Every paddle on this site goes through the same measurement and on-court routine before it gets a score. Same instruments, same balls, same me. Numbers are only useful if they were collected the same way every time.
Counts come straight from the paddles I've tested, each time this page loads. See how the measurements are distributed.
Measurements come off a fixed set of instruments, not what the brand lists:
I weigh, measure, photograph, and shoot b-roll of every paddle before it gets hit. Serve speed, punch volley speed, and spin all get measured with a Franklin X-40, twelve swings per measurement, averaged. Mishits get redone and outliers get tossed.
Nothing is adjusted after the fact. If a number looks strange, the paddle goes back through the whole protocol rather than getting edited.
I do preliminary measurements the day a paddle arrives. That includes dimensions, swing weight, twist weight, static weight, handle length, grip size, and surface roughness. I don't measure power and pop (MPH) or spin (RPM) until I decide I'm going to spend more time on it. Why? It takes a lot of time, and time is not something I can give up freely. So not every paddle here has every measurement.
I also don't rate it until I've played at least 24 hours with it, about twelve matches. That's where I can talk about how a paddle plays from memory. That's key. A brand-new paddle out of the box is typically not one you'll be playing in a month, as paddle break-in is common.
If something looks off early, or better than expected, I'll say so, but I don't score durability until a face has 30 hours on it and an instrument reading to go with it. Where I have a surface roughness reading, it's on that paddle's detail page so you can compare it against the rest.
I ask brands for review paddles at least two weeks before a launch date. And honestly, two weeks is a big stretch, but I try. A review takes about a week of work: collecting data and observations, synthesizing all of my raw notes, shooting photos, b-roll and talking-head stuff, then editing. My calendar is usually booked two or three weeks out, so a product that arrives three days before launch can't be covered on launch day.
When a brand sets an embargo date, I publish on it.
Every paddle here is measured the same way, on the same equipment, by me. Nobody pays for a review, a score, or a spot in a ranking. That's not for sale, and it never will be.
Early on I bought every paddle myself. These days brands send paddles at no cost, with no strings attached: no money changes hands, and they don't get a say in what I publish.
This site runs on affiliate commissions. When you buy through a link here, I may earn a cut at no extra cost to you. It works the same whether I recommend a paddle or tell you to skip it.
You'll occasionally see a small card marked Promoted. Today those are house picks I choose to spotlight, and no brand has ever paid for one. If that ever changes, paid placements will be labeled as ads, and they still won't touch a measurement, a score, or a ranking.
The full distribution of every measured metric is published in the paddle data study. You can also browse every paddle review or the current best-paddle rankings.