Mark 2 R3: New FOam from Mark?

Mark Pickleball is another brand that’s been quiet for most of the year and I got to try their new Mark 2 R3 paddle. It’s elongated with an undisclosed foam core structure and based on the surface, it appears to be a Kevlar weave.

For initial impressions, this paddle is actually very solid and I quite enjoyed it. Its more muted feeling from the Kevlar weave and reminds me more of the Enhance Duo than of the floating EPP paddles. It doesn’t have the hollow feedback like the Loco but it still has high firepower to it. Firepower wise it’s a step up above the Duo and I think it rivals the V-Sol Pro V7 for power.

The feel is pretty nice since has a softer feel on contact that’s even more muted than the Duo. I found the Duo to be a bit more denser/fuller in feel though compared to the Mark R3. On the R3, while the Kevlar does give it a softer feel, the ball does shoot off faster compared to the Duo and that’s where the higher power comes from.

Overall this is a very solid foam release from Mark, it’s nothing too crazy in the power paddle space but it does differentiate itself by being different from the floating EPP cores and it has more similarities with the Duo