Pro Kennex Black Ace Pro Review

Pro Kennex announced two paddles this year that were teased off and on. The ProSpin+ and the Black Ace Pro. When the ProSpin+ was finally released, they made a huge deal about the "strings" underneath the surface. They claimed it was the highest spinning paddle on the market, and their marketing material made the raised strings look much larger than they were.

When people received the ProSpin+, they noticed it was much harder to see and feel the strings than anticipated. John Kew Pickleball and I did RPM tests on the paddle, and it came between 1450-1500 for both of us, which is certainly nothing exceptional.

Now, once the Black Ace was announced for $250, I believe everyone was skeptical of any claim about this paddle being good after seeing the results of the ProSpin+ marketing.

After extensively testing the paddle, there are a few pros and cons to consider, but it all depends on your style as a player. So let's talk about it.

Specs:

• Price: $250

• Thickness: 10mm

• Weight range: 7.95oz

• Shape: Standard

• Handle length: 5.3"

• Grip circumference: 4.0"

• Face: Toray T700 carbon fiber

• Core: Polymer

• Swing weight: 100

At the time of writing this review, there is also the Ovation shape which is an oval head and a slightly longer 5.4" handle. They chopped part of the head off and gave it to the handle. Other than that, there is no difference. Most of my testing was done with the standard shape.

Power & Control

Of every paddle I have reviewed, I don't know if I've seen more division over categorizing a paddle than the Black Ace. If you ask me, this paddle is all power. It couldn't be more opposite of a control paddle, but as I've looked at opinions online and a few other reviews, I noticed in the comments that people are highly divided. Some people believe this paddle is controllable and much more manageable to use than a Power Air, while others share my opinion, thinking it's all power.

In fact, I swing so far in that direction that after using the Black Ace, I found the Power Air and 002 incredibly easy to dink with, which is not something I ever thought I would say. I would even go as far as to say that the Power Air and 002 have a soft feel in comparison. Because the Black Ace is so thin, it feels like a stiff, harsh springboard when you hit the ball. The feel is jarring if you come from other raw carbon fiber paddles. Because of this, I found it very hard to control my third shot drops and resets. Those shots were horrible and frustrating the first few days, resulting in me driving the ball much more. However, the more I used the paddle, the easier those shots became. It isn't as easy to reset as my 003, but that's expected when the 003 is double the thickness.

I think that's where some of the division comes in for categorizing this paddle. If you're someone who likes not having to swing much for resets, drops, and blocks, then this paddle is fantastic, but if you're like me, where you're used to putting a little bit into those shots, then the Ace feels uncontrollable because this paddle doesn't need extra help to send the ball back into the court. You're effectively launching the ball by putting any swing into softer shots.

I am confident in calling this the most powerful legal paddle on the market. I say legal because a few viewers corrected me, saying, "What about the Diadem Vice?" I didn't think I needed to clarify legal paddles in my reviews, but I guess that's a thing now, haha.

Your experience with the soft game might be different than mine. It comes down to preferences and body mechanics, which may lead someone to lean one way or another when talking about how controllable it is.

Sound:

Something else you'll notice right away is that the sound is very different from everything else. Not only does it sound different, but this paddle is really, really, really, and I mean really, loud. When playing with people, almost every time, someone comments that it is noticeably louder than other paddles. I downloaded an app on my phone to measure decibel levels, and here were some results bouncing a ball up and down on my paddle.

Hyperion 16mm: 74.6

Power Air: 75.2

Hyperion 14mm: 76.9

Gearbox CX11 Power 8.5Q: 77.2

Onix Z5: 81.2

Black Ace: 83.0

Doing some brief Googling, I found that a 10-decibel increase is perceived roughly twice as loud by humans. So, as you can see, the Black Ace is nearly 10 decibels higher than the Hyperions. Also, it is louder than the king of noise, the Onix Z5.

The idea isn't to try and be incredibly scientific with this, but I wanted to give you a rough idea of how loud this paddle is. If you are in a noise-sensitive area for Pickleball, this paddle will be someone's worst nightmare.

Spin:

Spin is fascinating on the Black Ace. The RPM tested at 1660 RPM, which is a great result, but in actual play, I found that it felt worse. Because this paddle has so much pop to it and there is very little dwell time, you have to be much more specific about how you hit your shots to get the ball to grab on the paddle and generate the spin you want.

My usual serve that I do, I found it going long my first games. So I had to make one of two adjustments: hit very flat on the serve or brush very aggressively and don't strike the ball quite as hard.

Outside of serves, roll volleys and drives was the next place I noticed this issue. So many of my shots were going out long and not dropping in time because of the extra pop. The word I kept going back to while testing this paddle is that it's hard to put any shape on the ball. At least with my usual strokes for all my shots. Compared to other raw carbon fiber paddles, or the Power Air, those all felt easy to shape the ball for roll volleys, drives, and dinks.

