Pickleball Paddle Shapes Explained: Elongated vs. Hybrid vs. Widebody (2026)

Elongated, hybrid, or widebody? Shape changes geometry, and geometry changes everything from reach to hand speed to forgiveness. Here is how to decide.

Matt Khoury
Matt KhouryFounder, Matt's Pickleball
Published Updated

CRBN and JOOLA sent these paddles. No brand pays for placement.

How I measured this

Every number in this review is one I measured with my own equipment and instruments. Swing weight on a Briffidi SW1, twist weight on a Briffidi TWA2, static weight on a precision balance scale, serve speed and punch volley speed with a radar gun, spin from a high-speed camera at over 500 frames per second, surface roughness with a stylus roughness tester. It's the same setup for all 618 paddles I've measured.

TruFoam Barrage 2 14mm: Swing weight 109.75 · Twist weight 7.05 · Spin 2,310 RPM · Static weight 7.99 oz · Serve speed 60.5 MPH · Punch volley speed 38.9 MPH · Surface roughness 7.89 Ra

Perseus Pro V 16mm: Swing weight 120.7 · Twist weight 6.35 · Spin 2,288 RPM · Static weight 8.16 oz · Serve speed 60.5 MPH · Punch volley speed 38.8 MPH · Surface roughness 6.7 Ra

Scorpeus Pro V 16mm: Swing weight 112.1 · Twist weight 7.15 · Spin 2,290 RPM · Static weight 8.08 oz · Serve speed 60.2 MPH · Punch volley speed 39.1 MPH · Surface roughness 6.84 Ra

If a metric is missing above, that paddle hasn't been through that test yet. Full measurements for each paddle are on its paddle page. My method is written up on the methodology page, and every paddle I've measured is in the paddle data study.

How I test and measure paddles See the full paddle data study