By all accounts, James Ignatowich is the first established UPA pro to launch a paddle brand from the ground up.
His metamorphosis from hard-hitting pro to materials science-loving nerd is a curious one. As he explains it in this week's PicklePod with Zane Navratil, he's been frustrated in the past with his own equipment and endeavored to learn all he could about what makes a paddle great.
After obsessing for six hours or more every day for about a year now — and dissecting, by hand, nearly every paddle on the market — he started tinkering with his own designs.
Forty prototypes later he arrived at his new brand, RPM.
"It became my passion," he told Zane. "I can tell you everything about any paddle."
Ignatowich was a sponsored pro with Selkirk for three years, and in a lot of ways the pro face of the brand. He's got nothing but love for that experience, but also knew when it was time to move on.
"I was always wondering how you make a better paddle," he said. "I wasn't really trying to make a company in the beginning."
RPM’s signature paddle line, the Friction Pro Series, is already USAP certified and slated to officially launch to the public toward the end of the month. James is expecting UPA-A certification soon as well, though the paddles will be "blacked out" through the end of the year.
Alex E. Weaver
As for the paddle itself, James isn't sharing all the secret sauce just yet. But after experimenting with everything he could get his hands on, it's become the one model he himself is most excited to play with.
According to the RPM site, the Friction Pro prioritizes spin (as the brand name would imply) and features “Tri-Density Core” technology:
The innovation that combines 3 different materials with varying densities to maximize sweet spot size and solidity to the edge.
“I specifically made it for higher level play,” James said.
Fellow pro and close friend Ryan Fu will be using the Friction Pro on tour once it's UPA-A certified, said James.
For now, though, he's happy with the reception it's received around his local courts in Florida.
“The truest test of whether or not a paddle is good is how many APP pros are using it for free... If you go down to south Florida, you’ll see them everywhere already.”
The Friction Pro Series will launch at $249.99.
They're available now, but RPM will have a hard launch week beginning on September 29, which will come with a special, limited-time offer.
"Anybody who buys a paddle online, through our website will get a free Cameo from me," James told us. "And I will say whatever you want me to say."
