The best women's signature pickleball paddles, from a female perspective

1. JOOLA Anna Bright Scorpeus Pro IV

Best paddle all-around, geared toward players wanting to compete at the 4.0+ level.

This paddle is great both offensively and defensively. With the standard shape, I find my resets and hands feel quicker with this paddle. The core of this paddle feels plush, and when the ball is coming at me fast in the mid-court, or at the line, I let the paddle do the work. With a soft grip, I found that this paddle gives me a plush reset almost every time.

When I’m playing more offensively, the long handle allows me to reach and get more balls out of the air, as well as get more whip through my overheads. While this model has slightly less power than the very top tier power paddles, this paddle’s control and elite-level pop make for a great combo.

I had been playing with the JOOLA Anna Bright Scorpeus 3S previously, and this paddle feels like a 10% increase in performance from the 3S, which could be the difference between making the gold medal match or playing for bronze in tournament play.

This paddle is the whole package, combining elite offense and defense, with control and reliability. I would recommend this paddle to truly anyone and everyone. It currently comes in at No. 6 on our list of the top 10 paddles available on Pickleball Central.

2. PIKKL Hurricane Pro 14mm

For players wanting to compete at the 3.0+ level at a lower price-point. Slightly lower power than the JOOLA Anna Bright Scorpeus Pro IV.

This paddle surprised me from the first ball I hit with it. I immediately said to my partner, “Oh, I can feel the ball,” on my first dink. It’s the first paddle I’ve ever picked up that I was able to play with at a high level right away.

I felt like the ball was staying on the paddle face much longer than most paddles, so I was able to execute with good spin, placement, control and angles.

At the lower price point and with the slightly lower level of overall power, I would highly recommend this paddle to those getting their first “professional” level paddle.

I was ready for all other paddles to fall short of the JOOLA Anna Bright Pro IV, but this paddle really gave me pause. I found myself comparing all other paddles against these top 2.

While the Anna Bright signature paddle retained my highest rating, due to the level of power you are able to achieve WHILE maintaining control and resetting consistently, the Hurricane Pro feels accessible to more players and more levels of play.

With my little sister just starting to get into pickleball, this was my recommendation to her and to anyone who loves the sport and is starting at a 2.5 to 3.0 level.

3. JOOLA Graf Pro

A great option for players coming over from tennis.

My experience as a tennis player was extremely limited, but I loved playing doubles and getting to be close to the net, so it makes sense that I found pickleball and fell in love.

This paddle reminded me of my tennis days. It's better at the baseline for getting more zip and spin on drives and getting drops to dip at an opponent's feet. Once I got up to net, I found it to be slower for reacting to hands battles, but I found that dinking with heavy topspin was much easier with this paddle than other similar paddles. It also gave me the pop that I look for in a top tier paddle.

When I was initiating offense, my backhand flicks and forehand rolls out of the air had a nice sting to them, and I found the shape helpful as I try to hit the ball as far out in front of me as I can. When attacking off the bounce, my forehand and backhands had spin and power to surprise the person in front of me and get me and my partner ahead in the point.

4. Paddletek Bantam ALW-C

This paddle feels dialed in for a high-level player, and while a bit unforgiving, it has all the pieces you’d like in a paddle.

This paddle had good pop and spin right out of the box. My counters and speed-ups were quick and overall stayed pretty low. My hands were fast at the net, and if my team hit a ball a bit too high, I kept more balls alive than ever before.

I mentioned “unforgiving” with this paddle, because it felt like if I had any indecision while hitting any shot it would float high or out. Because there is a lot of pop with this paddle, it felt like I had to be incredibly intentional about where I wanted to put the ball, as the control on this paddle felt more limited.

The ALW-C also felt like it had very limited reach and was difficult to hit backhand flicks out of the air.

All of this said, this paddle is a high-level paddle that competes with the best paddles on the market because of it’s power, spin, and the shape you can put on the ball. For that reason, this paddle made our list of the top 5 paddles for spin on Pickleball Central.

5. JOOLA Simone Jardim Hyperion Pro IV 16mm

For players who want to prioritize power from the baseline and pop at the kitchen.

This paddle immediately took my serve to the next level, packing great spin and power. From the back of the court, the drives are great, but I found the drops a little harder to find my range with this paddle.

At the net, my hands were fast and my counters had great pace to them, but I found my resets going further than I was trying to take them, giving my opponent an attackable ball.

The original JOOLA Hyperion was my first pro-level paddle, so I was expecting to like this paddle more. But I found the other JOOLA Pro IV models more suited to the women’s game.