Padel Rackets

A padel racket, sometimes called a padel bat, is a solid, stringless frame with a foam core sandwiched between two fibre faces, drilled with holes to reduce weight and drag. It is shorter than a tennis racket at 45.5cm, no wider than 26cm, and must carry a wrist cord, because the rules require it to be strapped to you. A padel tennis racket is the same thing by another name; the sport is padel, the Spanish game played in an enclosed court with glass walls, not paddle tennis or pickleball.

Because there are no strings, the feel comes from the core and the face. A soft core and a fibreglass face flex more, which gives you an easier rebound and a bigger forgiving zone. A hard core and a carbon face flex less, which gives you a sharper, faster response if your timing is good and a dead, jarring one if it is not. That single trade-off between forgiveness and precision explains most of the price ladder and most of the advice on this page.

Padel is now the fastest-growing racket sport in Britain. The LTA counted 1,500,000 people who had played by October 2026, up from 15,000 in 2019, with 2,445 courts across 682 venues and more opening every month. Most of those players are buying their first or second racket right now, which is why we built a shop that sells padel and nothing else.

Shape decides where the weight and the sweet spot sit, and it is the first thing to settle before you look at brands. A round padel racket carries its weight low in the frame, near the handle, with the sweet spot in the centre of the face. It is the easiest racket to control, the kindest to a mistimed shot, and the right choice for most players in their first two seasons and for anyone whose game is built on defence and placement.

A diamond padel racket moves the weight up to the head and the sweet spot with it, high on the face. That is where a smash connects, so it gives attacking players more power at the net at the cost of a smaller sweet spot and a frame that is slower to move for defensive lobs. It rewards good technique and punishes poor timing. A teardrop sits between the two, with a medium balance and a sweet spot slightly above centre, and is the shape most intermediate players settle on because it gives up a little control for a useful amount of power. Hybrid shapes, which several brands now sell, are a teardrop with a slightly flatter top and behave much the same.

If you are unsure, go round. Nobody has ever been held back by too much control, and a round racket with a carbon face will still hit a smash. Plenty of players have been held back by a diamond frame they cannot time.

Adult padel rackets weigh between 340g and 390g, and the number on the box is less useful than where the weight sits. Most adults play best between 355g and 375g. Lighter frames at 340g to 355g are quicker to swing and easier on the elbow, which is why they are the usual recommendation for beginners, women with a lighter build, juniors moving up and anyone recovering from tennis elbow. Heavier frames at 375g to 390g add power to a smash and stability on a hard volley, at the cost of a slower racket and more strain on the arm over a long match.

Balance is measured in millimetres from the butt of the handle to the point where the racket balances. Around 260mm is low, 265mm to 270mm is medium, 275mm and above is high. A heavy racket with a low balance can feel lighter in the hand than a light racket with a high balance, which is why we list both figures rather than letting the weight alone tell the story.

A useful rule: if you play twice a week or less, stay at 365g or under. If you play three or more times a week and your technique is settled, 370g to 380g in the shape you prefer will give you more.

The core is the foam inside the racket. Nearly every current racket uses EVA foam at different densities. Soft EVA compresses more on contact, so the ball sinks in and rebounds with less effort from you; it is comfortable, forgiving, and the right core for beginners and for anyone playing in a cold British winter when the ball is harder and heavier. Hard EVA barely compresses, so the ball leaves faster and more precisely when you strike it well, which advanced players want for smashes and viboras. Medium EVA, which most intermediate frames use, sits in between. Foam cores, the older polyethylene type, are soft and quick but lose their shape sooner and are now rare above the entry price.

The face is the fibre skin bonded to the core. Fibreglass is the softer, cheaper option: more flex, more comfort, less precision. Carbon fibre is stiffer and lighter, and it comes in grades. 3K carbon is the softest weave and a good middle ground. 12K is stiffer and more precise. 18K and 24K are the stiffest, used on pro-level diamond frames, and they feel harsh unless your contact is clean. Some brands add a textured or sanded surface, which puts more spin on the ball; it is a real effect, not a gimmick, but it is a small one next to shape and core.

The honest summary: a soft EVA core with a fibreglass or 3K carbon face is the kindest racket to learn on. A medium core with 3K or 12K carbon is the sweet spot for most club players. Hard EVA with 12K or 18K carbon is for players who already know they want it.

Padel rackets come in one handle size, so you build the grip up yourself with overgrips rather than choosing a size at purchase. A new racket arrives with a base grip already fitted. Most players add one overgrip for feel and sweat, and players with larger hands add two or three to thicken the handle until the fingertips just touch the palm when you hold it. A thicker grip steadies the racket on volleys; a thinner one lets the wrist work on smashes and lobs. Overgrips are consumable, and a weekly player replaces them every month or two. We sell padel grips and overgrips in packs of three, in tacky and dry versions, and a pack is worth adding to any racket order.

The wrist cord is not optional. The rules require it, and it stops a 370g frame leaving your hand on a smash and hitting your partner. Every racket we sell comes with one fitted.

Padel rackets UK shops sell run from about £30 to £400, and the honest answer for most people is that the £120 to £220 band is where the value is. A cheap padel racket at £30 to £60 from a supermarket or a sports superstore is a foam core in a fibreglass shell; it will get you through a taster session and not much further, and the cores tend to soften within a season. £60 to £120 is the entry level from the padel brands, and it is a real step up: EVA cores, better balance, frames that last. That is where our beginner range sits.

