These are the BEST Paddles of 2024!! 2024 Pickleball Paddle Awards | Rackets & Runners

Rackets & Runners' Luca Berg shares his thoughts on the best pickleball paddles of 2024.

Pickleball Apes Pulse V : SOLD OUT

Pickleball Apes Pulse S : SOLD OUT

[brenthauver]

Please do not talk about the ripple anymore- after three months of waiting I actually went with the gearbox

[scottderry]

Love my Neonic Flow so much ...just ordered the Flow Prime x.

[matthewschwartz]

Have you tried the Honolulu J2Ti and if so how’s it compare to the J2K ? Thanks.

[alrightboysgolf]

With how much you loved the Shapeshifter, I really thought it was going to make your list. Your review of it made me want it.

[kylepickleball]

The production Ripple is a different paddle from your beta, in fact your beta is different from subsequent betas.

[userb]

Carry:

GEARBOX pro ultimate hyper 8.0

PaddleTek ESQ-C

[bippie]

Great well round video, thanks. I have the MOD TA, the Pulse S and now the Beta Ripple R2. Love all of them. The Ripple is the most unique though.

[tiyans]

why is the J2 Ti left out, even as contender?

[jetjaguar]

Went from “Friday” paddle which was really good with Tungsten to the 3 & 9 oclock then went Neonic Force which was excellent then J2k which was too soft so now have j2k pro and Neonic Flow Prime X…i just started and am a 2.75 -3.0 depending on how many point i give up due to being a noob so thats my paddle journey so far…although looking forward to the new CRBN in 2025.

[t]

Amazing review! Question: another reviewer of the Ronbus Ripple said that they are extremely loud. Is this true in your experience? Does it bother you?

[ashtonhenson]

The ripple is not released making your power winner useless 🥵

[porterdueck]

For your alternative paddle of the year award, what made you decide on the J2K over the Apes Pulse V? Or even instead of the J2K Pro 14mm? I’m curious if you determined it based on the feel of these paddles, or some other factor of control and power. Thanks for your reviews, love the attention to detail!

[SP-qvrt]

Great review. I switched from DBD to J2K about 4 months ago. I liked DBD a lot. It is a great paddle for soft game. I would feel that there was no ball I could not reset and would get compliments on my resets. It is hard to tell if I naturally played soft game better or if the paddle made me do it. When it got old, I started looking for a replacement that played very similar to DBD but was cheaper. A lot of reviews suggested J2K.
Transitioning to J2K was very frustrating. I could not reset with slice/ backspin that was so easy with DBD. I would pop up balls at the net, get frustrated and switch back to DBD after a couple games. After about 2 months, I decided to keep playing with J2K no matter how bad I played . I started countering more at the net instead of playing soft. With the kind of power J2K has, putting away any balls at or above waist height was a breeze. Having played tennis a lot, I tend to drive more than drop. But I did not notice much difference in drives.
Overall, I am a better player now as J2K helped me play more aggressive at the net. I still pop up balls at the net and the first thought that comes to mind is 'that would not have happened with DBD' but then I put away a lot of balls at the net that I could not with DBD.
It will be time to look for a new paddle in a couple of months and I will have to decide between pulse s and ripple. It will be another interesting transition.

[tbrophwg]

I can manufacture my own power and own both the J2K and the Shapeshifter for All Court Control. Both are very similar. IMO, the J2K has a bit more power, and the Shapeshifter has a bit more control, especially in the soft game with Dinks and Resets. Overall, I game the Shapeshifter more frequently as I feel I can swing more freely and still keep the ball in play. After some break in, you really start to get into the Fiberglass layer under the 18k carbon weave which generates plenty of put away power, but I don't find myself hitting as many unforced errors when I get aggressive and try to paint the lines. I don't think you can go wrong with either one and would recommend both of them if you want an All Court Control paddle and don't need the design of the paddle to generate power for your game. That being said, I'm always looking for my next paddle and the Pickleball Apes Pulse S is definitely on my short list.

[Itsezpickleball]

Playing on that wet court looks too scary 😳

[LUUWILL]

Hey love your videos. Whats the name of that nike shirt that u play in it’s super nice. Love your athletic gear where do u get your shirts shorts shoes??

[mogio]

Do you have a link website describing the results of this video?

[alphabug]

I’m a pretty new pickleball player, have a question in regards to kitchen line rule in the 7:04 mark.

Since your opponent returned the shot without letting it bounce, it is considered a volley and thus that means you broke the kitchen line rule, correct?

Asking for the sake of my learning since I also like to run up to catch drop shots but sometimes my momentum carries me forward across the kitchen line

[joshheiden]

Which elongated paddle do you think is most forgiving??

[TheMrMantequilla]

What jacket are you wearing in the video!? Huge fan, need me one of those