“Brick House paddles the ultimate spin buster? Well, maybe…”
Since we started making paddles, people have been asking us when we’ll come out with a paddle featuring a textured surface for more spin.
We’ve been diligently working on an all-carbon fiber paddle with a textured surface for what feels like years. Finally, we have a couple of prototypes worth testing, so that’s what I started doing this past weekend.
For those who know me, they’re aware that I’m not a huge fan of spinning the ball. So, I let other players, who are, give the paddles a try.
I spent a good part of the time on the courts playing against folks testing the paddles. I mostly used another heavily textured all-carbon paddle to see and feel the spin generated.
I have to admit; I had a hard time returning some of the serves the guys were spinning. This surprised me, as I don’t usually struggle with returning a serve with lots of spin. My control on the returns was almost nonexistent. I chalked this up to the prototype paddles producing amazing spin.
At the end of the day, I played my last two games with my Heritage 74. You know what? I didn’t miss a serve return, no matter how aggressive the spin. At first, I thought it was just me playing with a paddle I’m used to.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the aggressive surface texture on the paddles that generates spin also has a huge impact on the way the ball reacts off the receiving paddle. On a receiving paddle, that aggressive texture grabs the ball hard, and because the ball is spinning, it spins off the paddle big time. No wonder I was having a hard time getting used to returning big spin serves with the new paddles.
When I switched to the Heritage 74, the less aggressive surface and more forgiving nature seemed to allow the ball to slip and slightly decelerate the ball’s spin. This made the ball more predictable coming off the paddle. Combined with the softer natural wood playing surface, which absorbs some of the energy, defending against aggressive spin was much more consistent with the Heritage than the new textured surface carbon fiber paddle I had been testing.
I need to do more testing on this before we market our paddles as spin busters, but I have to say it was much easier to return those spin serves with the Heritage. Sometimes, the best offense is a good defense.
The more paddles I make the more I play. The more I play, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I love our Brick House Paddles.
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