Best padel racket for beginners: what to buy first

Most people play their first few games of padel with a hire racket, and that's the right way to start. Once you're booking every week, though, a racket of your own makes a real difference: you get used to one weight and balance, and a hire racket that's been hammered against the glass for two years won't do you any favours. The good news is that a beginner doesn't need an expensive racket. In fact the expensive ones are usually worse for a new player.

Shape: round, teardrop or diamond

The shape of the head decides where the sweet spot sits and how the racket feels in your hand. This is the single most important choice.

Shape	Balance	Sweet spot	Who it suits
Round	Low, towards the handle	Large, in the centre of the face	Beginners and control players
Teardrop	Middle	Medium, slightly higher	Improvers and all-court players
Diamond	High, towards the tip	Small, near the top	Experienced attacking players

For a first racket, go round. Most of your shots as a beginner are blocks, lobs and defensive returns off the back glass, and a round head with low balance is easier to control and kinder on the arm when you mistime one. A diamond racket gives more power on smashes, but only if you hit the top of the face consistently, which beginners don't. A teardrop is a reasonable choice if you've come from tennis and already hit the ball cleanly.

Weight, foam and face

• Weight. Most adult rackets sit somewhere around 340 to 375 g. Lighter rackets are quicker to manoeuvre at the net and easier on the elbow; heavier ones feel more solid but tire the arm. If you're unsure, pick something in the middle of that range rather than the heaviest you can find.
• Core foam. Rackets have a foam core, usually EVA rubber or a softer foam. Soft foam gives more "pop" at low swing speeds and is more comfortable, which suits beginners. Hard EVA gives more control and power for players who swing fast, but feels dead if you don't.
• Face. Fibreglass faces are more flexible and forgiving; carbon faces are stiffer and more precise but transmit more vibration. A fibreglass or mixed face is the usual choice for a first racket.
• Size. All rackets are made to the same limits: under the FIP rules a racket can be no more than 45.5 cm long, 26 cm wide and 38 mm thick, and must have a wrist strap, which you should actually wear (FIP Rules of Padel).

What to spend

A UK retailer's 2026 beginner buying guide puts the sweet spot for new and improving players at about £55 to £80, with carbon-faced rackets from about £80 to £130 and pro-level frames above that. It advises against rackets under £50 (Central Sports). That matches what most coaches will tell you: under about £50, the foam and frames tend to be poor, and over about £130 you're paying for stiffness and power you won't use yet.

Models that retailer lists at the beginner end include the Adidas Match Light (round, described as a first racket), the Bullpadel Open Control (round, soft EVA core) and the Wilson Optix V2 Lite, aimed at improvers. Prices move constantly with new-season releases, and last year's version of a racket is often the same frame at a big discount, so it's worth looking at the previous model year before buying the new one.

Try before you buy

• Many padel clubs run demo days or keep test rackets behind the desk. Play a session with two or three different shapes.
• Ask the coach at your club. They'll have watched you play and can tell you whether you need more control or more power.
• Don't buy a racket because a pro uses it. Pro rackets are stiff, head-heavy and designed for people who hit the ball very hard.
• Buy a tube of padel balls, not tennis balls. Padel balls are lower pressure and the difference is noticeable.

Once you've got a racket, the next step is getting on court more often. Find padel courts near you, or browse every padel venue in the UK by town and region. New to the game? Start with what is padel and how much padel costs.