Thrive Smoke 14.5mm Pickleball Paddle Review: Power, Stability & What You Need to Know

By Matt KhouryFounder, Matt's Pickleball

Published Mar 20, 2025Updated Oct 30, 2025Independent editorial · No brand paid for or approved this article

Methodology620+paddles tested5.3M+YouTube views

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Thrive Smoke 14.5mm Pickleball Paddle Review: Power, Stability & What You Need to Know

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 616 paddles I've measured.

Swing weight 119.26 · Twist weight 6.14 · Spin 2,193 RPM · Static weight 7.94 oz · Serve speed 59.6 MPH · Punch volley speed 37.7 MPH

If a metric is missing above, this paddle hasn't been through that test yet. Full measurements for the Smoke 14.5mm 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.