Eventually, I did adjust and felt I could get some good spin, but overall it felt easier to achieve the spin I wanted on a number of other paddles on the market right now.

Kinetic technology:

Pro Kennex paddles come equipped with what they call kinetic technology. If you aren't familiar with it, it is a bunch of tiny beads inside of chambers in the paddle that are supposed to eliminate shock and vibration to your arm. The claim that many people make is that this will help players who have Tennis elbow. Unfortunately, I don't currently have Tennis elbow, so I can't tell you how effective or not effective this is. Many players swear it solved their issue, though. There is also an MIT study that was done about the beads.

With the Black Ace, they've also added beads to the paddle's handle to further decrease shock because of how much pop this paddle has. After using this paddle a lot, I feel much more vibrations than I do on my Hyperion 16mm or other damp raw carbon fiber paddles. Without having a version of the Black Ace with no beads, it is hard to say how effective the technology is.

Sweet spot:

I find the sweet spot on the Black Ace to be below average. It reminds me of when I reviewed the 002. When you hit out of the center, there is a huge drop-off in how the paddle feels and sounds. Hit near the edges, and the ball is going to die very quickly. It's jarring both in feel and sound.

I know some people who appreciate that feedback from a paddle, but for me, it is highly unappealing. I did add lead tape up the throat and to the edge guard in hopes that it would help the paddle feel more solid and forgiving. I added five strips of lead tape on each side, bringing the weight up to 8.6oz, which made a nice impact on the paddle's feel and soft game. It wasn't a night and day difference change, but more of a nice upgrade. The great thing is, because this has such a low swing weight, to begin with, even adding all this lead barely increased the swing weight. It's now 105, which is still lower than many stock paddles on the market.

***My Black Ace lead tape setup. 6 strips of 1/4” lead tape 0.25 grams per inch on each side. (I would recommend using*** ***0.50 grams per inch*** ***so you don’t have to layer so many strips)***

Durability:

I want to talk about durability quickly because, in a podcast episode, I mentioned thoughts about the spade decal. When I first saw it, I thought it would be possible for the decal to come up. However, I don't think that will be an issue after having the paddle in my hand for a bit and using it. In my time reviewing paddles, I have hardly heard anything negative about Pro Kennex's build quality, so outside of this spade decal appearing cheap, I expect this paddle to be very sturdy.

As a side note, I did talk to Pro Kennex about why they did this Spade design. One, in order to achieve this design, they had to. Apparently, it’s very hard to make it an edgeless paddle made out of T700 carbon fiber. I've heard this from several other companies as well. Second, with that design constraint in mind, they chose the spade because it is a nod to their Black Ace Tennis racquets.

Closing thoughts:

I didn't expect to enjoy this paddle. In fact, in my first few playtests, I didn't care for it, but the more I used it, the more I liked it. During my testing, I was rotating the Black Ace with other paddles, and every time I stopped using it, I wanted to go back. The hand speed and extra pop at the net became very appealing. Also, the resets and thirds became easier each time I went out to play, which was my biggest complaint initially.

It will take more play sessions to decide if this will replace my 003, but even if it doesn't, I think the Black Ace might be in my top 5 favorite paddles.

If you're considering the paddle, here are my pros and cons for you to think about.

Pros:

1. It's the hardest-hitting paddle with the lowest swing weight on the market. This makes it very appealing for players who need a light paddle but still want a lot of power. Because of the low swing weight, you can customize heavily with lead tape without increasing the swing weight too high. I could probably bring it up to 9.5oz, and it would still feel easier to swing than a Hyperion 16mm. Also, your hands are ridiculously fast because of the low swing weight.

2. It has high spin potential. While it takes specific strokes or playstyles to unlock the full potential, it is generally solid. Some people will have an easier time achieving that spin than others.

3. Great build quality. The handle is an octagon, it feels great in hand, and as mentioned previously, I've heard minimal issues about Pro Kennex build quality.

4. The kinetic technology. I can't prove or disprove this, but if it does work as claimed, that is a great technology that no one else is using and is something they should be applauded for when we live in a sea of copycats.

5. Edgeless design with a built-in replaceable top bumper. No more loose edge guard issues, which is probably the highest defect of paddles today.

Cons:

1. it is expensive. For $250 there are a lot of great paddles you could buy that would be more than adequate.

2. Most people who pick this up will find it very hard to control, and their soft game will probably suffer.

3. The sweet spot could be better. It did improve with lead tape, but I would rank it below average. Off-center shots feel very poor. The more I played with it, the less I noticed the issue.

Overall, this paddle is for a particular type of player. It is for those who want more power and have very soft hands. Or, for the banger who doesn't care about playing soft and wants to hit it hard. (Probably not a realistic demographic)

This paddle will be polarizing like the 002 and Power Air. You will love it right away, or you will hate it. I would highly recommend trying to find a demo before purchasing one.

Buy the Black Ace Pro here