Once I tried pickleball, I was hooked. In fact, I was on a Girlfriend Getaway trip in Kansas and was introduced to this court sport! What fun.
Now, as a fan of pickleball, I needed to figure out how to easily choose a pickleball paddle. I’ll share what I learned along the way!
Smartly choose your 1st pickleball paddle?
When it comes to choosing a pickleball paddle, it can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you are not sure if you are going to commit to playing pickleball often enough to actually use those paddles you invest in.
Rather than being overwhelmed, hopefully, I will help you figure out how to smartly choose your 1st pickleball paddle.
Whether you are choosing a pickleball paddle for yourself or choosing a pickleball paddle for beginners in your family, I have some simple tips to share!
Pickleball Paddle. It’s a personal choice
As I mentioned earlier, I was on a girlfriend getaway trip and I got to experience pickleball at a very cool sports venue.
The coach that would assist me for the next 4 hours chose a pickleball paddle for me, and well that was what I used.
For that session it was fine, but I was sure there were different choices of paddles and I needed to figure out how to smartly choose a pickleball paddle that made sense for me.
So, your pickleball paddle is a personal choice and I learned that later as I went shopping for my own pickleball paddles.
What the coach had provided was a beginner pickleball paddle and that was perfection. Trust me, I won’t be going pro anytime soon, with my court skills, lol!
Seeking a beginner pickleball paddle?
I am still a beginner. My one friend and I play but it is very sporadic because our lives are very busy and we work.
We don’t play to be competitive, rather we play to be able to socialize and get some exercise. Trust me, we are far from anything other than ‘beginners’!
In fact, we both play tennis but have traded in our tennis court time for pickleball time instead.
Pickleball vs Tennis. Smart Choices, Then Play!
Since I have been taking tennis lessons for a few years and like to play just to play not for competitiveness, I did not hold back on the spending for my tennis racket.
Why? I know I will hit the court often, with or without a partner.
My hopper is filled with tennis balls and I practice backhand, serving, and forehand and that does not require a partner.
Therefore, solidly investing in a tennis racket in my mind is a different purchase.
Whereas pickleball paddles run the gamut of pricing from very inexpensive to expensive.
Therefore, a beginner paddle purchase for the sport is going to be purchased as such, simple and uncomplicated, but I found out there is a lot more involved in that thought process.
Smartly Choose a Beginner Pickleball Paddle
So, to smartly choose a beginner pickleball paddle I will cover the following:
- commitment level
- where to figure out what kind of paddle you actually need in detail
- how to find the best deal for the beginner paddle you are seeking
So exactly how do you smartly choose a pickleball paddle?
Consider your play commitment
Since I am not a committed player just yet, meaning I am not certain if I will have someone to play with, I don’t want to overcommit to a big price tag.
For example, for me, a beginner paddle is my sweet spot.
However, the paddles truly come in a vast array of prices, styles, weights, etc.
The First Thing To Do Before Purchasing a Paddle Is This
Consider your schedule and how much you think you will be able to play.
Also consider if you have a partner to play with, as that will determine the frequency of play as well.
How Do You Know Which Pickleball paddle is right?
Next, take a look at this very well-written article on Pickleball Paddle guides to decide what type you may need.
Do you have an injury? Or are you just beginning? This article in my opinion is helpful and should send you down the right path to smartly choose a pickleball paddle.
Be a smart shopper to smartly choose a pickleball paddle
Just as with any other purchase you make, be smart and shop this around.
That simply means a few taps of your keyboard or phone, tablet, etc to do some comparative shopping.
In other words, let’s get the most bang for your buck.
When I began shopping for this, I looked at the recommended pickleball paddle guide products, and then I began Googling to find more similar types of paddles.
Then, I searched on Dick’s which of course I knew would have the highest price, but actually, Amazon pads their pricing too, so the same pickleball paddle on each website store was the same price and that was crappy in my opinion!
My reasoning may surprise you but it makes great sense
Since I have a partner to play with and we BOTH are just learning, we decided to each purchase a simple pickleball 2 pack, that comes with a set of pickleball, and a carry bag.
Why?
The paddles are relatively comparable to the ones we looked at via the other aforementioned retailers, yet the price offers 2 for the price of one, plus all the other goodies we would have needed.
Ideally, we can drag along 2 other partners, toss them into the games and we have plenty of paddles.
Also, if we are not together, but have someone else to take as our work schedules often conflict, well, we have what we need with us, 2 paddles of our own.
Growing into pickleball
Last, she and I really discussed this, and what we came up with was the prevailing theory that I began with: we are learning, we need paddles that are conducive to our newfound love of pickleball without breaking the bank.
We read a lot of Amazon reviews and we’ve decided that how to smartly choose a pickleball paddle pretty much comes down to:
- How much you will play and how many people you will play with?
2. The need for other items such as a supply of pickleballs
3. Plus a storage case for the paddle.
4. Not to shop at those major retailers, but instead to use them as a guide for what to buy.
5. Read the reviews of what makes a paddle good or bad on the big sites and Amazon first.
When it is time to commit, after playing a bit, then invest in a great paddle. So, less is more right now when it comes to cost, but you get more with less as a 2/1.
Smartly choosing pickleball paddles just comes down to that. No more and no less.
Enjoy the game. ~ Dana
