How Long Do Pickleball Paddles Last?

Pickleball paddles can last anywhere between a few weeks to over a year depending upon how often you play. In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know about how long pickleball paddles last, why it’s important to replace your paddle, and when it’s time for you to buy a new one!

History of Pickleball Paddle Technology

Pickleball paddle technology and materials have changed drastically over time. This is no different than the tennis racquet, which saw a shift from small laminated wood frames to graphite in the 1980s. Modern racquets of today infuse carbon weaves and other ultra light graphite fibers to increase stiffness and playability.

Pickleball paddles have seen the same shift. From thin wooden paddles, to composite materials and honeycomb cores, and finally to the carbon fiber thermoformed paddles today. Each iteration of the pickleball paddle has brought new dynamics to the game. Faster game play, harder shots, more spin and softer dinks. But new manufacturing processes and paddle features have also had an impact on durability, and sometimes not in a good way.

Importance of Knowing How Long Pickleball Paddles Last

It’s important to know how long your pickleball paddle lasts because using a paddle past its intended lifespan can decrease performance and also get you into trouble during tournament play.

Old Pickleball Paddles Have Worse Performance

Older pickleball paddles that need to be replaced can lose their performance over time. Just like any other piece of sports equipment, pickleball paddles suffer the same fate and degrades over time.

Textured surfaces of pickleball paddles are one of the first things to degrade over time. Depending upon how often you play and how aggressive your game is, you might notice smooth spots on your paddle in just a few short weeks. This was a common issue with some of the first generation textured paddles. Players complained about the texture rubbing off quickly and manufacturers address this in their next generation paddles.

Paddle cores can also degrade over time after plenty of abuse. It isn’t uncommon for dead spots to develop somewhere on the face of the paddle. If you notice a weird mishit on a shot that you typically would have made, its possible these dead spots are starting to rear their ugly head. You can also tell if you have a dead spot because the ball will sound different when it hits a dead spot. To find a dead spot, you can bounce a ball on your paddle in different parts of the face and listen for changes in pitch and sound.

Legality of Pickleball Paddles and their Durability

Another issue with old or degrading paddles is that they might not be legal for tournament play. In 2023, there were some issues with delaminated pickleball paddles. This seemed to be isolated to certain paddles that used a thermoformed manufacturing process.

A number of professional pickleball players were spoke out about the usage of delaminated pickleball paddles and how they can provide a competitive advantage to other players. They encouraged pickleball manufacturers to address the issue and for stricter paddle testing.

While a delaminated pickleball paddle produces a unique sound that a well trained ear can hear, a beginner or intermediate player might not even realize their paddle is delaminated. Imagine signing up for your first tournament and being disqualified for accidentally using an illegal paddle. This is obviously an exaggeration and probably wouldn’t happen at a small tournaments, but professional players claimed they didn’t intentionally use delaminated paddles either.

Are Pickleball Paddles durable?

Modern pickleball paddles are very durable. As the volume of paddles has increased significantly due to pickleballs rise in popularity, quality control has increased as well. While there have been recent issues with delaminated pickleball paddles or handles breaking off of the paddle, your average paddle is well built and comes with a warranty.

Are Textured Pickleball Paddles durable?

Newer pickleball paddles come with a textured surface on the face of the paddle. You can find this in a paddle like the Selkirk Power Air Invikta. These can feel gritty, almost like sandpaper. The point of the friction surfaces is to help you create more spin when you hit the ball. If you’ve ever used a wooden paddle and tried to hit with topspin, you’ll notice you won’t be able to generate that much spin. Compare this with a paddle that has a gritty surface and you’ll notice the paddle grabs the ball much easier. We talk more about this textured surface in our full review of the Selkirk Power Air Invikta.

Other paddles that we have reviewed like the Joola Hyperion have a textured surface from the carbon fiber weave on the face of the paddle. This gives a similar gritty texture to the paddle to help give you spin on topspin shots, drives, and passing shots. Carbon surfaces are marketed as being more durable than other textured surfaces, but there hasn’t been any long term information to prove that is the case.

