Advanced Pickleball Paddles
If you're shopping a paddle, you're looking for one of three things: a controlled feel for the kitchen, a powerful drive for the third shot, or honest forgiveness for everyday club games. This collection has all three lanes covered, with the reviews and weight specs to help you pick.
- Tournament-Grade
- Tour-Approved Range
- USAPA Approved
- From £29
About this range
What's distinct about UK pickleball: more indoor play than the US, more mixed indoor/outdoor sessions, and a player base that started in their 30s and 40s rather than as juniors. That biases this range towards forgiving sweet spots and balanced weight rather than the head-heavy specialist frames you'd see on the PPA tour. Paddles aimed at UK club players sit in the 7.7–8.1oz range; the 8.3oz+ category is more niche.
We rank paddles by three signals: what the manufacturer claims, what tour players are actually using, and what UK clubs are buying based on our own sell-through data. The top of the page reflects all three. We don't run pay-to-rank — paddle position is earned, not sold.
The paddle category has consolidated quickly. Five years ago dozens of small brands competed; today the top tier is a half-dozen well-funded brands (JOOLA, Selkirk, Head, Franklin, CRBN, Six Zero) plus a credible direct-to-consumer challenger (Vatic Pro). This collection reflects that consolidation — we stock the brands serious players are actually buying, not the long tail of also-rans.
If you're searching for best pickleball paddles for advanced players specifically, you're in the right place — every paddle, ball, or piece of kit on this page is matched to that intent and stocked here in the UK.
Advanced-tier characteristics
Advanced paddles are built around tighter manufacturing tolerances, higher carbon grades (T700/T800), thermoformed unibody construction, and design choices made for skilled players: head-heavy balance, stiffer face, narrower sweet spots. Performance ceiling is higher; forgiveness is lower.
If your contact precision isn't there yet, an advanced paddle can actually feel worse than a mid-tier one — the unforgiving sweet spot punishes the inconsistent contact your stroke still has. Match the paddle to where you actually are, not where you'd like to be.
Top picks at this tier: JOOLA Ben Johns Perseus Pro IV, Selkirk Project Boomstick, CRBN 3X, Six Zero Double Black Diamond Power. All tour-tested, all USAPA approved, all £200+.
Inside the line-up
Skill-level filters
Beginner, intermediate, advanced and pro tiers — sorted by what UK players at each level actually buy.
Demo-friendly returns
14-day returns on unplayed paddles. We accept that you might want to feel one before committing.
Standard or elongated
Standard 16"×7.5" for the bigger sweet spot, elongated 16.5" for reach. Both stocked.
Specialist shop, specialist support.
We play this sport. We've broken paddles in our own play. Our recommendations are the kind you'd get from a club captain, not a marketing department.
Picking the right one
- Pick a style: control, power, or all-court. If you don't know yet, default all-court — it covers the most situations and rarely surprises you.
- Match weight to your stroke. 7.5–8.0oz for hand-speed-first; 8.0–8.3oz for balanced; 8.3+oz for power-first or with-lead-tape adjustments.
- Set a price ceiling. £80–£150 covers 95% of what most players actually need. Above £150, returns diminish and brand premium starts to dominate.
- Choose the shape. Standard 16" for forgiveness, elongated 16.5" for reach, widebody for the biggest sweet spot.
Step sideways
Frequently asked
Are advanced paddles harder to use?
Often, yes. The reduced forgiveness rewards consistent contact and punishes mishits. If your contact isn't there yet, an advanced paddle can actually feel worse than a mid-tier one.
What separates advanced paddles from intermediate?
Tighter manufacturing tolerances, higher carbon grades (T700/T800), thermoformed unibody construction, and design choices made for skilled players (head-heavy balance, stiffer face, narrower sweet spots). The performance ceiling is higher; the forgiveness is lower.
Top advanced paddles for tournament play?
JOOLA Ben Johns Perseus Pro IV, Selkirk Project Boomstick, CRBN 3X, Six Zero Double Black Diamond Power. All tour-tested and USAPA approved.
Can I use a tennis racket for pickleball?
Not for sanctioned play — paddles are smaller, solid-faced (no strings), and dimensionally specified by the rules. For backyard play with friends, anything goes, but you'll get a lot more out of a proper paddle quickly.
Are 16mm or 14mm paddles better?
16mm paddles are control-first: more dwell time on the ball, better for resets and dinks. 14mm paddles trade some control for power and a faster ball off the face. Most improvers settle on 16mm; aggressive baseliners go 14mm.
What's a thermoformed paddle?
Thermoformed paddles are pressed as a single unibody piece — face, core and edge bonded under heat. They're stiffer, quieter, and less prone to dead-spot creep than traditional sandwich-construction paddles.