Bullpadel Ease Vibe Dampeners (Pack of 4)

Each hole takes two dampeners, one pressed in from each face until it sits under the fibre. So a pack of four treats two holes, not four. Shockout puts the added weight at 1.5g per hole, which matches the roughly 0.7g per dampener printed on the Bullpadel card.

That makes them a small weight tool as well as a comfort one. Two dampeners near the top of the face nudge the balance up a fraction; two lower down do very little to it. Pick your two holes before you start, because pushing a plug in is quick and getting it back out is not something either Bullpadel or Shockout explains.

Shockout says the elastomer cuts vibration by up to 60% and that the design is patented and certified by the industrial engineering school at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. We haven't measured it, and "up to" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. Treat it as a small comfort gain on top of the right racket rather than a cure.

If your elbow already hurts, the racket matters more. A low balance and a soft core, the recipe on our control padel racket page, take far more load off the joint than any plug, and the beginner racket guide explains why a stiff frame and a small grip are the usual culprits. Bullpadel builds its own anti-vibration insert, Vibradrive, into the frame of several rackets; the Bullpadel rackets page covers which.

Shockout says they suit the vast majority of rackets on the market, as long as the holes are 11 to 13mm across; the Bullpadel card says 11.5 to 13mm. Measure one hole with a ruler before you open the pack. Rackets with very small holes, or patterned drillings, may not take them.

A clear padel racket protector on the frame edge, such as Bullpadel's own Pro Frame Protector two-pack, and a fresh overgrip are the two other cheap things that change how a racket feels; the full list is on our padel accessories page, and the whole padel racket range is there if the real answer is a softer frame.