Best Pickleball Paddle For Control

5 Best Pickleball Paddles For Control (Review & Buyer’s Guide)

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The best pickleball paddle for control for you is definitely not the one that your wife seeks. You may be a well-built and well-learned pickleball hitter to whom control means precision while to her; control may be something that is easy to maneuver and hit shots with, without feeling heavy on the hands. 

Not to sound too conventional, she may be a well-versed one in the world of pickleball and pickleball paddles, whereas you may be the amateur one that is still finding it hard to “control” the paddle and definitely the game.

Top Pick: Gamma Legend NeuCore Pickleball Paddles for Control

After our long research, we recommend Gamma Legend NeuCore Pickleball Paddles as our first choice. This is undoubtedly a great pickleball paddle for control along with some best features.

But there are other things that come along the way when speaking of control, such as weight, construction and much more. We’ll tell you what they are as you read along.

Recommended Control Friendly Paddles

  • Gamma Poly Core Pickleball Paddle: Well shaped, greater balance and control.
  • Selkirk Amped Pickleball Paddle: Good reach, tight control.
  • Onix Composite Pickleball Paddle: Reasonable control, sweet spot.
  • Engage Elite Pro Pickleball Paddle: Excellent touch, great spin.
  • Engage Poach Pickleball Paddle: Great balance, super control.

Before, moving into detailed review, better we can have some common related information.

Paddles for Control List

What Do Power and Control Mean in Pickleball Paddles?

Paddles have two words of focus when you think of them together with pickleball. They are power and control. You may be lured into thinking that if you pick one of the golden apples, you have to sacrifice the other. That is understandable when you consider the weight. Obviously, something that is light can’t be at the same time substantial. 

This was also said based on the hitting surface. Of course, something that is narrow can’t be comprehensive. It was said that to get a boost of power, you would need composite paddles. These could smash overhead hits, giving you serves of strength. On the other hand, soft dinking and excellent shots were part of the lightweight legacies.

That is believable since you can maneuver light ones pretty quickly. But you know what defied it all? The introduction of new core materials and defined understanding of sweet spot to body ratio. The judgment that used to be; that Nomex or Poly meant power and Aluminium meant control has now changed.

Read Also:
Paddles For Spin
Most Expensive Pickleball Paddles [& The Best Ones]

Product Reviews on the Best Pickleball Paddle for Control

Here are our five best paddles if you want better control in your pickleball game:

Gamma Poly Core Pickleball Paddle

Introduced back in 2018 by the famous Gamma Sports, the core material substantially increases the touch on the ball. The Sensa Poly Core technology, as they chose to call it, allows the rigorous control that you want when playing pickleball.

The Honeycomb handle on the paddle is cushioned and patterned to give you a better grip and comfort when you exert force. Thanks to the elongated middle-area weight, the overall handling becomes much more accessible, and the hand movements much faster.

This weight in the kitchen line is why most players are fond of it. Also, the length makes up for better reach. 

As the face material, you get textured fiberglass. This texture and the graphite face will give you a good “snap” when you play backhand strokes, all the while finding it lightweight. 

A word of advice for those who get overly sweaty in the hands, you can get yourself Gamma gel cushion handle wrap for no slippage.

Pros

  • Perfect weight.
  • Well-shaped that gives you a better grip at the handle.
  • Sturdy and not susceptible to breakage upon force.
  • Great balance.
  • Gives you the right snap.

Cons

The sweet spot on the paddle may be too narrow for some amateur players.

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Selkirk Amped Pickleball Paddle

Wondering what the Amped in Selkirk stands for? Consider ‘Amplified’. The pickleball paddles from Selkirk’s Amped range want to promote the amplification of power and lightweight control.

Not just lightweight, they call it EPIC lightweight. For more precise shots, they changed the surface to a new paddle core, which is thicker and innovative, and made of polypropylene polymer. 

They are still awaiting the patenting of this X5 Polypropylene Core. Anyway, the Fiberflex Face, along with the Core of Selkirk increases the overall performance of the paddle. (Check Other Selkirk Paddles Review)

This bringing together of two different technologies is their Unibody Design that improves the durability of the paddle. The problem that some amateur players may have with the Gamma paddle, due to the sweet spot being narrow, maybe solved here since it has a larger sweet spot.

Since this is more responsive, new players can feel at ease handling this. 

And if you are more than a pickleball enthusiast, if you want to use it for racquetball or TT, you can easily switch.

