When I started to play Pickleball I will admit I did not know what I was doing. My first paddle was one I bought on the internet for $50 because it looked cool and was rated high. I played with it until I became an intermediate player.

Then I went to a Gearbox GX6 paddle that was built for power. As I started to play more and more I noticed that my arm started to hurt. I just figured that was because I was playing a lot. Then it moved from my arm into my shoulder, and it got to the point where I was in pain all the time.

I went and had a MRI, I tried stretching, physical therapy, and every other thing I could do. And it wasn’t getting any better. Then I started to do research online about how I can reduce the pain because I did not want to give up playing pickleball. I stumbled upon an article about a paddle that was able to reduce vibrations that travel up your arm from the paddle and reduce arm pain, it sounded to good to be true, no more pain just by switching paddles??

Welcome to Prokennex Paddles

ProKennex has long been established in the Tennis world and while I had forgotten all about Tennis I remembered their name. So I did a little more research on them. According to the ProKennex website,

“Impregnated within each ProKennex paddle is the Kinetic System.  Tungsten beads within the immovable chambers dampen and reduce shock and vibration keeping your arm safe.  According to MIT Sports Dynamic Laboratory the “Vibration dampening ratio enhancement is 43%”, “Power zone enlargement is about 12 to 15%” and “Shock reduction is better than 20%”.

I thought this was to good to be true but with the pain I had in my shoulder I would have done most anything and $189.99 seemed a small price to pay for even a little relief. So I bought into the marketing hype and got the paddle. When I first got it I noticed how light and thin it was. As I started to play with it I was horrible, I missed easy put away shots, couldn’t reset a ball, and all my dinks and drops were high.

After a week or so I wanted to go back to my old paddle. But what I had failed to realize was that I wasn’t feeling any pain in my arm. Slowly it was getting easier to raise my paddle for an overhead slam, and to reach high for a put away. I also noticed that as time went the pain I felt when I extended my shoulder disappeared.

After about a month I got used to the paddle and I am now quite adept with it. It has great control, with power and a nice touch. While the sweet spot is not large on this paddle it does allow for better control with its grip surface. The paddle I ended up choosing is the ProKennex Kinetic Pro Flight Flight Paddle.

So after about 5 months of using this paddle I am sold on the Kinetic line from ProKennex. If you have a sore shoulder from pickleball or any arm pain then I highly recommend one of these paddles. If you doubt it then you can always demo one from your local pickleball store or come on the courts here in Bradenton, FL and try mine!!!