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. Paddletek Bantam ALW-C

This paddle is an elite & precise tool that elevates some of the strengths women bring to Pickleball, while filling in the gaps a lot of women ask for: putaway power. It's dialed in for a high-level player & has all the pieces you’d like in a paddle.

The reason this paddle didn't go up higher on the list is because it doesn't scale well down the ladder to beginner players, but once a player gains the skills to compete at higher levels, this paddle will elevate their game further.

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.

For the intentional, complete, high-level player (man or woman), this is a great paddle to put in their hand.

It 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.

4. Franklin C45 Parris Todd signature

This paddle has all of the aspects you would like in a paddle: Incredible spin, elite power, & great swing speed. However, out of the box the paddle is much lighter than any other paddle I've tried and didn't reach its full potential until I added weight to it.

To me, this makes this paddle best-suited for players who know their game very deeply and want their paddle setup in a very specific way. I've actually had the reverse problem with many other paddles (including the Anna Bright paddle above). Out of the box they start too heavy, so when I try to add weight where my game needs it, my arm can't handle it.

Parris' paddle could be exactly the paddle to take your game to the next level. Especially if you're an attack-minded player, this paddle has great reach and elevated my backhand flick to the next level getting the ball quickly to my opponent's feet.

If your game leans more defensive & relies on resets, that's where this paddle fell flat for me. The sweet spot doesn't feel as big as the standard/wide-body shaped paddles, so sometimes I would hit it just-right and sometimes it would fall far short.

Once I weighted this paddle exactly as I wanted, I could really see myself using this paddle, especially for playing women's doubles on the left, taking up more court & needing to put the ball away.

5. 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.

6. 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.