Drop Shot Explorer 9.0 Review (2026)

Name: Drop Shot Explorer 9.0
Brand: Drop Shot
Price: 116.91 EUR
Availability: InStock

The Explorer 9.0 is Drop Shot's plainest entry frame: an even-balanced EVA build scoring a moderate 73/71 power-control split with civil terms (comfort 71, tolerance 71) and honest handling (72).

Reviewed by Carlos Ruiz

76Our score

Strongest

Power73
Handling72
Control71
Sweet spot71
Comfort71
Value66

No brand pays for a score. Every racket is scored with the same published method. Better than 24% of the 518 rackets we have scored.

Drop Shot Explorer 9.0 padel racket, Teardrop shape

Teardrop · 350–370 g · Raw Unidirectional Carbon · EVA Pro High Density · Head-heavy · Intermediate

Also at 1 more retailer

Our verdict

What we loved

Four things it does better than most.

Civil, forgiving entry character (71/71)

Balanced split teaches complete padel

Drop Shot durability

Sensible when properly discounted

Worth knowing

Three things to know before you buy.

Value 66: misfiled in its own family

The Explorer Pro editions outscore it

Weight spec incomplete: check in hand

Not for you if

Value 66: misfiled in its own family
The Explorer Pro editions outscore it
Anyone with a sensitive elbow: this is a stiff racket and the comfort score of 71 is honest about it.

What players say

No player has rated the Drop Shot Explorer 9.0 yet. Yours would be the first.

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Score it on five things.

Power

Control

Handling

Sweet spot

Comfort

How much have you played it?

Worth the money?

Anything players should know?

Optional. What surprised you, and who it suits.

Your note

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You: 0 stars
Our score: 76/100

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Inside the frame

A 370 g teardrop with a Raw Unidirectional Carbon face over a hard core, balanced head-heavy, built for intermediate players.

Shape: Teardrop
Weight: 350–370 g
Face: Raw Unidirectional Carbon
Core: EVA Pro High Density
Balance: Head-heavy
Level: Intermediate

How the core feelsHard

Soft
Medium
Hard

About this core

A EVA Pro High Density core. 15% of the rackets we have scored sit in this band. Read from the core until we rate firmness ourselves.

The review

The Explorer 9.0 is Drop Shot's plainest entry frame: an even-balanced EVA build scoring a moderate 73/71 power-control split with civil terms (comfort 71, tolerance 71) and honest handling (72).

Weight documentation is incomplete. Value 66 is the surprise, in the wrong direction: the brand's own Explorer Pro editions and the entry frames from Lok undercut or outscore it consistently. The frame itself is pleasant and forgiving; the price is misfiled. As with every crowded value family: the 9.0 becomes sensible only when discounted below its Pro siblings. Otherwise, buy those.

Highlights

Top 43% for sweet spot, and in the bottom tenth for value.

Both are true at once, and between them they are the whole review. Our score is better than 25% of the 518 rackets we hold a score for.

The faceRaw Unidirectional CarbonMore in Inside the frame

The balanceHead-heavyMore in Inside the frame

Sweet spot71 · better than 54%

Comfort71 · better than 49%

Handling72 · better than 41%

Control71 · better than 34%

Power73 · better than 32%

Our score76 · better than 25%

Value66 · better than 7%

Against the rest

Compare any two →

The Wilson Bela Pro V3 wins 3 of the 6 scores. This racket costs €98 less.

76This racket Drop Shot Explorer 9.0

Versatile · Teardrop

Drop Shot Explorer 9.0

Power first, then handling.

€117€21044% offRead our review

Buy at PadelProShop

Versatile · Teardrop

Wilson Bela Pro V3

More power, by 13.

€215€31031% offRead our review

Buy at PadelProShop

Drop Shot Explorer 9.0

€117

Wilson Bela Pro V3

€215

PowerControlSweet spotComfortHandlingValue

This racketWilson Bela Pro V3

73Power+1386

71Control+1182

71+2Sweet spot69

71+1Comfort70

72Handling72

66Value+1076

€117Price€98 apart€215

370 gWeightSame370 g

FirmFeelFirm

Feel is the core's rated hardness (estimated from the core material where there is no rating), then the face.

Price

Drop Shot Explorer 9.0 · at PadelProShop

€117

Buy at PadelProShop~~€210~~44% off

When you buy through PadelProShop we earn a commission. It never changes a score. Our affiliate policy

01PadelNuestro€130€210Buy

Ranked by price in euros; a price in pounds or dollars shows its euro value in brackets.

€1179 Nov

MayNov

Lowest recorded€117

Average€169

Highest recorded€210

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€60€117, today's price

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