The Guardian's Padel Racket Guide (And Why We Disagree)
The Guardian published a padel racket buying guide this week, which is great. The sport needs the coverage, and more people picking up a racket is never a bad thing.
In case you missed The Guardian article, click here.
But we read it, here’s our take.
The reviewer is a tech journalist, by his own admission new to padel, who tested 19 rackets alongside his friends (also new to padel.) The result is what you’d expect: advice from the perspective of someone who’s played a handful of times, written for people who’ve played a handful of times.
Which would be fine, if it wasn’t being sold as a comprehensive buying guide.
The standout detail, and we say this with genuine affection, is that the “best racket for beginners” pick is the Decathlon Kuikma PR Rental.
A RENTAL RACKET.
The kind your local club hands you when you turn up having never held a padel racket before.
And to be fair, rental rackets absolutely have their place. If you’re completely new to padel, rent one. That’s exactly what they’re for: keeping costs low while you figure out if you actually like the sport.
But they’re not really meant for buying.
Once you’ve played a few times, you’re enjoying it, and you decide to get your own racket, that’s where things change.
The beginner rackets we recommend cost a little more, but that’s the point. Better materials, better feel, and something that will grow with you as your game improves.
A rental racket is for trying padel. Your first racket should be for actually playing it.
It all goes out the window a bit by the time you get to the intermediate and advanced picks. Also where’s Siux or NOX? 2 of the best selling brands in the game.
We’re not trying to have a dig, it’s just what happens when a paper that doesn’t cover padel sends someone who doesn’t really play padel to talk about padel.
Here’s the alternative. Advice from guys who have played at a decent level. We’ve hit with, tested and have our opinions about essentially every racket available. Our racket guides aren’t written by someone who’s hired a court for an hour – they’re written by people who have been on court for years and have the slightly obsessive racket collection to prove it.
Pick your category. We’ll tell you what’s actually worth buying.
