Pickleball Paddles, Raw Carbon Fiber Pickleball Paddle with 13MM Polypropylene Honeycomb Core, Carbon Friction Surface(CFS) - USAPA Pickleball Rackets, High Grit & Spin for Beginners and Intermediates

I was skeptical of a sub 30 price paddle without many reviews yet when I purchased, but liked the idea of getting carbon fiber for good value. Compared the starter-paddles I had played with perhaps 50 times, this clearly has a larger sweet spot causing fewer mishits when striking near edges of paddle. Happy with the value for this as upgrade from starter without spending 100 plus dollars.

Update 07/10/2024:The seller reached out to me and mentioned that the Paddle indeed have Raw Carbon Fiber layer, but there is another printed layer on top for the design to make it "look more beautiful".Unfortunately, this top layer does not have much friction, so kills the point of have raw carbon fiber. You get neither the spin of raw carbon fiber, nor the nice feel. It feel more like a fiber glass paddle without grit !Since my original review, the price of the paddle has been reduced to $18. At this price, it is slightly better than most fiber glass and graphite paddles in the same price range, since the core is slightly better than cheap graphite or fiber glass paddles. So changing the review from 1 star to 2 stars.However, my advice to the seller, if you are making a Raw Carbon Fiber surface paddle, the Raw Carbon fiber layer should be the top layer. You killed the potential of this paddle in an attempt to make it "more beautiful".The paddle does say "USA Pickleball Approved", but I do not see it on the USA Pickleball approved paddle list. Searched using the Brand name (apexflux) and no paddle shows up.Original:From the pictures on the Amazon listing of the paddle, it seems like the surface is raw carbon fiber. The pattern is similar to what you see on many Gen 2 raw carbon fiber paddles surface. However, in this case it is just a design put o. The paddle to make it look like raw carbon fiber surface. I can’t see why you would put that design unless you are trying to intentionally mislead people. The surface itself has very poor friction, which results in very poor spin capability. Even with the 30% off coupon the paddle is not worth it. And the blatant attempt to mislead people make me dislike it even more.Very disappointed! Paddle will be going back.P.S. On a whim I checked on the USAPA Pickleball site, and this is not an approved paddle, even though the listing says it is and the print on the cover says it is ! So even that is misleading !

VERY NEAR 5 star, all-out recommendation at this price of 17 USD!!This is listed as entry-level carbon fiber paddle, for under $20. SO RARE to find one this inexpensive.DO NOT expect raw carbon fiber, or high-end/elite-level features at this realm, but with the right expectancies, for a player wanting to try out carbon fiber early-on, this is a competent effort.PERSONALLY, I bypassed these for personal competing, and went straight into raw CFS, elongated, thermoformed paddles, but those used to always be over $100 each, easily.This type of paddle is commonly starting around double this price, so it's a pretty good find.If on a tighter budget, I would recommend this for a beginner, or intermediate player not intending much more than enjoyable recreational play...it will serve them well. If your budget allows double or more, look into raw carbon fiber, etc...it's ABSOLUTELY worth the investment for the serious competitor.

Arrived in a timely manner. Package was delivered securely. Paddle feels good. Beginner player.

First of all, this is not on USA Pickleball Approved list.It has NO grit on the paddle surface. It is as smooth as glass. That carbon fiber weave is purely in appearance only.It does not seem to have the quality of other Carbon Fiber paddles, especially a paddle that is supposed to have 9 layers of composite material (4 layers are supposed to be Carbon Fiber). I may saw this open and actually see if it has the 9 layers.It is identical in form (diff graphics and color scheme) to a fiberglass paddle in the $20 range (that has "MFD" printed on the face)--which is only fiberglass.