Any paddle with a textured surface will wear out over time. We’ve heard of paddles lasting only a few weeks before the surface starts to wear out, and others have lasted months or longer. It really depends how often and how hard you play. This is no different than the strings of a tennis racquet losing their tension and needing to be restrung. Pickleball paddles are consumable equipment and do wear out over time.

Are Pickleball Paddle Cores Durable?

The core of a pickleball paddle is where most of the focus is for new features and new manufacturing processes. From honeycomb composite cores to thermoforming, each year new technology is injected into the core and marketed very heavily. As with any new technology or manufacturing process, there can be some quality control issues to work through.

Selkirk’s top of the line paddles feature their SuperCore Polymer Honeycomb core which is designed to provide a consistent feel. Their edgeless design and flexfoam perimeter is also there to provide stability and durability. Joola’s high end paddles also feature similar designs with their Reactive Honeycomb Polymer Core and Hyperfoam Edge Walls. Both of these general paddle features help increase paddle durability.

Pickleball Paddle Edge Guards

Pickleball paddle edge guards are one of the first things to go on your paddle. Pickleball paddles that don’t have an edgeless design typically have an edge guard, or bumper that wraps around the outside of the paddle. These are usually some sort of plastic material.

Playing a lot of pickleball can lead to getting scratches and cracks along the outside of the paddle. This happens when your paddle touches the ground or even hits your partners paddle when you both swing at the same shot at the net. This can happen more often than you think, especially for beginners, intermediates, and people playing with a new partner.

There are edge tape products that you can put along the outside of the frame to help protect your paddle. If it makes you feel like your paddle is more protected, then we definitely recommend putting edge tape on your paddle. If you change paddles often or wear out your paddles surface quickly, the edge tape won’t make too much of a difference.

If you use lead tape on your pickleball paddle, you might want to cover it with edge tape or electrical tape. Not only will you get the benefit of improving the balance of your paddle, you’ll also help protect the edges from getting damaged!

Tips for prolonging the lifespan of your Pickleball Paddle

Regular pickleball paddle maintenance can help increase the durability of your paddle. There are basic things you can do like keeping your paddles in proper paddle bag for storage. It’s also a good idea not to expose your paddle to extreme temperature changes. Leaving your paddle in the trunk of your car or in a shed might decrease the longevity of your paddle because of these temperature changes. Keeping the paddles your not using in your bag while you’re out playing will also keep the paddle protected from the sun or accidental breakage.

It’s also a good idea to use an over grip on your handle and change it once it loses its tackiness. The grips that come with most paddles are typically not the best and will wear out and get slippery pretty quickly.

Cleaning your pickleball paddle is also a great way to improve it’s durability and longevity over time. Using a damp microfiber cloth to wipe the surface of the paddle can help remove dirt and keep the paddle clean. This can prevent the paddle from degrading quicker than if you never cleaned your paddle at all.

When is it Time for a New Pickleball Paddle?

Modern pickleball paddles are very durable pieces of sports equipment, but they’re also a consumable item that doesn’t last forever. If you’re a casual player and take good care of your paddle, theres no reason why it won’t last for a year or more. If you’re a competitive player that plays multiple times per week and has an aggressive game, you might be going through more than one paddle per year.

If you start to notice that your paddle isn’t playing the way it used to or you are mishitting easy shots, its possible that the core of your paddle is worn out. If your once gritty and textured paddle is now as smooth as a baby bottoms, it might be time for a few paddle. If you’re having more than a few lousy pickleball games and can’t figure out what the problem is, you can always blame the paddle and get a new one!

One last thing to remember. If you do find a paddle that you like that fits your game, don’t be afraid to buy a few to keep in reserves. Tennis players have ran into this issue when racquets go out of production and become hard to find. The last thing you want is for your favorite paddle to go out of stock or worse, totally out of production.