adidas Metalbone Carbon 2026 Padel Racket

The first thing Padelful's testers noticed was the rebound, scored 9.7 out of 10, the highest number on its sheet. Hit a smash from the middle of the face and the ball leaves in a hurry; hit a bandeja and it carries further than you meant. Power is 8.7, a fair way above the round Ctrl's 8.0.

The cost is feel in the middle of the head. Control and sweet spot both score 7.8, and a diamond's sweet spot sits high on the face, so a ball struck low can feel like a favour you did the opponent. Padelful suggests aggressive right-side players, or left-side players who finish regularly, as the natural owners. One reviewer thought its defence better than either 16K diamond; read that as relative, not generous.

If a ball hit slightly off-centre keeps ending up in the net, the racket is not the thing to change first. Slow the swing and move your feet.

The headline difference is the face. The Metalbone and Metalbone HRD+ use a 16K aluminised carbon face; the Carbon uses a 6K weave, which costs less and gives you a lighter-feeling face to hit with. It is also listed heavier, at 360 to 375 g against 345 to 360 g, so the Carbon feels more solid behind the ball but slower through the air.

adidas prints a weight system with up to 11.2 g of removable weights across its 2026 sheets, but one review source states plainly that the Carbon has a fixed weight, so check the box before you plan to tune it.

Both are Metalbones, and they pull in opposite directions. Padelful's own numbers make the trade clear: the Carbon wins on power and rebound, and loses on control and, by a distance, on sweet spot (7.8 against 9.1 for the Metalbone Ctrl). If you spend most of a match defending, the Ctrl is the easier racket to live with. The softer, heavier Metalbone Carbon Ctrl shares this racket's 6K face on a round head.

Coming from a Bullpadel? The Carbon is the Metalbone's answer to the head-heavy Vertex 05, a pricier racket with a 12K face.

Anyone whose arm complains after long sessions, anyone still working out where the sweet spot is, and anyone who plays mostly from the back of the court. A head-heavy diamond loads the elbow, and the 6K face gives you less cushioning than the price might suggest. For a one-off tribute diamond with an 18K face, there is the Adipower 10th Anniversary. The newer Arrow Hit Carbon is a diamond that reviewers call fairly forgiving. For an older, fibreglass-faced diamond there is the Metalbone 09. Our guide to choosing a padel racket explains why a round head is the safer next step.

A diamond takes more knocks off the glass than a round racket, so fit a racket protector first; adidas' antishock tape is a cheap way to start. A tacky overgrip such as the adidas overgrip 3-pack helps you keep hold of a heavy head, and the full range lives on the padel grips page.

Fresh balls make the rebound easier to control, so start a session with adidas Speed RX balls and read our padel balls guide on how long they last. Carry it in any of our padel bags, and wear padel shoes that grip sand-filled turf, because a racket that attacks the net needs feet that get there.

Browse every diamond we list on the diamond padel rackets page, the players' end of the range on advanced padel rackets, and the carbon padel rackets page for how face weaves differ. The whole padel racket range is one click away.