The Full-Foam Revolution Is Here, and It's Reshaping Pickleball Forever

Two top paddle reviewers break down their top five paddles of 2025. Spoiler alert: polypropylene is basically extinct, and full-foam paddles are here to stay.

The pickleball paddle market just hit an inflection point, and honestly, it might be the most significant shift we've seen in years. On the latest episode of KewCast, hosts John Kew and Eddie broke down their top five paddles of 2025, and the results tell a fascinating story about where the sport is heading.

Spoiler alert: polypropylene is basically extinct, and full-foam paddles have completely taken over the conversation.

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The Paddle Leaderboard That Nobody Expected

Here's the thing about ranking paddles: it's deeply personal.

John and Eddie both acknowledged this upfront, which is refreshing. They weren't trying to crown some objective "best paddle." Instead, they were answering a simpler question: which paddles do we actually reach for when it matters?

Their methodology was straightforward. They evaluated paddles across several key factors:

1. Firepower (power and pop)
2. Control
3. Spin
4. Sweet spot consistency
5. Feel (dense versus hollow, soft versus stiff)
6. Any negatives worth mentioning
7. Any X-factors
8. Overall value

Eddie emphasized consistency and forgiveness across different shot types and court positions. John focused on balance and predictability.

The Top Five (in reverse order):

Here's how the guys broke down their favorites.

#5: Six Zero Black Opal (coming soon) – Both reviewers picked this one, which is noteworthy given how new it is to the market. The power generation is genuinely elite. The diamond-tough texture delivers deceivingly good spin without feeling gritty.

But here's the catch: you need to be playing loose and confident. When you're not? You're sending balls six feet out.

#4. Ronbus Quanta and Vatic V-Sol Pro – At around $100 each, these two represent an absolute value proposition.

The Quanta needs weight to shine; it's tingy and sharp out of the box. The V-Sol Pro feels better tuned immediately. Both sit in the middle of the high-power category with excellent control.

#3. Selkirk Boomstik – This one's the most expensive on the list at $330, but John argues the performance justifies it.

The elongated version is "unbelievably satisfying to play with." The massive sweet spot is nearly edge-to-edge. Spin sits around 2,200 RPM thanks to the InfiniGrit texture. And the power is unparalleled.

#2. Luzz Inferno – This is the surprise entry that nobody saw coming. Eddie is genuinely in love with this paddle. John is considering making it his main. It's a full-foam elongated with an MPP foam core, and the formula just works.

The feel is buttery smooth with perfect dwell time. Power leans slightly over pop, which matches Eddie's preferences for resetting balls. The curve is flatter and more consistent than one of Luzz's other models, the Tornazo. One negative? The edge guard paint chips easily.

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The Dink PickleballAlex E. Weaver

#1. Gearbox GX2 Power Hybrid (John) and Vatic V-Sol Pro (Eddie) – John's been running the GX2 as his main for a while now. It's low-to-middle high power with elite spin (2,200 RPM). The feel is uniquely soft and hollow simultaneously, which is rare.

Eddie went a different direction with the V-Sol Pro. It's his Swiss Army knife paddle; it doesn't do anything exceptionally well, but everything it does is solid. The long-handle Bloom shape is his preference. At $100, it's an easy choice for someone who wants consistency and forgiveness without tinkering.

What This Leaderboard Actually Reveals

The most striking observation? There's not a single polypropylene paddle on either guy's list. Not one.

The floating full-foam construction has completely dominated. This wasn't a conscious decision to exclude PP paddles; it's just that when you're picking your actual go-to paddles, full-foam keeps winning.

This matters because it represents a genuine market shift. A few years ago, full-foam didn't exist to the mainstream consumer. Now it's the baseline for serious players looking for that sweet spot between performance and durability.