Are Control Paddles Viable at 4.5+ In 2026?

=For the gameplay segment and analysis, watch the youtube video first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUxwMr6w4qI

All right so let's do a debrief on how the play session went. I did play a few more games afterwards but I decided to only show the beginning of the session since going against two boomstik users was the bigger comparison. Now even though I ended up winning more games than losing, the big question is, would I have played better with a power paddle? Would my performance have been better? Well let's dive into it and talk about the pros and cons of using a control paddle and my overall thoughts on their place in the meta.

Starting off, let's talk about the good things of using a control paddle. One thing that surprised me was how I didn't suffer that much on my drives as I thought I would. As long as I made sure my form was good: so staying on balance, good hip drive into the shot, and catching the ball in front of me, I'd be able to generate decent power and maintain a low ball height. With a power paddle, my drives for sure would have been much more deadly and I think on some of the shorter returns I definitely could have punished my opponents more to get a few quick points on my 3rds. That said, at the higher levels, the quality of shots is going to be higher so the returns will be deeper and the defense from players against drives is much higher so realistically, while I may win a few points here and there on some powerful drives, the main point of my 3rd shot drive should be to assist in getting me to the kitchen line, not to end the point.

So while my drives weren't as deadly, they weren't really punished unless I made the height of the ball too high which is something that would have been an issue with a power paddle as well. Even with a slower drive, the height of the ball is more important because a lower ball doesn't give them the high to low angle advantage and it helps me safely transition up into the kitchen so this was definitely not a weakness for me. As for the soft game from the baseline, this was a given that it would be better with a control paddle. Drops and softer shots that I wanted to land in the kitchen felt much smoother and easier to perform because I had more room for error from the softer touch. Though there was a bit of an adjustment period from the mid court area blocking harder shots. With the all court and power paddles I've been hitting, I'm used to absorbing the impact of the ball more myself when trying to reset into the kitchen when someone drives something at me because I want the paddle to do more of the work for the reset. I'm used to my job being to loosen my grip in order to dial in how much power I want to output back. With a control paddle I had to adjust more by applying more power to the ball to reset back because the paddle itself absorbs much more of the impact and I had to swing more into the blocks in order to get them over the net. For me personally I wasn't a fan of doing this but I felt like for other people they may enjoy this more

The last part of my game that benefitted is also pretty obvious and that was with my dinks at the kitchen line. Since the softer touch gave me more room for error, I didn't feel as tight at the kitchen line like I would have with something like a Boomstik or Loco. I wasn't as afraid of popping up dinks or pushing them too far back where my opponent could attack them. Instead I could swing more aggressively and shape the ball better. This worked out to my advantage in the game because for dinks, I played more aggressive with moving my opponents around and applying more spin to force out popups for either my partner or me to finish off the point

Now let's talk about the downsides of using a control paddle. We talked about this first point earlier but while my drives didn't suffer as much as I thought they would, they also weren't as big of a threat as I wanted them to be. Not the biggest con but it still was something that was noticeable

Going off that, my mid court transitions weren't as deadly. I love sneaking into the midcourt area in transition and attacking a ball out of the air at hip height or above while I advance into the kitchen to finish the point. Now there were a few shots where I had enough time to prepare and rotate my body into the ball to get high power, but for times when I didn't have as much time to prepare, my hip drive couldn't be as powerful and my strokes had to be more compact to compensate for the shorter preparation, which lead to my shots not having enough offensive power to help me transition and attack. With the Shapeshifter, I had to default to resetting more and playing defensive which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it just wasn't the playstyle | wanted to go for, especially with the speed of the game in 2026.

The last downside is an obvious one as well and that's going to be my overall putaway power. Again like the previous point, when I get ample preparation time, I can generate enough power to put the ball away but when I have less time to react such as in fast fire fights, I didn't have that gutaway power. There were points were | struggled to maintain the offensive advantage I had, even when I was maintaining that high to low angle and aiming shots at my opponents feet. I had to be more patient and points took longer to putaway because I didn't have enough power from the paddle itself to assist me when I was making more compact strokes. With good technique and placement I could keep myself at an advantage and redirect my opponents power back at them, but there were cases where I did wish I had more help from the paddle.

So overall do I think my performance could have been better with a power paddle? It depends, if it was say a Boomstik. I don't think I would have played better necessarily, sure I still could have won but I think my game would have been a bit sloppier with me relying on power as a crutch and my gameplay level would have been lower. For me personally, I don't think I need a high firepower paddle to perform competitively at my level. I'm able to generate a lot of my own power and don't need as much from the paddle but I do think control paddles are too soft for me. It forces me into more of a defensive playstyle and holds back my performance in firefights. 

Even though I can generate my own power, I'm still held back by the situations where I can't swing out fully and I do want a paddle that just gives me a little bit more. I would say my performance would have been better with an all court style paddle like a Coral or Saga, or a lower tier power paddle like a J6FC+ that gives me the blend of enough touch and power to maximize my performance in the soft game and firefights. 

So what do I think about control paddles in 2026? I honestly wouldn't recommend these to beginners or even intermediate players and instead I see them as more of a choice. For players learning the game, I would actually recommend an all court style paddle like a Coral or Charm instead, over a control paddle. In 2026 I think the game is speeding up more with the rise of power paddles and the majority of players out there would be at a disadvantage if they used control and learned a defensive playstyle. Instead, control paddles are a choice for the advanced player that wants to play with a more defensive mindset.

To use one, you do need good technique, patience, and strategy to fully bring out the performance and in my opinion, this is more for the players that have been playing for a while already and want to win by using more technique. While I wouldn't recommend paddles like the Prisms, Jellybeans, or the Shapeshifter for players anymore, I do think there is a small population of people that will still enjoy them and can still kick my butt with them because of their level

In conclusion, I don't think control paddles are viable for 90% of players at that 4.5+ level, instead my recommendation is more all court and lower level power paddles for the majority of players. I do think all court should be the way to go for people learning the fundamentals of pickleball and for players competing at that 4.0-5.0 level, I honestly don't think a high power paddle is necessary for maximum performance but instead all court and power paddles on the lower end of the category should be considered more for developing your skills.

Anyways, that's just my 2 cents so take it for what it's worth but let me know if you agree or disagree with me down in the comments below. As always, check out the written review on my website at ticklemypickleball35.com and if you do want to support this channel, there are discount codes and links in the video description as well as on the website. All right, catch you guys in the next video