James Ignatowich is on a heater.

The former PPA Tour pro started his own paddle company — RPM Pickleball — in 2025, and the brand saw immediate success. RPM’s first paddle, the Friction Pro, received great feedback from multiple reviewers and quickly sold out of the initial stock. Ignatowich has continued to see high demand for that model in the months since.

But he’s also been focused on what’s next for the brand, and recently released the RPM Friction Pro V2, an updated version that offers more power and pop than the original Friction Pro while maintaining the Gen 3 feel that many high-level players prefer.

The Friction Pro V2 currently comes in two models, both listed for $249.99 — use code “KITCHEN” for 15% off at checkout.

RPM Friction Pro V2 16mm Elongated (James Ignatowich signature)

RPM Friction Pro V2 14mm Elongated (Ryan Fu signature)

In a recent interview with The Kitchen, Ignatowich said he has moved to China to be at the factory where RPM paddles are made, which has allowed him to be very hands-on and make small tweaks that ultimately impact performance.

He compared the RPM Friction Pro V2 to an iPhone update — it’s not a complete overhaul, rather a 5-10% improvement from the original.

“With me in China I was able to really dial in the materials,” he said.

How it plays — RPM Friction Pro V2

When I’m testing a paddle, I work with other high-level players in my area to simulate a wide variety of shots. This testing involves several hours of drills and 5.0+ games in an effort to determine how the paddle impacts performance in real-world scenarios compared to other top-tier paddles on the market. This review is based on the 16mm version of the Friction Pro V2.

Drives/serves (9/10): It’s clear on big swings like serves and third-shot drives that the V2 has more power than the original Friction Pro. It also has a very satisfying “thump” on contact. You can feel the paddle flex and feel the ball sink into the face a little bit, but it doesn’t feel overly soft or flimsy. It strikes a good balance between the Friction Pro, which feels noticeably softer, and some foam paddles like the Selkirk Boomstik or RPM Q2, which feel much stiffer. The Friction Pro V2 also has the same gritty surface texture that the original Friction Pro had, so it delivers elite-level spin for players who like to shape the ball from the baseline.

Dinks/drops (8.5/10): Because the power is ramped up slightly with the V2, the soft stuff is a little trickier to dial in. The paddle still performs very well in this area, but I’d give the edge to the original Friction Pro if I was prioritizing dinks and drops.

Resets (8.5/10): I feel similarly about the paddle on resets in the transition zone. It’s still better than a lot of modern paddles on the market in this area, but not as plush feeling as the original Friction Pro (I gave that paddle a 10/10 in this category). It’s worth noting that the V2 does not require as much perimeter weighting as many other paddles. It feels very solid and stable out of the box, so if you wanted to play it stock, I think it performs well that way. I did add 3-inch strips of 1-gram per inch UDrippin tungsten tape to the bottom sides of the paddle just to bump the swingweight up to what I’m used to, but I didn’t notice a huge difference in how the paddle performed.

Pop (8.5/10): This paddle lives in a good spot for me in terms of pop. The solid and stable feel gave me a lot of confidence in hands battles at the kitchen line because I knew how the ball was going to react, even if I didn’t connect perfectly. It has slightly more pop than the original Friction Pro, but it didn’t feel overly jumpy off the face like some other modern paddles.

Flicks/speedups (10/10): This was the highlight of the paddle for me. The combination of power, dwell time and grit made flicks out of the air really effective. Because I had a good feel for how the ball was coming off the paddle face, I was also able to be precise with where I was placing those attacks. The same was true on speedups off the bounce — I could be aggressive and still add enough spin for those shots to stay in the court.

Aggressive attacks/overheads (9/10): This is another area where the V2 is a clear upgrade from the original Friction Pro. If I got an easy ball, it had plenty of power to end the point. It doesn’t have quite as much power as some of the super-charged foam paddles on the market, like the Boomstik, RPM Q2 or Six Zero Opal, but I also don’t think that level of power is really necessary, especially if you play with the faster LifeTime ball.

Summary

I agree with Ignatowich when he says the V2 is like an iPhone update. It’s clearly better than the original Friction Pro in terms of power and pop, and it has a feel profile that I think a lot of players will really like.

I also like that it’s different enough from the original, so players now have options within the RPM brand — if they want something that feels plush and performs great on softer shots like resets, third-shot drops and dinks, the RPM Friction Pro is a really good option.

If they want something with a little more power and slightly more solid feel, the RPM Friction Pro V2 definitely qualifies.