Expert review: New Holbrook Fuze puts focus on playability over power

Alex Lantz

Director of Content

Last Edited

Feb 12 2026

Holbrook Fuze -- How it plays

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.

Drives/serves (7/10) – My focus for this category is whether these shots are putting pressure on my opponent in terms of power and spin. For the Fuze, the answer is "kind of." Because Holbrook put more an emphasis on controllability with this model (compared to some other popular full-foam options like the Selkirk Boomstik or Bread & Butter Loco), you're not really going to overwhelm anybody with shots from the baseline. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Consistency is also important, and the Fuze definitely delivered in that regard. I adjusted to it pretty quickly and had a good sense of how the ball was going to react off the face on serves and drives, which allowed me to feel confident and really rip the ball when my opponent hit a weak return. Essentially, I could add power when I wanted to, but I also wasn't afraid of the ball exploding off the face like I have been with some other foam paddles.

Dinks/drops (7/10) – I'm mostly focused on feel for these shots, and this is the area where I have been most critical of full-foam paddles. The Fuze -- like a lot of other paddles in the full-foam category -- has a pretty stiff and poppy feel, which isn't my preference for drops and dinks. To me, the stiffer the paddle, the harder it is to hit aggressive topspin roll dinks and drops. That results in me feeling like I have to baby the ball a little bit on drops and play more tentative at the kitchen line.

Resets (8/10) – In the marketing for the Fuze, Holbrook put a lot of emphasis on the forgiveness that it offers. In that regard I thought it succeeded -- it was pretty forgiving and stable on off-center hits. The only knock I had on resets was it was a little difficult to absorb pace, which I again contribute to the stiff and poppy nature of full-foam paddles.

Pop (8/10) – My punch volleys were good with the Fuze -- enough to put me ahead in hands battles, but not so poppy that I couldn't control where the ball was going.

Flicks/speedups (7/10) – The dwell time and shot-shaping ability is another area where foam paddles generally fall short for me. The Fuze is on par or even better than a lot of other full-foam paddles in this regard, but still behind a lot of Gen 3 options in terms of the pocketing effect that I like to feel on flicks out of the air.

Aggressive attacks/overheads (8/10) – The Fuze definitely wasn't the most powerful paddle I've ever used on full swings, but it still allowed me to end a point fairly easily when I had a good opportunity to do so. I wasn't having to overswing, which meant that I could focus on making good, clean contact.

Summary

I think Holbrook did a pretty good job with their first full-foam paddle. The unique design with the different types of foam at the top/sides and middle/bottom is an interesting concept, and I think it did help me activate more power on aggressive shots where I connected with the center of the paddle while giving me a little bit more forgiveness on mishits. If you're somebody who likes the stiff/poppy feel of full-foam paddles but are looking for something that has the overall power dialed back a little bit, I think this is a good option.

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