Power modification of already excellent paddle. Diadem Edge 18k Power Pro paddle review by The Pickleball Pirate Keith Valentine.
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Hey guys, I finally got a chance to play The Warrior Edge 18K Power Pro, the newest rendition of the Edge line from Diadem. Stay tuned if you want to hear about it. Now, this paddle runs $239 retail. With our pirate code here, you can get 10% off of that. But let's jump into what this paddle plays like.
So, the first knock on the Warrior Edge and the Warrior Edge 18K was the power. They didn't have enough power. They're one of the best blocking paddles I've ever played with, very high twist weight in the high sixes, really good at blocking. The way that they do the sandwich material, they've got two honeycomb pieces in here that are 8 mm thick to make a 16 mm paddle. So, they've always done something different with layers. Their Warrior paddle had five layers of little bitty polypropylene cells. So, this has two layers of polypropylene cells in here that make the cushion on the inside. But what they did differently is they wanted to increase the power. What they wanted to do is increase the swing weight and give you a little bit more leverage with the paddle. They've increased the handle length. It goes from a 5-inch handle to a 5.75-inch handle. Huge amounts of room for the twoe 5.75-inch handle. First impression playing with this paddle, like they didn't lose anything with the control with the additional power. Let's get into the performance, let's talk about that, and I'll talk about my thoughts throughout the review.
Let's look at the power and the pop. When we talk about power, remember, that's the full swings when we're putting full swings into it, the pop would be counter punches or half volleys from no man's land or at the kitchen line. Let's take a look. Now, this is where the paddle I think excels. It has more pop, good power, and really able to put the ball away with it. It's got a higher swing weight than all but the Warrior Edge. I think it's around the 120s. It has some good throughput, really good power and pop. Like I felt like if they popped it up, I was able to put it away. So really good in this area, and I felt blocking, I could really easily put some pressure on them by just a little flick of the wrist or a little bit of squeeze of the hand that was able to put the ball away. The weight is more towards the front, but this is what gives you the pop. It's only 8.0, so it's a perfect weight paddle. You can always add lead tape if you need to on this paddle. But games are won in the kitchen. Let's see how I did with this paddle. Let's see how I did in the kitchen battles. And this paddle really does well in the kitchen. It has, you know, more pop than its predecessors, but this is not uncontrollable whatsoever. Like I felt like I could just reach, pull the ball out, put the ball where I wanted to, and you know, have no problems with just placing it there, even. And because it has extra pop and power, I wasn't worried about any speed UPS from the kitchen line. But really able to move my opponents around, whoever I was in a dink battle with, I felt like I had the upper hand, and was able to really put the ball wherever I wanted, and really appreciated this paddle in the kitchen. Overall, I got to say I really enjoyed playing with this paddle. I think it's worth the effort to put into it. Well, I definitely could tell with the control and the double Honeycomb Core feeling here, like it feels almost like a wood paddle, not quite a wood paddle, but it still feels nice to the touch. You can tell it is a Gen 2 thermoformed paddle. Well, they don't call it thermoformed at Diadem, but they've been doing the sealed edges and the foam around the edges since the very get-go. That's one of the things that they started doing really early on in their paddle manufacturing. But I think they call it hot press. It's not thermoformed. Definitely feels like a Gen 2 paddle. So, it's not super soft, but it's softer than some of the Gen 2 paddles in the feel, meaning that the ball feels pretty crisp coming off of here. It doesn't feel plush and mushy. Plush and mushy would be like the carbon one Gen 1 paddles. Any of the thermoform Gen 2 paddles feel a little bit crispier coming off the face, and with the spin and the pop, I think this paddle's a winner and definitely worth it if you like the Diadem brand. And with the spin being a top spinning paddle, man, you cannot beat that when it comes to the 2300 RPMs. That's a really, really high spin rate for the paddles that are up there.
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