six-zero-double-black-diamond-14-mm-paddle/
So, if you find that your play changes with the weather conditions, it may be best to carry around more than one paddle (perhaps not as many as I do) to take advantages of the unique capabilities of each one.
Below is my original article on the situational use of paddles.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
I wrote this article five years ago while living in Texas. At the time (hard to believe) there were few outdoor pickleball courts, so I played mostly indoors. Our facility was quite good, with concrete flooring and excellent lighting. It was like playing outdoors with no wind interference. Below is an article I wrote at the time about situational use of paddles.
Most of the time I play indoor pickleball and use the Head Extreme Tour paddle. The Head Extreme Tour paddle is lightweight and, as such, allows me to swing faster, something that comes in handy when you are using the softer indoor balls. I have also found that I can put a lot of side spin on the ball when I want to, sometimes letting me get some aces on serves. I also use the Extreme Tour outdoors when the wind is not an option. In fact, I used it in October at the Horseshoe Bay tournament and won gold in Men’s 4.0 doubles.
This past week I was playing in a tournament in Port St. Lucie, Florida, where the wind was howling. The picture below gives an indication of how strong the wind was – note the temporary nets lying on their sides.
The first match I played was men’s “Skinny Singles.” Essentially, in Skinny Singles you use only use half the court. You can use either diagonal courts and change each serve, or use half court directly across from each other. I prefer the first method, but in this tournament, we used the “straight across from each other” method. FYI – I no longer have the mobility to play regular singles, so I like Skinny Singles. Skinny Singles also puts the dink game back in play, whereas ingles on full court is not a dink game – it is more like tennis singles. Finally, Skinny Singles can really help your doubles play as it makes you focus on placement of the ball.
Anyway, I signed up for Skinny Singles in the 65-99 bracket. Originally it seemed like there would be a lot of players, but ultimately it came down to just three with no age delimiters. That meant I had to play men younger than me, in one case more than 20 years younger than me. I started off with my Extreme Tour paddle and tried my “down the middle” ace. What happened was the wind took the ball about three feet outside of the service box. Time for a new strategy. I switched to my Head Radical Tour paddle.
The Radical Tour is heavier than the Extreme Tour and, because of that, I can drive the ball lower and overcome the effects of the wind. Even after losing the first match (to the youngest player) I wound up winning silver. I was happy with that.
My next match was men’s doubles. Again, I signed up for 4.0 in the 65-99 bracket. What happened was that the actual bracket was “Men’s Doubles Age Groups 4.0 and 4.5: 6-39,40-49,50-59,60-99.” (The 6-year-old failed to show up). So, not only were my partner and I going to play men younger than us (in one case almost 40 years younger than us), but we were going to play against some 4.5 players.
Shockingly, and I mean shockingly, my partner and I took silver. Once again, I used my Radical Tour to defeat the wind. By the way, no one came close to beating the gold medal winners, so I was pretty happy with the results. My partner was Chris Mitchell of Pickleball England. Go to their website – it is quite a program. https://www.pickleballengland.org
As a result of this experience, I am a firm believer that you really should have different paddles for different situations.
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