FIND YOUR RACKET
COMPARE MODELS
Among the many products on our Esprit Padel Shop website and the numerous rackets we have showcased across our blog posts, several names of professional players have been featured with their respective rackets. Here is a quick overview of the palas used by the best padel players in the world, to draw inspiration from them and their playing styles. Let's go!
Babolat Technical Viper: the racket of world No. 1 Juan Lebron
What better place to start than with the best: World Padel Tour No. 1, Spain's Juan Lebron. Partnered this year with Alejandro Galan , whom we'll return to later, Lebron has an equipment contract with Babolat and uses the famous Technical Viper to compete on the WPT circuit. This racket focuses on power and explosiveness in its shots. Its diamond shape gives it a head-heavy balance, particularly useful for smashes and high volleys.
Besides his incredibly powerful smashes, Lebron also likes to trouble his opponents with precise shots. The Technical Viper has everything needed for this kind of play, thanks to its special X-Eva foam. Made up of three distinct layers, its two rigid outer layers provide power and responsiveness, allowing the player to return balls as precisely as possible. The third layer, closest to the racket's core, is softer and balances that power by providing comfort on impact with the ball. Finally, this Babolat racket features a vibration-reduction system called VIBRASBSORB, which adds playing comfort and helps prevent injuries. The Technical Viper is certainly a powerful racket, but it does not forget the player's comfort.
Nox AT10 Genius: the young genius Tapia's weapon.
At just 23, Argentinian Agustin Tapia is in the form of his life. Having recently won a tournament in Denmark alongside his partner Sanyo Guiterrez, the young prodigy continues to stand out as a rising star of padel. Sponsored by padel specialist Nox, he uses a racket bearing his initials: the AT10 Genius. With its teardrop shape, it is a versatile and well-rounded racket built to handle every challenge on court. In terms of power, it has everything — or nearly everything — needed to finish points effectively. Its 12K carbon faces are very stiff, providing greater responsiveness for smashes, volleys and powerful shots. The racket's dense HR3 foam reinforces that explosive feel so characteristic of Tapia's game.
However, just like the Technical Viper above, Nox has not forgotten playing comfort to make the pala very enjoyable to play with despite the stiffness of the carbon. The AVS (Anti Vibration System) is also included to make the racket more forgiving on off-centre balls and prevent vibrations from reaching the elbow and causing injuries, particularly tendinitis. In conclusion, the AT10 Genius is, as expected, versatile and very well-rounded for a left-side player such as Agustin Tapia.
Adidas Metalbone 3.1: the three-stripe brand joins forces with Alejandro Galan!
Lebron's teammate and fellow world No. 1, Ale Galan confirmed his status as one of the world's best players by winning the latest Master Final in Madrid with his partner last December. These excellent results have helped Adidas, Galan's equipment sponsor, regain momentum and establish itself among the world's leading padel equipment brands. The young Argentinian champion plays on the circuit with a Metalbone 3.1, a diamond-shaped racket designed for maximum power. Its carbon faces also increase density and ball responsiveness, particularly on the volée. Octogonal Structure technology adds a special structure to the carbon faces, making the racket virtually indestructible!
Its Soft Eva foam is very flexible, providing comfort and precision that offset stiffness to deliver a very balanced and pleasant pala to play with. In addition, Smart Holes Curve technology increases the sweet spot area, offering the racket extra forgiveness on off-centre shots. Lastly, the three-stripe brand's latest innovation, the Weight and Balance System, incorporates removable weights on the sides of the pala so you can adjust your racket's weight to your preference and get the racket that suits you best.
As a bonus, Marta Ortega, ranked world No. 6, also uses this racket in the Light version. It is lighter (between 345 and 360 grams) and suited to women or teenagers looking for their first adult racket. It nevertheless has the same features as its bigger sibling, the classic Metalbone.
Head Alpha Pro: take the magic of Sanyo Guiterrez with you!
Currently world No. 6 and the partner of Agustin Tapia, Argentinian Carlos Daniel Guiterrez, known as “Sanyo”, is considered one of the greatest padel players of all time. A leading player for Austrian brand Head since 2014, Sanyo is approaching 38 and remains one of the most influential players on the circuit. His famous Alpha Pro has played its part. With its teardrop shape, this racket champions versatility and adapts to every situation. Its faces, made with Head's own blend of graphene 360 and carbon, give the racket excellent control while retaining the stiffness needed to perform well on the volée.
The special Power FOAM foam provides excellent power on smashes and viboras to put your opponents under pressure. The result is a highly versatile racket that can both attack and defend, letting players express their creativity, just like Sanyo!
