How Thick Should Your Pickleball Paddle be?

Choosing the thickness of your core can be very important. Even if a paddle is built with the same specs but the core thickness changes, it can drastically impact how it plays. Core thickness is often measured in millimeters (mm). One thing to keep in mind is that many companies don’t publish their core thickness, or they publish it in inches/fractions, which can make things a bit more confusing. Thankfully my friends over at JustPaddles are very good at publishing the core thickness in mm under their spec sheets for each paddle. So, if you are curious about a specific paddle, check out their website.

16mm and above

16mm is the standard thick core paddle. A handful of paddles go over 16mm, but they aren’t very common. Typically when you purchase a 16mm or thicker paddle, it’s because you want more control. A thicker core gives you less power but usually improves your blocks, resets, and drop shots. Also, since the paddle is thicker, it helps absorb more of the pace from the ball. Thicker paddles usually feel like they have a better sweet spot as well.

13mm and below

When you purchase a 13mm or below paddle, it’s because you want more power. These paddles feel stiffer when the ball hits the paddle, and because it’s thinner, it doesn’t absorb as much energy, so the ball comes off faster. These are usually used by people who want to play the game faster, end points early, or if you can’t generate enough power yourself. Usually, thinner paddles come at the expense of being a little less forgiving than their thicker counterparts. Thinner paddles are great for singles play because you are using a lot more drives to pass your opponent.

13mm and 16mm are the standard thicknesses that you’ll find for most paddles. However, more recently, we’ve seen 14mm and 15mm paddles to try and bridge the gap between a thin and thick core paddle. For some people, these are a perfect blend. But more often than not, you will see premium paddles offered in a 13mm and 16mm variant. A few examples of this would be the Franklin Signature, the CRBN1, and the Engage has their 6.0 and non 6.0 models. The 6.0 is a 16mm paddle, and the non 6.0 is 13mm.

Some paddles go as thin as 9mm and as thick as 20mm. I have found through trial and error that thinner paddles usually provide more vibration and worse off-center shot performance. I’ve found the opposite to be true for thick paddles, but the biggest downside is that sometimes it’s very hard to finish a point when you are playing on a hot day with a soft Franklin X-40 and a thick paddle.

What should you choose?

Core thickness is a very personal choice. For myself, I almost always gravitate towards thicker paddles because I find that I can’t drop, reset, or dink well with a thin paddle. All my shots get popped up too much because my hands aren’t soft enough to absorb the pace. I also don’t find that I play with a ton of power in my game, so the extra power of a thin-core paddle doesn’t benefit me as much. It will all come down to knowing whether you like to play the soft game or if you are more of a banger. Soft game players gravitate towards thicker paddles, while bangers usually use thinner paddles.

The best recommendation I can give is that if you are a new player up to about 3.5, I would usually tell you to opt for a thicker paddle. The soft game is usually what newer to intermediate players struggle with the most, so having a paddle that can help make those shots easier for you is a great benefit. The bright side is, if you find that your thick paddle is too soft and you want more power, you can always add lead tape to increase the power of your paddle.

One final note, these are just guidelines and not hard rules. I have played with thinner paddles that play much more like a control-oriented paddle, and I’ve also used some thicker paddles that have much more power than the average thick paddle. But on average thicker means more control, and thinner means more power. Other things that can contribute to how soft or powerful a paddle plays is the face material which you can read more about here.