Roundup Reviews Ep 1

Hey guys, today we're going to do a roundup style review of several paddles that have come out recently. We've got the Maverix Havik 2. Paddletap DNA, Luzz Blade 2, Element 6 Sirocco, and the new Gearbox GBX Powers

All right, let’s talk about the Luzz Blade 2 first. This is an elongated 14mm MPP foam paddle with a swingweight of 114 and a twistweight of 5.91. Based on the description this sounded like it would be the 14mm version of their popular Inferno paddle but unfortunately this felt completely different and is pretty underwhelming. In stock form the sweet spot wasn’t the greatest and the power leaned more towards the control spectrum. I tested weight setups and ended up doing 1g per inch strips of tape from the 9 and 3 positions down to the throat and while this did bump up the power and stability, the paddle still is just an okay all court paddle option. I get what they were going for here adding an all court foam paddle to their lineup but I just don’t see the appeal of going for a thinner 14mm core here if by doing so you lower the stability of the paddle. While yes you can customize more with weight setups, I just don’t think it’s really worth it here when there are better options out there that exist since these retail for $169. At cheaper price points you have the Friday Auras and temporarily the Flik F3 Triple Cores, both of which come with better performance out of the box and multiple shapes. And at $200 you have the Six Zero Corals which also have better performance, multiple shapes, and a longer lasting grit surface. The Blade 2 isn’t a bad paddle but I just don’t really see the appeal of who it’s for at its price point. It’s just an okay all court foam paddle that needs weight and it pales in comparison to Luzz’s other releases like the Cannon, Glider, and Inferno. 

Next let's talk about the new Gearbox GBX Powers which come in a flat top hybrid and an elongated shape. Both these are Gen 3 style construction but with a twist. They're actually cold pressed paddles with foam enhanced polymer cores so supposedly their durability against core crushing is going to be better than paddles like the Joola Pro IVs. On paper this does sound true and personally I haven't had any issues with the two models I have yet BUT I have seen one that has crushed. I don't know if that was a one off or part of a broader issue but it is something I do want to bring up so you guys are aware. Personally I do think yes these will be more durable than thermoformed Gen 3s but I believe they won't last as long foam cores and the plastic inside will eventually break down. My guess is that it's probably as durable as a Gen 1.5 like a Vatic Pro Saga. But anyways in terms of how it plays, both models are very solid Gen 3s. I found them to play a bit springier and less stiff compared to the Pro IV and Luzz Cannon. Performance wise it keeps up with other Gen 3s and it sits about the same on the firepower scale. At $180 retail, this is actually a very solid price point, especially because Gearbox is one of the bigger companies in pickleball. The GBX Powers are good Gen 3 recommendations because they have that Gen 3 performance at a fair price point and also have changes to the construction that I do think makes them more durable than other thermoformed paddles.

All right, let's talk the Maverix Havik 2. This takes their classic elongated Havik Shape and adds in a foam construction with multiple types of foam. From what I understand it's basically a floating foam core with the bottom areas of the paddle having some additional weight. For the metrics the paddle itself has this printed but it advertises 116 for swingweight and 6.4 for the twistweight which are very good numbers for an elongated paddle. The overall power of the Havik 2 is very solid as well as it sits in the mid to lower end of the power category. On paper it sounds great, an elongated paddle with above average stability and customization that also has good firepower. And for some players this is definitely a type of paddle they may be interested in but personally I'm not the biggest fan of the paddle. The combination of going high twistweight and low swingweight with the cut off corners at the top lowers the balance of the paddle where the sweetspot is in an unfavorable place for me. While it's technically an elongated paddle in terms of dimensions, if you try to contact the ball where you normally would on any other elongated paddle, you'll find yourself hitting outside of the sweet spot zone and clipping the paddle edges at the top. I felt this a lot when going for aggressive flicks out of the air and when going for top spin dinks at the kitchen. That said, the Havik 2 does excel in having more stability in the central and bottom areas of the paddle so resets and blocks felt better. I was able to dial in the paddle when I adjusted my contact point to be lower and while I wasn't a fan of the Havik 2, objectively I still think it's a good paddle that people will enjoy but if you have a similar playstyle to me you may not like it. For me it's a paddle that looks great on paper but you just need to know that there are downsides for maximizing quantitative metrics like that for paddles and as long as those issues don't bother you, then this is a fantastic choice that also comes in at an affordable price point at $165 retail.

Moving on let's briefly talk about the PaddleTap DNA paddles. PaddleTap is a company that I believe started as tournament organizers but now are looking to make a splash into the paddle market. You may have seen their ad campaigns for their paddles on instagram or facebook but the ones I got to try were their foam core and gen 3 style paddles. For both they have 14 and 16mm core thickness options and widebody and elongated shapes. The widebody has a curved top while the elongated is similar to the Speedup Tide L and the 11Six24 Vapor in its design. The ones I tried were the 16 mm options of both shapes and the paddles are... okay. They retail at a higher price point at $250 but I don't think they do anything to stand out performance wise to warrant that price point. The Gen 3s hit harder than the foam variants and I personally liked the feel and power of these better than them too, but still 250 for a gen 3 with no significant change in performance or construction is a steep price from an unproven new brand. Especially when more affordable options like the Luzz Cannon and GBX powers exist in the market. As for the foam paddles, they're fine as all court options but again at 250, I see it as a tough ask for consumers. The DNA paddles honestly aren't bad and performance wise they are fine. I just have issues with the pricing on them as a new company going against more affordable options from proven and established companies.

Lastly let's do a quick first look on the Element 6 Sirocco. It uses the same hybrid shape they've used on their previous models and for the construction it has a floating EPP foam core. Metrics wisely it comes in a little lighter with a swingweight of 111 and a ty of 6.25, but even in stock form, this paddle is a hard hitter. Out of the box without weight, the Sirocco has high levels of both pop and power and is one of the hardest hitting hybrids in the market. I ended up adding 3 gram strips of tuning tape at the 9 and 3 positions just because I did need to bump up the stability of the paddle, and after, I really felt my drives carried some weight into them. The feedback is quite nice too, it's not too hollow and stiff and reminds me of the Zephyr and Flik F1. Rower wise I don't think it's as hard of a hitter as the Zephyr but it's easier to control and with the weight added, I found it to have a better sweetspot. The sweetspot I think is comparable to other popular hybrid paddles but I would say it's just a tad bit more unforgiving. The biggest thing I noticed was that on off center shots the ball really dies off. It's similar to the Black Opal in that regard where there's a big difference between hitting off center vs the sweet spot but I do think the Sirocco does have more forgiveness than the Opal while maintaining similar levels of firepower. Overall the Sirocco is a hard hitting foam hybrid paddle with very solid performance and with a low price of $139 pre discount code it's a very fun paddle to consider.

Luzz Code: DMVPBALL https://bit.ly/4fVjfpp

Maverix Code: DMVPBALL

Element 6 Code: TickleMyPickleball https://e6pickleball.com/e6-aff/COVuvza

Gearbox GBX Power- Code: TICKLEPB

Paddletap Code: AllDriveNoDrop