Pickleball Paddle Buying Guide
At ONIX Pickleball, we offer pickleball paddles for every level of player from our top-of-the-line performance paddles to our aspiring intermediate player paddles, to starting out recreational paddles. Each paddle is unique and different, and we’ll break down each type, core, face, size, and weight in an easy to follow guide so you can make the best paddle decision proven to produce results.
Best Pickleball Paddle:
- The Evoke Premier is flagship of the ONIX Pickleball lineup as it's the most precise and powerful pickleball paddle making it our best rated

Best Pickleball Paddle Under $100
- The ONIX Graphite Z5 Pickleball Paddle, which retails for $99.99, is the most popular paddle in the ONIX line because of its outstanding touch and control. The Z5 is the best pickleball paddle for intermediate and beginner players.
Best Paddle for Control:
- The ONIX Outbreak features a graphite face reinforced by TeXtreme Technology, which increases stiffness and strength, giving players pinpoint control
Types of Paddles:
- Wooden paddles are more for entry level, they are heavier and less expensive.
- Composite paddles are lighter and tend to have more control.
Types of Cores:
- Nomex Honeycomb Core: balanced, strong and durable.
- Aluminum Honeycomb: easier touch, ability to soften shots made at the net
- Polypropylene Core: Quieter, has a balanced blend of touch and power.
Paddle Faces:
- Graphite: strong, lighter surface, has more touch and control
- Composite: harder, tends to be more powerful, less control
Graphite Paddles:
- Evoke Tear Drop
- Evoke XL
- Z5
- Stryker
- React
- Summit
- Voyager
- Voyager Pro
- Outbreak
Composite Paddles:
Aluminum paddles:
- Recruit 3.0
Wide body paddles:
- Composite Evoke Pro
- Graphite Z5
- Composite Z5
- Graphite React
- Graphite Subzero
- Voyager Pro
- Outbreak
Oversized body:
- Graphite Evoke XL
- Composite Evoke XL
- Composite Stryker 4
- Graphite Stryker 4
- Recruit 3.0
Teardrop body:
Standard body:
- Graphite Slammer
- Composite Slammer
Blocker body:
Elongated:
Impact Paddle Shape:
Paddle Shapes:
- Wide Body — this is the most popular pickleball paddle shape and has a generous sweet spot.
- Oversized — Smaller, but has a more powerful sweet spot
- Tear Drop — balanced, and comparable to racquet sport paddles
- Standard — longer handle, more torque
- Impact — increases reach and maximizes baseline power
- Elongated — gives players much longer reach
Paddle Weights:
- Light weight — (<7.4oz)
- Medium weight — (7.4- 8.2oz)
- Heavy weight — (>8.2)
Light weight paddles:
- Evoke Tear Drop graphite
- Evoke Tear Drop composite
- Evoke XL graphite
- Evoke XL composite
- Stryker 4 graphite
- Stryker 4 composite
- Evoke Premier Light Weight
Medium weight paddles:
- Z5 Composite
- React
- Subzero
- Summit C1
- Voyager Pro
- Evoke Pro composite
- Outbreak
- Evoke Premier Medium Weight
Heavy Weight:
- Z5 composite
- Stryker composite
- Recruit 3.0
- Voyager
- Composite Vertex
- Evoke Premier Heavy Weight
Do you still need help learning which paddle is best for you? Take our paddle selector quiz here!
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