We rebuilt padelracketreviews so you stop wasting time on the wrong racket

padelracketreviews started as a simple blog over two years ago: a few padel players writing down what we learned on court, because every one of us had bought the wrong racket more than once. Since then more than 20,000 of you have joined us, here and on our other channels. Thank you.

We'll be straight with you: the old site wasn't good enough. It gave you a score and a list of specs, but it couldn't answer the question you came with, which is whether a racket suits your game. Some of our specs were out of date, too many rackets had a number and no reasons, and we weren't proud of how it looked. So we rebuilt it, from the database up, around one idea.

Stop chasing the perfect racket

Most players we meet are chasing the perfect racket. They read the reviews, buy the one everyone raves about, play ten games and sell it on for half what they paid. We've all done it.

There is no perfect racket for everyone, and nobody can promise you yours. What we can do is help you rule out the rackets that are wrong for you before you pay for them. Every wrong racket you don't buy is money you keep, and months spent improving instead of getting used to a racket that was never right for you.

Your player profile, and the shape it draws

It starts with you. Answer ten short questions: which players sound like you, your level, your side and what you actually do on court. We turn your answers into your player profile, the kind of player you are, and your shape, what your racket has to give you.

Here is what that looks like for three different players:

• A power player, The Spin Finisher. Ends points at the net with the smash. Their shape pushes out towards power, their closest match is the Bullpadel Hack 04 Comfort at 86%, and the brand that suits them best is Drop Shot.
• An all-round player, The Quick-Handed Playmaker. Builds the point, then closes the net. Their shape sits close to round, their closest match is the Bullpadel Hack 05 Hybrid at 94%, and their brand is Bullpadel.
• A control player, The Patient Wall. Defends off the glass and outlasts. Their shape leans towards control, their closest match is the Babolat Counter Vertuo 2.6 at 84%, and their brand is adidas.

Your shape is drawn in three layers: your game (how you play), you (your body, from your arm to your age) and your world (where you play, the months it's cold or damp, your budget and how long a racket should last). There are 49 playing-style names, and the first ten questions alone allow more than 14.5 billion different combinations of answers. Add Design your shape and your game alone has more than 870 billion. Your shape is built from your answers, not picked from a handful of types.

Then every racket on the site shows how closely it matches your shape, and so does every brand. Tap the coloured dot on any racket and its photo turns into the racket's own shape laid over yours.

How to read your shape

• The dashed circle is the average player. Your shape pushes out from it or pulls in.
• Six qualities run clockwise from Power at the top: Handling, Comfort, Forgiveness, Control and Feel (how firm).
• Each colour is one layer: you, your game, your world. Tap a key to see one alone.
• The ink line is the racket. Orange to red shows where it parts from you: the redder, the further.
• The match is the chance a player like you keeps the racket and is glad of it three months on.

Tap the ? on any card and it walks you through, one step at a time:

The site and the rackets are the same for all three; the lists are completely different. Design your shape then goes further (where you play, soft or firm, brands you'd rather avoid, how long a racket should last) and each answer tells you what it changed. It's free, and only you see your answers.

Draw your shape

Track the price, then buy at the right moment

Once you know which rackets suit you, the next mistake is paying too much for one. Track any racket and we email you the day its price drops, with the shop and the saving. No more checking six shops every week: the price comes to you. Every review also shows how far a racket's price has fallen and its lowest recorded price.

Our readers get 10% off at PadelProShop with the code PRR10. The PadelProShop prices on our site already include it, and the code is applied at checkout. PadelProShop pays us a commission when you buy through our link. It has never bought a review or a place in a ranking, and it never will.

See this week's price drops

Better data and more reviews

We rebuilt our racket database so the weight, balance, core, face and shape on every page are the ones the racket actually has. The site now covers more than 1,000 rackets from 52 brands, 518 of them scored on one scale. Six reviewers play every racket for weeks before they score it, no brand has ever paid for a review, and over the coming weeks you'll see much more of their writing.

What other players say

One review is one opinion. Under our reviews we now gather what players say about each racket on Reddit, YouTube and the padel forums, linked to the original, praise and complaints alike. You'll also see ratings from our members, and you can add your own.

Also new

• Brands: what each of 52 brands makes and who it suits, and with your shape drawn, the brand that matches you best.
• Compare: put any two rackets side by side and get the answer in a sentence, with the difference in price.
• What the pros play with: the racket each top-ranked player plays with. Follow a player and their results reach your inbox.
• Your rackets: what you play with, what you've played and what you want, with your ratings and price alerts in one place.
• Rankings by how you play: 19 rankings by style, level, shape and budget.

Where we're going

We play padel too, most of us several times a week. We're building the tool we wanted the first time we stood in front of a wall of rackets: one that knows how you play, rules out the rackets that would hold you back, and tells you when the right one gets cheaper. Next, we want your player profile to follow your game as it changes: the rackets you've played, what worked, and when it's time for a new one. Fewer wrong rackets means more money in your pocket and more time getting better on court.

What should we build next? Write to us at [your email] and tell us. We read every one.

Callum and José
For the padelracketreviews team and contributors

P.S. Bought a racket this year? Rate it on its review page. It takes a minute, and it helps the next player avoid the wrong one.