Y1 CX3 Padel Racket (2025)

If you've had a Y1 CX1 for a season and started to want your shots to go exactly where you aim them, this is the racket Y1 expects you to move to. The shape stays round, so the sweet spot stays central and generous. What changes is the feel: the fibreglass face becomes 3K carbon, the soft AirSpring core becomes PrecisionTech EVA, and the head-light balance evens out.

Above it sits the CX12, which keeps the same core and balance but moves to a 12K TeXtreme face for advanced players.

Carbon makes a face stiffer and more precise, and it also passes more of a hit's shock into your hand. Y1's answer on the CX3 is a cork layer under the 3K carbon, which the listing says keeps the face stiff for precision while cutting harsh vibration. Cork is a natural damping material, so it's a sensible thing to put between a stiff face and your hand.

The core is PrecisionTech EVA, which the listing calls a "firmer 13-15" core and places between power and soft touch. The CX1's AirSpring core is listed as 10-13, so the numbers look like a firmness range, higher meaning firmer, though Y1 doesn't define the scale anywhere we could find.

The CX3 lives in a crowded part of the market: round or teardrop rackets with a first carbon face, aimed at players leaving their beginner racket behind. Here's how it sits next to its Y1 siblings and the teardrop alternative.

Improvers and intermediate players who value placement and touch, and anyone who wants a carbon face without the sting carbon can bring. It belongs with our control padel rackets and among the cheap padel rackets that still give you a carbon face.

A padel racket protector keeps the carbon frame edge intact through the inevitable floor scrapes, and an overgrip from our padel grip range keeps the perforated grip working longer.

Pick up fresh padel balls, a padel bag to keep it out of the heat and padel shoes for the turf. Y1's racket cover fits it, and our guide on how to choose a padel racket explains how shape and balance change what you feel.