The Foam Era Has Changed Pickleball—Here Are the Top 2 Pickleball Paddles Right Now
The Foam Era Has Changed Pickleball—Here Are the Top 2 Pickleball Paddles Right Now
泡沫时代改变了匹克球——以下是目前最顶尖的两款匹克球拍
The fourth wave of pickleball paddles is here, and it finds the sport’s technology at an interesting crossroads. On one hand, the flagship offerings from mainstream paddle brands have never been more alike. That’s because most pickleball paddle makers have adopted foam cores that have a more uniform feel than the carbon fiber honeycomb cores. While there are holdouts who prefer the old open cores, and will always be, I think it’s safe to proclaim the foam cores are superior technology and are here to stay. Paddle shapes are likewise growing more similar—when I first started testing pickleball paddles for WIRED in 2023, many brands still had a few oval offerings, which have gone the way of the buffalo. Elongated paddles are now preferred by almost everyone I play with.
匹克球拍的第四次浪潮已经到来，这项运动的技术正处于一个有趣的十字路口。一方面，主流球拍品牌的旗舰产品从未如此相似。这是因为大多数匹克球拍制造商已经采用了泡沫芯，与碳纤维蜂窝芯相比，这种材质的手感更加均匀。虽然仍有一些人坚持使用传统的开放式芯，而且未来也总会有人坚持，但我认为可以肯定地说，泡沫芯是更优越的技术，并将持续存在。球拍的形状也变得越来越相似——当我 2023 年首次为《连线》(WIRED) 测试匹克球拍时，许多品牌仍有一些椭圆形的产品，但现在这些产品已经像野牛一样绝迹了。我一起打球的人现在几乎都更喜欢加长型球拍。
On the other hand, pickleball is still a relatively new sport, and paddle makers continue to innovate with some very creative offerings. I have tested more than 130 pickleball paddles over the past three years in games with friends and my daughter, and using a Slinger ball machine. Here are the paddles I’d recommend for beginners and more advanced players right now, plus a rundown of a few of the weirder paddles I’ve tested recently.
另一方面，匹克球仍然是一项相对较新的运动，球拍制造商们仍在不断创新，推出一些非常有创意的产品。在过去的三年里，我通过与朋友和女儿打球，以及使用 Slinger 发球机，测试了超过 130 款匹克球拍。以下是我目前向初学者和进阶玩家推荐的球拍，以及我最近测试过的一些比较奇特的球拍的简要介绍。
The Best Beginner Pickleball Paddle Right Now: SLK Dauntless
目前最适合初学者的匹克球拍：SLK Dauntless
The wide-body version of the SLK Dauntless ($150) has the biggest, butteriest sweet spot I have ever encountered on a paddle. At $150, it may seem a little spendy for most newcomers to the game, and you can get something serviceable for half the price, but if you’re going to invest in a starter paddle, the Dauntless is what I’d recommend. If you like wide-body paddles or are new to racket sports, I would get the wide-body version. If you’re a little more advanced or expect to progress to banger status quickly, the elongated should give you more power and reach.
SLK Dauntless（150 美元）的宽体版本拥有我所见过最宽大、最顺滑的甜区。150 美元的价格对于大多数新手来说可能显得有些昂贵，你确实可以用一半的价格买到凑合用的球拍，但如果你打算投资一款入门级球拍，我推荐 Dauntless。如果你喜欢宽体球拍或者是球拍类运动的新手，我会选择宽体版本。如果你稍微进阶一点，或者预计很快能达到强力击球手的水平，那么加长版会为你提供更多的力量和覆盖范围。
The Dauntless is a foam-core paddle, meaning it uses the latest tech. Foam-infused cores make for paddles with a more consistent and forgiving strike thanks to a larger sweet spot. They also have game-changing durability. Unlike honeycomb cores that slowly get mashed down after lots of hard hits, a foam core paddle should last a long time, so long as they keep their grit.
Dauntless 是一款泡沫芯球拍，这意味着它采用了最新技术。得益于更大的甜区，注入泡沫的球芯使球拍的击球感更加稳定且容错率更高。它们还具有颠覆性的耐用性。与那些在多次重击后会慢慢塌陷的蜂窝芯不同，只要保持表面的磨砂颗粒感，泡沫芯球拍的使用寿命应该会很长。
It also uses the MOI Tuning System that made the Boomstik from Selkirk last year’s breakout paddle. The two little clips on the side of the paddle are weights that shift the balance toward the center of the paddle, increasing the size of the sweet spot. I’m rarely the most athletic player on the court and play a finesse game that employs lots of off-kilter dinks on balls I barely get to. This paddle is great for that, which means it’s also great for beginners who may be slow to track the drives coming their way.
它还使用了让 Selkirk 的 Boomstik 成为去年爆款球拍的 MOI 调校系统。球拍侧面的两个小夹子是配重块，可以将平衡点向球拍中心移动，从而增加甜区的大小。我很少是球场上运动能力最强的球员，我打的是一种技巧型比赛，经常在勉强够到球时打出刁钻的吊球。这款球拍非常适合这种打法，这也意味着它非常适合那些在追踪来球时反应较慢的初学者。
The Best Expert Paddle Right Now: Paddletek Honeyfoam TKO-X
目前最适合专家的球拍：Paddletek Honeyfoam TKO-X
The new Paddletek Honeyfoam TKO-X ($250) is my overall favorite paddle after testing this year’s offerings from a dozen new brands. Paddletek paddles are known for being poppy, and past generations have been among my picks for power players. The Honeyfoam series, which is a full-release version of the Reserve I tested last year, is a Goldilocks paddle precisely because it strikes a balance between what Paddletek has always done well and the benefits of foam cores. This is a paddle that makes you swing with total confidence—it’s got power and precision in equal measure. I have not tested another paddle that has as much pop as this one without sacrificing any control.
在测试了今年十几个新品牌的产品后，全新的 Paddletek Honeyfoam TKO-X（250 美元）是我个人最喜欢的球拍。Paddletek 球拍以其出色的弹性（poppy）而闻名，过去几代产品一直是我为力量型球员推荐的首选。Honeyfoam 系列是我去年测试的 Reserve 的正式发布版本，它之所以被称为“金发姑娘”球拍（意指恰到好处），正是因为它在 Paddletek 一贯的优势与泡沫芯的优点之间取得了平衡。这是一款让你能充满自信挥拍的球拍——它兼具力量与精准度。我还没有测试过其他任何一款球拍，能在不牺牲任何控制力的前提下拥有如此出色的弹性。