When shopping for a new pickleball paddle, you’ll see a lot of talk about carbon fiber. You might be wondering why so many paddles use carbon fiber, what the benefits of it are, or what even is carbon fiber?
Pure carbon is a natural element found everywhere from the Earth’s crust and oceans to the atmosphere. It’s combined with fabric and resin to create a material called carbon fiber.
Carbon fiber is used in tons of products – cars, aerospace components, medical equipment – and is found in plenty of sporting goods. Tennis rackets, hockey sticks, golf clubs, bike frames, and pickleball paddles all use carbon fiber.
Before I get into the benefits of carbon fiber, let me recommend some of the best carbon pickleball paddles for different levels on the market right now.
A few carbon paddles I recommend
Note: our discount codes may be subject to change when products are on sale. Check the final price at checkout.
Best for beginners
Our Rating:
Vatic Pro V-SOL Power Flash
Best for intermediates
Our Rating:
Honolulu Sword & Shield J2NF
Best for advanced players
Our Rating:
CRBN TruFoam Genesis 4
Which paddle is best for you?
Before buying a paddle, it’s important to make sure it fits your game. That's why I created a 30-second quiz that recommends the best paddles for your play style and budget.
Give it a try and see which carbon fiber paddles make the list:
Find the perfect paddle
I've personally tested over 200 paddles. Take the quiz to see which ones fit your game best.
The benefits of carbon fiber pickleball paddles
Carbon fiber is so popular because it’s a really strong yet lightweight material. It’s ideal for pickleball paddles for a few reasons:
- Maneuverability: because it’s not too heavy, it won’t weigh on your hand, giving you a lighter and more maneuverable paddle.
- Durability: it’s super-durable to withstand the repeated smacks of a pickleball ball and the scrapes and knocks you’re bound to get when your paddle hits the court.
- Spin: the best spin paddles use carbon fiber on the surface because it creates a gritty texture that’s awesome for generating spin.
- Power and control: the strong and stiff construction helps you get easy power but carbon fiber also absorbs the ball’s energy well to help you place shots with more precision than poppier materials like fiberglass.
- Reduced vibrations: carbon fiber is good at absorbing shocks when you hit a ball to lessen the strain on your joints and prevent tennis elbow injuries.
The drawbacks of carbon fiber paddles
Like every material, carbon fiber isn’t perfect. Here are some of the perceived weaknesses of carbon fiber paddles:
- Less pop and power: carbon fiber is strong so depending on the quality of materials used and the paddle’s overall construction, it can still be powerful. Some players miss the stronger pop of a material like fiberglass, though, and interestingly lots of brands started to re-incorporate fiberglass and blend it with carbon fiber to give their paddles more oomph.
- Spin degradation: not all carbon fiber grit is created equally. Some paddles use cheaper carbon fiber for their surface texture and it can wear down quickly. Read paddle reviews to gauge long-term durability.
- Higher cost: it’s true that paddle prices started going up once manufacturers began using carbon fiber. Still, the boost in performance and durability over graphite or fiberglass paddles is huge so it makes sense.
Other paddle surface materials
Not every paddle is made with pure carbon fiber. Some blend carbon fiber with materials like fiberglass or aramid fibers, while some (especially older or cheaper paddles) don’t use any carbon.
Graphite paddles
A few years ago, you saw a lot more graphite pickleball paddles. Graphite is actually a type of carbon and it’s a light and strong material.
The difference is graphite paddles tend to be softer than carbon fiber paddles, which have a stiffer, stronger, more durable feel that increases power.
You’ll still see graphite paddles on the courts. They’re usually a lot cheaper than carbon fiber paddles so they can be great beginner pickleball paddles.
Fiberglass paddles
Fiberglass is a flexible material that provides great energy return to the ball. It’s known for pop and power. More paddles used to have pure fiberglass faces. The problem was it’s not as strong or long-lasting as carbon fiber.
It’s been interesting to see brands that made the full switch to carbon fiber now going back and bringing in a layer of fiberglass. Lots of newer paddles use a blend of carbon fiber and fiberglass in the paddle face for the best of both worlds – the strength, touch, and spin of carbon fiber mixed with the fiberglass pop.
Examples are the Honolulu Sword & Shield J2NF, Bread & Butter Loco, and 11SIX24 Pegasus Jelly Bean.
Titanium and Kevlar paddles
Some brands have experimented with strengthening materials like titanium (Bread & Butter Shogun), Kevlar (Pickleball Apes Pro Line Energy S), and other aramid fibers (Six Zero Ruby).
None of these materials has really caught on, and some of these brands have stopped using them in more recent paddles. Even when they did use them, they still usually blended them with carbon fiber, which just proves it’s the dominant material.
Bottom line
There’s been a lot of experimentation and innovations in paddle tech recently. A revolution in paddle cores has seen polymers replaced by foam.
Read our guide to foam pickleball paddles
When it comes to paddles’ surface material, it looks like carbon fiber is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. Even when manufacturers have brought in fiberglass, titanium, and Kevlar, they’ve still kept carbon fiber in the mix.
It’s proven to be the most dependable surface in the long term. Let’s see if that holds in another year or so.
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