Bullpadel Hack 03 2022: play like Paquito Navarro
We continue our tour of the top 10 with Francisco Navarro, known as “Paquito”, and his famous Hack 03, reissued in an all-new edition for 2022. The world No. 3 is an aggressive player who has unleashed all his power on court with Bullpadel since 2016. The Hack 03 is well suited to his explosive style and boasts plenty of cutting-edge technology. Diamond-shaped, the Hack is one of the rackets that delivers the most power, thanks to its Tricarbone technology (interwoven carbon faces), while remaining relatively light.
To provide the minimum control needed, MultiEva foam is fitted to the racket. Its two layers are quite distinct: the stiffer outer layer maximises power and ball explosiveness on impact, while the softer, more supple inner layer provides ball control and comfort that are more than welcome and make the racket enjoyable to play with. CustomWeight technology is also included. Weights can be added to the handle and the frame so you can customise your racket's weight.
Bullpadel Vertex 03 2022: Tello and Chingotto, the Vertex duo!
We stay with Bullpadel, and this time, we get two players for the price of one! Both world number 8s, the two players have played together for over 7 years and form one of the oldest pairs on the tour. And to top it all off, the two Argentinians use the same racket, the Vertex 03, the most popular and best-selling pala every year. Diamond-shaped, this racket is power-focused like the Hack above, but has a few specific features. First of all, the carbon faces feature Xtend Carbon 12k technology, which makes the racket quite stiff and therefore very reactive, particularly on the volée, at the expense of playing comfort. The Vertex technology compensates for this stiffness with a special racket core, designed to maximise stability on impact and harmonise the overall weight.
The MultiEva foam from the Hack is also used in the Vertex; its 2 distinct layers provide a notable level of playing comfort and make the racket much easier to play with. Featuring Top Spin technology, the rough surfaces allow you to accentuate spin and put more rotation on the ball. The Air React Channel innovation is also present. Exclusive to the Bullpadel brand, this technology improves aerodynamics through the placement of the bridge arms at the racket core, thereby enhancing manoeuvrability and making the racket easier to handle. The Vertex is packed with technology, proving its popularity is well deserved.
Bullpadel Flow: play with the flow of world No. 1 Alejandra Salazar
Another Bullpadel racket, this time designed for women. The racket of world No. 1 Alejandra Salazar, a player with 40 WPT titles, this Flow has unique features that make it one of the best women's rackets on the market. Its hybrid shape, between a teardrop and a round shape, is characteristic of Bullpadel and provides maximum control, suiting the slower, more tactical style of women's padel. The Flow also features Vibradrive technology. This piece of rubber around the handle helps absorb vibrations, particularly on off-centre shots, and thus helps prevent injuries.
Bullpadel has also fitted the Flow with Multi-Eva foam, which has two distinct layers. The soft inner layer makes contact with the balls more comfortable and, above all, helps players hit more precise shots. The outer layer is stiffer and denser, helping increase the racket's responsiveness and power for smashes and high volleys. In short, the Flow is one of the most sought-after women's rackets thanks to its performance and versatility.
BlackCrown Piton Nakano: all of Marta Marrero's experience in one racket
Let's turn to BlackCrown and one of the legends of women's padel, Marta Marrero. After a professional tennis career that took her to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, the player from the Canary Islands switched to padel in 2011 and has gone from strength to strength. She became world No. 1 in 2019 and remains one of the world's best players at 39. For several years, Marrero has used the BlackCrown Piton Nakano, a racket focused on control that offers plenty of playing comfort.
Round-shaped, this pala offers unparalleled control, with its double frame made of a carbon and fibreglass composite. The Extra Soft White Eva foam enhances this feeling of comfort and precision on strikes thanks to its softness and cushioning. Finally, the Piton Nakano features a longer handle than other rackets, allowing for two-handed backhands—the trademark shot of former tennis player Marta Marrero. The Nakano is truly a control-focused racket designed so you never miss a ball and can extend rallies as long as possible to become the best player you can be!
Nox ML10 Pro Cup: a legendary racket for the legendary Miguel Lamperti
Alongside the young Tapia, Nox also has the experienced Miguel Lamperti in its ranks. The 43-year-old Argentinian still has energy to spare and continues to deliver great performances. His ML10 comes in many versions (for women, powerful, lightweight), but “Miguelito” uses the ML10 Pro Cup Luxury Series, the control version. Its round shape provides excellent manoeuvrability, with the weight positioned towards the base of the racket.
However, many features of this racket are designed to make the racket stiffer and deliver high performance on volées and especially smashes, Lamperti's favourite shot. The frame is made of carbon to add stiffness. In addition, it is combined with a dense HR3 rubber core to provide maximum responsiveness on the volée and smash. The surface carbon features a rough texture to enhance spin and catch your opponents off guard. If you are looking for a manageable yet highly responsive racket to secure your points at the net, the ML10 Pro Cup Luxury is made for you!
You're now ready to choose your favourite player's racket — hopefully, it suits your playing style too. Remember that these rackets are designed around the pros' playing habits and may be harder for beginners to use. Don't hesitate to check out the other articles on our blog!