At £120 to £220 you are buying the mid-range frames the brands sell most of: 3K or 12K carbon faces, medium EVA cores, proper weight control, and the models that intermediate players keep for two or three seasons. From £220 to £350 you get the frames the professionals use on tour, 12K to 18K carbon over hard EVA, in diamond and hybrid shapes. They are superb if your game is ready for them and a waste if it is not. Above £350 you are paying for limited editions and signature series rather than performance.

We price at or under the recommended retail set by the UK distributors, which is the same price you will find at any authorised stockist. When a model is replaced by a new season version, the outgoing frame goes into the padel racket sale at a real discount, and it is often the smartest buy on the site because the 2025 Vertex is not a worse racket than the 2026 one.

The range covers the brands British players actually search for. Bullpadel is the biggest name on the professional tour and the most searched padel brand in Britain; the Vertex and Hack are the attacking diamond frames, the Neuron and Flow the all-rounders, and the Indiga the entry round racket. Nox is Agustín Tapia's brand, and its AT10 Genius 18K is the flagship UK shops stock most; the round ML10 Pro Cup is its long-running control racket, and the X-One and X-Hero sit at the other end as the entry rackets that top every best-seller sort. adidas (made under licence by All For Padel in Madrid) sells the Metalbone and Adipower lines, with the round Metalbone Ctrl the one for defenders and the Metalbone Carbon a mid-price diamond, while the soft RX Series is the first-racket pick and the Arrow Hit Ctrl the round carbon control one; Babolat has the Viper, Veron and Vertuo families; Head carries the Evo, Speed, Extreme and Coello lines, starting with the light Head Evo Speed and the quicker Vibe teardrops; Wilson has the firm Bela V3, the softer Carbon Force, the heavy Bela Pro V3, the diamond Defy Pro V1, the light Bela LS V3, the new Blade V4, the round beginner Match Point and Optix; STIGA Sports makes the hexagonal Cybershape 1.3K Hard; Karakal, a UK brand, has the carbon-blend FF 365 and the full-carbon FF Pro 375. Siux is a Spanish brand with a reputation for comfortable, control-led frames; the Trilogy and Pegasus suit intermediate players and the Electra and Diablo are the tour models. Varlion has been making padel rackets since 1992, longer than almost anyone, and its Bourne, LW and Maxima lines are known for forgiving sweet spots (start with the round LW Carbon 3 Summum). Dunlop, Tecnifibre (the firm Wall Breaker 365 is the attacker), Black Crown (start with the round Piton, or the soft-cored Piton White Soft), Volt, Oxdog, Pallap, Enebe and Raquex (the round Eclipse is its control racket, the diamond Elite and Elite Evo its attackers) fill out the range; Oxdog in particular names its rackets by shape and firmness, so the Hyper Pro+ 2.0 is simply its hardest teardrop and the Ultimate Pro its mid-firm diamond. Pallap is a newer European brand with three performance families, Evoforce, Power and Velocity; the Evoforce rackets are all teardrops (Bright Star the lightest, Dark Star the heavier sibling, Pro the flagship above both), while Power switches to a diamond head, with the Power Elite its hard-hitting advanced frame, the Power Pro a higher-balance attacker for clean, aggressive ball-strikers, and the Power Team the entry point into the Power line. Pallap's third line, Velocity, mostly stays teardrop, led by the control-focused Velocity Elite, but the Power Velocity Elite 01 breaks the pattern with a diamond head for players who want the Velocity name with a diamond's finish. Bas3line is a small UK brand founded by a racket-sports physiotherapist; its Juno Attack is a head-heavy, attack-pitched frame at 345g, the lighter, neutral-balance Nebula Performance at 335g is the all-rounder below it, and the Orion 12K is the head-light control teardrop, lightest in its Edge range.

Every racket is listed at the price UK shops are charging this season, and where last season's version of a flagship is still on sale it sits next to the new one, because the 2026 Vertex is not a worse racket than the 2027 one. Brand pages for Bullpadel, Siux and Varlion are live now; the others follow as their UK supply is agreed.

A racket is most of the spend but not most of the kit. Padel balls are pressurised like tennis balls but slightly smaller and lower in pressure, and they go flat within a few sessions once the tube is opened; a case of 24 tubes works out far cheaper than buying them at the club. Padel shoes, such as the adidas Crazyquick, matter more than new players expect, because the artificial grass and sand surface eats ordinary trainers and offers no grip for lateral movement; look for a herringbone or omni sole, and expect to replace them every season if you play twice a week. A padel bag that holds two rackets, shoes and a change of kit is the final piece, and the brand bags from Bullpadel and Siux are built around their racket sizes.

If you want to buy padel racket, balls and a bag together, the product pages show the matching accessories and the basket qualifies for free delivery over £40.

A padel racket should last two to four seasons of regular play before the core softens noticeably. Three things shorten that. Hitting the glass or the frame of the court cracks the edge, so fit the bumper guard most brands supply and replace it when it wears. Leaving the racket in a hot car or a cold shed over winter breaks down the foam, so bring it inside. Dropping it face down on the sand chips the surface and lets moisture in, so put it in the bag between games.

Clean the face with a damp cloth, never a solvent. Replace the overgrip when it goes shiny. If a crack appears in the frame through normal play within the warranty period, usually six months to a year depending on the brand, we handle the claim with the UK distributor; email us photos and your order number and we take it from there.

It ships on a tracked courier and arrives in 3 to 4 working days. Delivery is free on orders over £40 and shown at checkout below that. Full terms are on the delivery page.

You have 30 days from delivery to return an unused racket or accessory for a refund or an exchange. Faulty frames within the manufacturer warranty are handled with the distributor and your statutory rights are untouched. The returns page explains the process, which starts with an email and a photo.