adidas Antishock Protection Tape

Tennis Warehouse and Total Padel list the tape at 37 by 3.6 cm and describe it as 100% polyurethane. The thickness is where retailers disagree: most say 0.5 cm, one says 0.5 mm. We do not quote one, because a half-centimetre tape would be a rather different object from a half-millimetre one. Padelkiwi describes the transparent tape as universal in size, with a 3M adhesive; that is a retailer claim, not ours.

FIP caps a padel racket's head at 26 cm wide, so a 37 cm strip will wrap the top of the frame with some left over, which you trim. Check the strip against your own frame before you peel it.

The top of the frame head takes the damage: it meets the glass, the fence and the floor on every dive and every missed ball. Wipe the frame clean and dry, start at one side of the head, press the strip along the edge and smooth out bubbles as you go. Do not stretch it. Trim the end flush and rub the edges down.

FIP rules allow objects stuck to a racket to limit or prevent deterioration or vibration, provided they are reasonable in size and position. A strip of this size on the top of the head fits that description.

This is a tape: thin, flat and light. It is the right level of protection for most players. If you are hard on rackets, a thicker skin lasts longer, and the figures we have are 6 g for HEAD's Antishock Skin and 9 g for Shockout's ShockSkin, which add weight to the head of a diamond you may not want. Our racket protector page lines up the lot, including Bullpadel's protection tape and the Nox protector.

The same adidas tape is sold in a clear version, which suits a racket whose colours you do not want to hide: see the transparent adidas Antishock tape.

It does not stop a frame cracking if you smash it into the floor, and a tape does not cushion a racket the way a hard guard can. If you are hard on your equipment or play on a court with a rough floor, step up to a skin. And if you want to add weight to a racket on purpose, a protector is the wrong tool; use a weight system or a lead tape.

Fit the tape before the first session, not after the first scrape. Clubs protecting many rackets can look at Black Crown's 50 m frame protection tape roll. It suits most padel rackets, including the RX Series and the Match Light, which are listed with a protector in their set-up notes. One retailer lists the tape as not compatible with the Metalbone line (the Metalbone Ctrl among them) or the Adipower Multiweight, so check with us before fitting it to those. A fresh adidas overgrip and our padel grips page cover the handle, and adidas Speed RX balls the rest.

Browse the padel accessories page for more small things, see the padel racket range if you are choosing a new frame to protect, and read our guide to choosing a padel racket first.