adidas RX Series Padel Racket 2026

Padelful's tester found the ball left the racket easily even when the contact was not clean, and described the RX as aiming at control, comfort and moderate power rather than artillery. That matches the build. A fibreglass face is softer and less springy than carbon, and a soft EVA core adds cushioning, so mishits lose less pace and less sting.

The flip side shows up the first time you try to finish a point. Overheads and bandejas come out polite. For a beginner that is a feature, since a ball that lands in the court beats one that flies into the fence, but you will notice it within a season.

The All For Padel sheet, which is where adidas publishes its specs, calls the RX Series round with a medium balance, and Tennis Nuts calls it round and head-light. Padelful says the mould is tear-shaped, sitting between round and diamond. Retailers list medium or even balance on most pages.

We could not find a balance point in millimetres. What the sources do agree on is the useful part: weight is 360 to 375 g, the face and frame are fibreglass, the core is soft, and nobody calls it head-heavy. For a first racket, that is enough to go on.

adidas makes three soft beginner rackets and they overlap. The RX Series Light is the same family at 345 to 360 g. The Match Light is lighter again, with a hybrid shape, and the Drive is a straightforward round, with its own Drive Light at 345 to 360 g. If you are unsure, pick the lighter version when you are smaller, older, new to racket sports or returning from an injury, and the standard when you are tall, strong or coming from tennis. A limited England World Cup racket uses a similar soft fibreglass build with a flag design.

Most players stay on a racket like this for six to twelve months. The signs you have outgrown it: you can keep a rally going for ten shots, you are being beaten by pace rather than placement, and your overheads feel like they need something extra. The next adidas steps are the fibreglass Metalbone Team Light and then the 6K Metalbone Carbon Ctrl, which stays round but adds a carbon face. Our intermediate padel racket page compares the whole field.

A racket protector goes on first, because new players meet the glass often. An overgrip is cheap and makes a real difference: try the adidas overgrip 3-pack, or browse every padel grip. Balls are next, and adidas Speed RX balls are the obvious match; our padel balls page says how long a tube lasts.

Then shoes, because trainers slide on sand: see padel shoes. The beginner padel racket page puts the RX beside the other starters, the Enebe Astra is a similar soft option, our guide to choosing a padel racket explains shape and weight, and the full padel racket range covers the rest.