Weight is probably the most important factor when choosing a paddle. Weight influences how a paddle feels when you pick it up and swing it on the court. For someone without pre-existing injuries, your choice of paddle weight is entirely up to your personal fitness level and comfort. Pickleball paddles range from six ounces to 14 ounces.

A heavier paddle will help you to drive the ball, but offers less control of the ball. However, be aware that the heaviness of the paddle also accelerates fatigue in your arm, and can strain your elbow.

Conversely, a paddle that is too light will not provide enough drive, may be difficult to support in your hand, but will increase ball control.

Arthritis or Injury?

If you have arthritis, "tennis elbow" or an injury to your hand, elbow or shoulder, we recommend you select a middle-weight paddle between 7.3 and 8.4 ounces. This will be heavy enough to provide stability and absorb shock, yet light enough not to tax your arm. Weight is probably the most important factor when choosing a paddle. Weight influences how a paddle feels when you pick it up and swing it on the court. Do not go too heavy. For people with hand, elbow or shoulder conditions, swinging a paddle heavier than 8.4 ounces could inflame your injury or arthritis, especially during fast twitch type reactions when defensively blocking and volleying where you are quickly moving your paddle to defend and block or attack a volley. For this reason, most all wood paddles are out of consideration.

We have also had a lot of teaching pros encourage players to not go too light. We consider a light weight paddle to be any paddle under 7.2 ounces. A light weight paddle will require you to put significant energy, swing and momentum into each contact with the ball, and there is less mass in the paddle to absorb energy and vibration. Players who use lighter paddles need to swing harder to put energy into their shots, putting more pressure on their joints. The biggest advantage of a lighter paddle for injury is in fast twitch situations where you quickly move a paddle to block and defend, and this is where a lighter paddle or a paddle that is handle biased in balance can help. There is a point of diminishing return, where with ultra light weight paddles, the weight of the paddle will not help you drive the ball. It is like playing pickleball with a feather.

In 2018 we saw the advent of the first pickleball paddle designed specifically to address injuries by reducing the amount of shock and vibration transferred from the paddle to your arm.  ProKennex Paddles have taken their Kinetic Energy Management System popular in tennis and developed a line of pickleball paddles that dramatically reduce the amount of vibration energy passed through the handle and into someone's arm. These paddles play with a lot of power, so you as the player don't need to swing as hard to execute your shots, and when you do strike a ball, the type of energy (and it's vibration) is minimized to he point where it dampens (reduces) the shock placed on your joints.