Choosing a paddle: power vs control

Bottom line for a new player: a mid-weight (7.8–8.0 oz), wide-body paddle with a 16 mm core and a grip that fits your hand. It is the most forgiving combination while you build consistency, and it does everything well enough that you will not outgrow it for a year.

Weight

Lighter (under 7.6 oz): quicker hands at the net, less power, more arm work on deep shots — and more elbow strain, because you swing harder to compensate. Heavier (over 8.2 oz): more free power and a more stable paddle on off-centre hits, but slower to react in fast exchanges, and more tiring over a long session. Mid-weight sits in between and is where most players land and stay.

Shape

Wide-body paddles have a big, low sweet spot — easy to hit clean, easy to control. Elongated paddles trade sweet-spot size for reach and leverage, which adds power and spin but punishes mishits. Beginners should start wide-body; elongated is a later, deliberate choice.

Core thickness

16 mm cores play soft and controlled with a large sweet spot — ideal for learning the dink and the drop. 13–14 mm cores are firmer and hit harder but demand a cleaner strike. Thickness matters more than most people expect — more than face material for most players.

Face material

Carbon faces bias toward control and consistent spin. Fibreglass and hybrid faces add pop. If you are unsure, carbon is the safer default, because control is the harder skill to build and the easier one to keep.

Grip size

Measure from the middle crease of your palm to the tip of your ring finger — that is roughly your grip circumference in inches. When in doubt, size down and add an overgrip; you can build a grip up but not shave it down. The grip guide has the full method.

Try before you commit

Feel beats spec sheets. CentralCourt keeps paddles you can borrow — book a practice bay, hit with a couple of different ones against the ball machine, and notice which lets you land the drop softly and control the dink. That is the paddle for you. Then the buying guide makes the purchase decision easy.