Hi friends! Welcome back!

Today’s email has a bit of everything.

A look at new poll data revealing growing importance of ‘enthusiast’ paddle brands, Spartus’ new PermaGrit surface, some gear that has been helping my feet survive hard courts, and more!

So let’s dive in!

In this week’s email:

COMMUNITY POLL

If you haven’t voted yet, you can nominate a paddle for the “People’s Choice Paddle Of The Year Award.”

THIS WEEK’S NEWS

A couple of weeks ago on the KewCast, we covered results from a large industry study published in the annual “Pickleball Market Playbook”, produced by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association in collaboration with DUPR.

When participants were asked which paddle brands they play with, the results were dominated by the usual suspects: Selkirk, JOOLA, Six Zero, CRBN, Paddletek, Engage, Gearbox, and Franklin.

What surprised us was what wasn’t there. Well-known “enthusiast” brands like Bread & Butter, Ronbus, Honolulu, 11SIX24, Vatic, and others were either completely missing or lumped into a tiny “Other” category, as shown in the chart above.

We’ve run our own polls before, but those results tend to skew toward enthusiasts—so a smaller, enthusiast brand often comes out on top. That’s a known bias in our audience.

Then The Kitchen ran a poll with a very simple question:

“What was the last paddle you purchased?”

In just over an hour, they collected nearly 400 responses. And their audience is much closer to the general pickleball population than ours.

Here are their results:

The top two spots still belong to Selkirk and JOOLA, but this time the enthusiast brands show up in a meaningful way. Bread & Butter, Ronbus, Luzz, Friday, Vatic, RPM, Honolulu, and 11SIX24 together account for a sizable 32% of last purchases.

That feels far more aligned with what I see on the courts.

So it makes me wonder—what happened in the SFIA–DUPR study, which was conducted back in April?

Spartus has been talking about their new P1 paddle with PermaGrit for a long time, and we finally got to try it.

For me, it feels like a classic full-foam, floating core paddle.

If you know the Bread & Butter Loco or the Honolulu J2NF, this one sits somewhere in between them. And then sprinkle in a little Six Zero Coral. It is soft, a little dense, and has plenty of spin.

The PermaGrit surface feels like the rough, grippy textures you see on other high-spin paddles like Six Zero’s Diamond Tough grit.

It is not a spray-on coat. It feels like a real textured layer, and I expect it to land in the 2,100+ RPM range once I test it.

Eddie had a different read. He felt more change across the face. The middle felt lively, and the edges felt stiffer, so clean hits and mishits had a bigger difference for him.

Spartus also shared a bit about how it is made. Their goal is to build everything in the US one day.

For now, the core is made overseas, then shipped here, where the PermaGrit, edge guard, grip, and finishing are all done in the US.

How it’s built:

This is very early testing for both of us, so expect a deeper dive once I have full data and more court time.

Expect the P1 to be released in January 2026.

GEAR OF THE WEEK

Eddie has pretty much become the unofficial spokesperson for SLYDRS. He uses them on everything right now and keeps buying more colors.

If you haven’t seen them before, they are clamp-on weights that snap right onto your edge guard. No tape, no mess, and no guessing where to put the weight.

They are great if you like changing how your paddle feels. You can tune swing weight and twist weight, kind of like the weights on the Boomstick, except these let you adjust and move them so you can get that same feel on any paddle.

I will say you are still dealing with multiple screws every time you want to move things around, so it’s a pain transferring them over from paddle to paddle.

On my side, I’ve been using Blumaka insoles, and they’ve been helping me a lot.

I started using these long before I ever got a code. I’ve had enough foot problems this past year that I was getting cortisone shots, and I just needed something that made playing feel better.

Since switching to these, my feet feel better the next day after playing, and I haven’t needed to go back to the podiatrist.

They’re not magic, but they really help.

Compared to something like the Max Cushion, the Konnect has the same sticky top layer that keeps your feet from sliding forward in your shoes.

They also have more arch support, more midfoot support, and better shock absorption for long sessions on hard courts.

EARLY THOUGHTS ON NEW PADDLES

Holbrook took the core concept from their previous Arma paddle line and flipped it into a full foam build.

This is Holbrook’s first full-foam paddle, and they come in 16mm and 14mm, in your elongated, hybrid, and widebody shapes.

However, instead of dual-density honeycomb, they are using dual-density EP foam surrounded by an EVA band, with some voids cut out near the top to help bring swing weight down.

I spent the most time with the elongated 16 millimeter and the hybrid 16 millimeter, so here is what stood out:

Eddie also hit the 14 millimeter elongated and picked up a small dead zone in the top quarter of the face.

I did not feel that on the 16s, but if you like to contact very high on the paddle, that is something to demo before you buy.

Overall, for a first full foam entry, Holbrook is off to a good start.

The FUZE is expected to be released in January 2026.

KEW & A

A. If you come from stiff, fiberglass-heavy paddles like the 11Six24 Vapor Power, then move straight into something like the Honolulu FC+, your timing is going to feel off.

You go from:

Instant feedback and fast rebound to longer dwell and softer feedback

For some players, especially those who rely on hand speed and counters at the kitchen, that can feel like the ball is dying on the paddle until the brain rewires to the new timing.

If you live on counters and like a very connected feel, paddles like Loco or Boomstick may fit better than ultra plush options.

A. Short answer: they will play stiffer.

Foam will harden as temperatures drop, which means:

Honeycomb paddles also change in the cold, but our hunch is that full foam will be affected even more. We are going to keep testing as winter rolls in.