Brenner’s Padel Racket Reviews

Note from Pierre: My friend Brenner put together some padel racket reviews that I think would be helpful for anyone in the market for a racket. I’m quite delayed in posting this and some of the rackets are difficult to find now, but hopefully the feedback below will help anyone trying to wrap their head all the different aspects of padel rackets.

There’s a small but dedicated crew of padel players here in Philadelphia and it’s been a lot of fun to take up this sport over the last couple years. It’s outdoors, it’s social, it’s good exercise, and it’s fun to have a steep learning curve on something. I’m till trying to learn the ins and outs of padel rackets but I really enjoy the sport and plan to gradually add padel to the mix here on Squash Source. Without further ado, here are Brenner’s thoughts:

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Head Tornado Pro

This racket is somewhere between diamond and teardrop face shape, and is light at 360 grams with somewhat head light weighting. It has a medium soft hit and medium power with a decent sized sweet spot. The face is smooth and the holes generate medium-low spin. Overall it’s a middling decent racket that was once twice the price. It is a delicate racket being made of Head’s proprietary “Graphene.” If you are a squash player and not afraid to hit this walls, this will make a Harrow Vapor seem highly durable and it’s not for you. It would be good for someone coming from tennis who is an intermediate player.

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Adidas Essanova Carbon Ctrl 3.1

For an advanced player. If you have played Padel more than a few times, you have probably seen someone using this bat. As a matter our fact our fearless leader is currently swinging it. The face is a round to diamond shape and the weighing is medium balance and around 356-370 grams. The face is the spin grit and it does generate a nice amount of spin I would give it a 7 on a scale of 10. It has a good sized sweet spot but it is less forgiving on way off center hits than some other rackets for advanced players. It is highly durable based on Adidas’ proprietary Exoskeleton technology. It definitely generates a lot of power when hit in the middle, and will generate a lot of spin for the player willing to take a chop with it. Nice all around Padel.

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Enebe Aerox Carbon 2022

Intermediate/Advanced – This soft hitting diamond face has a semi-grit and a huge sweet spot. I am currently using it and what I love about it is the huge sweet spot and massive amount of spin that the sharp holes generate, but most of all I love the soft hitting face and extremely soft touch for a guy with no touch. My many off center hits are significantly dulled keeping the ball on the floor. Racket weighting is light and head light at 356-360 grams. If there is a downside to this racket it is the soft hit and the light weight require one to take a whack at the ball to generate a lot of power, but the obvious benefit it is that if you are coming from squash its easier to keep the ball in the court. 

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Starvie Aquilla Space

This racket is the softer version of the Aquilla Pro (not yet tested) but for a soft face it generates a lot of power in the sweet spot and is a ball striker’s padel. It features a round shape and a slightly head heavy balance with a variable weight of 351-55 to 376-380 grams specify when ordering. Our test model was the 366-370. My fiancée took it out of my bag and immediately fell in love with the pure hit and the power being that she is a natural ball striker type. The round face is maneuverable in the corners but does not offer as big a sweet spot or forgiveness as a face that is broader across the top, and the off center hits are not all that forgiving. Being that it doesn’t require as hard of a hit to generate power and being slightly head heavy, it will likely appeal to tennis players as it volleys well with little effort. Semi-textured face.

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Adidas V60 Light

This is a traditional first padel for many players and I still have a couple friends using it. It’s very light at 345-60 grams and slightly head heavy (it says so right on the side of the bat). The face is smooth and it does not generate much spin at all. Head shape is classic teardrop design offering a bigger sweet spot. It is filled with a white foam that is springy with little touch and the hit is medium to heavy in feel with plenty of power behind a light head. It does not offer a ton of control and is at the pricepoint of the Grandcow, making it’s biggest selling point being that if you show up to play Padel for the first time your friends won’t think you bought your padel off Amazon yesterday to play today. It is equally mediocre in durability, but the good news is that if you crack it it’s not going to feel very different that it did in one piece. Beginner, and a consideration in the mix for a first padel for anyone.