Pros

  • A lot of feel on the ball.
  • Easy to switch back and forth while playing.
  • Extended reach range.
  • Tighter control.

Cons

  • The lightweight paddle is very light, so those with a heavy hand may struggle with exerting force.

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Onix Composite Pickleball Paddle

Here is a paddle that focuses on the baseline, if that is what you have been looking for. The players who have the reasonable control of the free movement in pickleball will absolutely love it. Just like Gamma paddles, these have a honeycomb core and a fiberglass face.

The Z5 is a great one too if you want more of “pops” from the base. But one thing to warn you of, this is quite heavy. If you have been previously playing Tennis and love heavy racquets, you will be glad to purchase it.

Since it is composite, it is quite noisy and hits very hard. Faster serves and louder smashes, tell us about it! So you will feel like you own a lot of power here. If you are a smash-all-buttons type, you will be a massive fan of it.

Pros

  • Plenty of sweet spot area.
  • Best for low-surface strokes when you need to get the ball across the net. 
  • Strikes well with lesser efforts.
  • Excellent thickness and composition.

Cons

  • Not for players with a smaller statute.
  • Not for you if you frequently dink as you may lose touch.

Read also: other products of Onix Brand.

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Engage Elite Pro Pickleball Paddle

Suppose you are a pickleball player who is a huge fan of textures. And by textures we don’t mean orange peel, cake body textures, we are speaking of sandpapers.

If that is your goal, to get a pickleball paddle that resembles the texture of sandpapers, then you should definitely get one from the Engage Pro range. One may wonder why you would need such a paddle. 

That is because it offers better damping of vibration. Thanks to the Core that Engage has built and chosen to call the Control Pro II, which, with the vibration control technology, leaves out the lack of control. Another good thing? 

They optimized it to pass the noise requirements of most communities that they so firmly hold. If you are a tennis player or anyone in general who wants to make the grip larger, given that it is too short for you, you can add an overgrip. 

Pros

  • You get an excellent touch for softer shots.
  • Light and powerful.
  • Great spin.
  • Feels comfortable and hits hard when needed.

Cons

  • Bottom sticker might be uncomfortable

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Engage Poach Pickleball Paddle

The last one on the list is also from Engage. The Core is said to be built using Control Pro’  Black’ Technology. But no harm, readers, there is nothing related to black magic here.

Anyway, what you are supposed to understand from this is that proprietary polymer composite has been used to make the Core. Much easier to understand now, isn’t it? 

The skin or the face of it is made of 6 layers of fiberglass polymer. Now that’s something new because you will hear that a single or double-layer makes up most paddles for pickleball. But here, they used 6, maintaining the same thickness that a single or double-layer would result in. This allows you to get better playability from the paddle and increases the responsiveness of the ball when it hits the paddle.

The texture that Engage Poach maintains enables you to rotate the ball better, and the placement is easier.

Lastly, it has the same vibration control technology that we spoke of earlier, as part of the Engage Elite.

Pros

  • Well balanced.
  • Soft-feeling.
  • Has a good spin to it.
  • It creates power easily and allows better hits.

Cons

  • May be heavy for those who prefer lightweight paddles.

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Buying Guide for the Right Pickleball Paddle

Best Pickleball Paddle For Control

There are three essential criteria for picking the right paddle. They include:

Surface and Core material

For a better understanding of the Core, take a look at the reviews we mentioned. They have polypropylene core, fiberflex, liquid graphite as the base. Surface material can be changed depending on brands, too, with changes in layer count.

Weight

The ideal weight of a paddle is from 6 to 14 ounces. Mid-weight paddles weigh between 7-8.5 ounces while heavier paddles weigh more than that. But the more the weight, not necessarily the merrier.

Dimensions

The width and length of the paddle can’t cross 24 inches. You should opt for 14/15-inch long paddles and 8/9-inch wide ones as the base of selection.

Video Tutorial:

Deb Harrison describes very well about the posture and control of a paddle. Check out:

Ending Words

We couldn’t specifically conclude what the best pickleball paddle for control would be as the control for a stout gentleman or a delicate woman may be different. The understanding of core material, the research on hitting surfaces, and newer innovations in the sector will give you a smart idea of what should be the right one for you.

Whether you have recently started or are used to the game as bread and jam, you will have plenty of choices to pick from besides the ones we humbly mentioned. So have your pick!

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