Nox AT10 Genius Junior 2026 Padel Racket

Go by height, not birthday. Our fitting guide puts children of 125 to 140 cm, usually 8 to 10, in the 310 to 320 g band, and the Genius Junior sits right there. Smaller 11- and 12-year-olds can stay with it happily. Once a child passes about 140 cm and swings with real pace, a 320 to 340 g junior racket starts to make sense, and from about 155 cm it's time for a light full-size frame.

A quick test in the shop or the garden: your child should be able to hold the racket out at arm's length for a few seconds without the head drooping. If it droops, it's too heavy. If they're whipping it round like a wand, they've probably outgrown it.

It's a smaller, softer cousin of the adult racket rather than a cut-down copy. The round head keeps the sweet spot in the middle of the face, where a child's contact usually is. The HR3 core is soft, so the ball comes off with some depth even from a short swing, and the 3K fibreglass faces flex a little more than carbon would, which takes the sting out of off-centre hits.

The frame is carbon with Nox's DCS reinforcement, where frame material runs into the face to protect the join. That matters more on a junior racket than you'd expect: children drop them, drag them and hit the floor more than any adult. Padel Nuestro and PadelShop both list a matte, flat finish and a medium balance.

The names cause most of the confusion. The Genius Ultralight weighs almost the same, 310 to 325 g, but it's a full-size teardrop with a softer HR2 core, made for teenagers who've grown out of junior rackets and for smaller adults. We also list it as a junior Ultralight, the same racket framed for older children. The Genius Junior is the genuinely junior one: round, shorter in the handle, and easier for a child to control.

Simple rule: under about 150 cm, the Genius Junior. Over about 155 cm and still light, the Ultralight. In between, let the child try both if you can.

Children having lessons or playing with family, from their first sessions to the point where they're rallying properly. Our kids padel racket guide compares every junior racket we sell, and our beginner padel rackets page covers parents who are starting at the same time.

Small hands slip, so wrap a thin overgrip on the handle; a thick one makes a junior grip too big. Our padel grips page explains thickness. Fit a Nox protector to the top of the frame before the first lesson, because children scrape rackets along the floor without noticing.

Children play with the same balls as adults, so a tube of Nox Nerbo for practice is fine; the padel balls guide covers how quickly they go flat. Proper court shoes matter more for a child than the racket does, and the Babolat Junior Jet Premura 2 comes in children's sizes, with more in our padel shoes range. The AT10 Team backpack carries the lot in matching colours, and an AT10 Genius keyring on the zip makes it easy to spot. For the bigger picture, see all our padel rackets or read how to choose a padel racket.