About PadelCritic

Our mission

Help you choose padel gear with confidence. We test, compare and explain rackets in plain language, so you know exactly what you’ll feel on court — not just the marketing claims.

How we test

• Sessions: multiple matches & drills (defense, net, overheads) with 2–4 testers of different levels.
• Comparisons: we A/B against our current benchmarks (e.g., power vs Coello Pro, comfort vs AT10, etc.).
• Notes: feel, timing, stability, spin bite, forgiveness, and fatigue over time.

How we score (0–10)

Overall score is a weighted average across the metrics below.

• Power (18%) — pace on smashes/overheads and on-demand punch.
• Control (18%) — directional accuracy, depth control.
• Maneuverability (12%) — swing speed, ease at the net.
• Comfort (12%) — impact harshness, arm friendliness.
• Spin (12%) — surface bite for slice/topspin.
• Forgiveness (10%) — stability and results on off-center hits.
• Sweet spot (8%) — usable area size and liveliness.
• Durability (5%) — build quality, wear resistance.
• Value (5%) — performance vs price and competition.

Scale guidance: 9.0–9.5 excellent; 8.0–8.9 very good; 7.0–7.9 solid/needs context; <7 niche or with trade-offs.

Editorial standards

• Repeatable wording: we use the same language and drills across reviews.
• Internal consistency: every new racket is ranked against our existing benchmarks.
• Updates: if our view changes after more playtime, we revise the article and date-stamp it.