Foam paddles are the hot new pickleball tech – are they worth the hype?

If you've been playing pickleball for a while, you've probably had a paddle go bad on you. Maybe it lost its pop or developed a weird dead spot.

That's usually caused by core crush – when the polymer honeycomb inside the paddle breaks down over time.

To fix this, brands are trying something new: building paddle cores entirely out of foam. It's a big shift from the design that's been the standard for years. And while early foam paddles felt soft and underpowered, the latest ones are a different story.

So, should you care? I think so. Foam paddles aren't just hype – they're solving real problems. I've been testing foam paddles for months, and in this guide, I'll break down what they are, why they matter, and which ones are worth trying.

If you're just looking for a foam paddle recommendation, try out the CRBN TruFoam Genesis 4.

So what exactly makes foam different – and why are brands suddenly all-in on it?

Until recently, foam was mostly used around the edges of paddles to stabilize the frame and expand the sweet spot. But now, some brands are building entire cores out of foam, replacing the traditional polymer honeycomb design.

Why? Because polymer cores have a weakness: they break down over time. That leads to common issues like dead spots, delamination, and core crush – the slow death of your paddle's performance.

Foam promises to fix that. Here are the main benefits paddle brands are claiming with full foam cores:

The biggest concern with foam paddles is that foam is a softer material than polymer. A lot of players – especially at the higher levels – assume that means less power.

I had the same concern. When I first tested the CRBN TruFoam Genesis paddles, which helped to kickstart the foam craze, it was solid but not at the level of a true power paddle like the JOOLA Perseus Pro IV.

Then when I tried the Selkirk LABS Project 008, which is very soft on power, I almost wrote off foam paddles altogether. I didn't think they'd ever compete with top tier traditional paddles.

But I'm glad I didn't. The newer models I've been testing have made huge strides. Some are now generating real power.

Another thing to watch: disbonding. This happens when the paddle's face starts separating from the core – usually along the edges – and it's a major failure point. Foam paddles are supposed to prevent this, since foam fills in gaps more evenly and flexes less than honeycomb.

Still, it's not a solved problem. The Vatic Pro V-Core, one of the early budget foam paddles, had to be pulled after widespread reports of disbonding. That might've been due to low-quality materials – it was a $100 paddle, while most foam models are priced well over $200.

I haven't heard of disbonding issues from other foam builds, so I'm hopeful Vatic was just a one-off. But it's a reminder: foam is still early, and not all paddles are built the same.

I've been playing with a bunch of foam paddles and I'm getting more and more impressed. Here are the best I've tested so far:

The first pickleball paddles were made of wood but as the game evolved, different synthetic fibers have been experimented with. Some fell off while others stood the test of time. Here are some of the different paddle cores used throughout the history of pickleball:

When pickleball was invented in the mid-1960s, the whole paddles were made entirely of wood, from the core to the face. You'll still find plenty of wooden pickleball paddles on Amazon and other sites, but these are cheap paddles.

They're more for having a little fun at the beach or a park, and not for the competitive type of pickleball that most players play. Wood is too stiff and poppy, and doesn't cushion the ball in any way to help you hit shots with accuracy.

Nomex is a type of synthetic aramid fiber that's very heat-resistant. It was one of the first materials to be used in paddles as they became more advanced. Five or six years ago, you saw a lot of Nomex cores, but they've been phased out as better materials have been found.

The most common type of paddle core is made up of polymer. Polymer is a broad category that covers natural fibers like rubber, and synthetic fibers like polypropylene (which you see a lot in pickleball paddles).

Polymers have been the most successful type of paddle core until now because they are lightweight and very durable. They offer more flexibility than Nomex or wood because they soften up a paddle's core to absorb the ball better, letting players shape their shots more. They also can provide better power with placement because the material is strong.

Most paddle brands use a honeycomb polymer design because this leaves spaces within the polymer core so it can "breathe", strengthening the overall core and making it more flexible, reducing vibrations.

The downside to polymer cores is that they can break down over time. This issue is known as "core crush", where the core loses its strength and collapses.

Issues like core crush and the dead spots that are sometimes found on honeycomb paddles have led paddle manufacturers to look for new materials. That's where foam cores come in. The hope is that foam cores will last longer, so your paddle will stay with you for years. Let's see if they stand the test of time.

This is a new pickleball paddle technology that's only getting started. If you've written off foam as a soft material, like I almost did, I encourage you to think again. Try some of the newer foam paddles coming out and you'll see they already have the potential to challenge the most powerful carbon fiber paddles.

If things keep developing this way, I wouldn't be surprised if almost all paddles had 100% foam cores in the near future, though Vatic Pro's issues with their budget foam paddle does caution us to not get too excited yet. For now, foam is still an experimental material mostly found in more expensive paddles.