JOOLA Power FX 16mm

When JOOLA released the Perseus Pro V earlier this year, it skipped foam even though most other brands had switched to foam cores by mid-2025. JOOLA’s reasoning was that foam hadn’t clearly beaten the Propulsion Core it had used since 2024. On September 30 the company changed course and released the Power FX, its first full-foam paddle, for $179.95.

If you expect it to play like the soft, muted foam paddles of the last year, it won’t. The Power FX is stiff and loud, and the ball comes off the face almost as soon as it arrives.

Build & Feel

The Power FX uses the Perseus mold: 16.5 by 7.5 inches, a 5.5-inch handle, and a 16mm core. The core is foam instead of the polypropylene honeycomb in the Pro IV and Pro V. According to John Kew’s breakdown, it’s an EPP center column inside an EVA perimeter ring that floats almost entirely free of the frame. JOOLA also pushed the foam further into the throat and added two small air gaps near the top of the head. The face is T700 carbon. JOOLA dropped the embedded grit particles it used before and switched to a new weave and resin, and Pickleball Studio measured that surface at 30 to 40 percent rougher than a standard JOOLA face.

The first thing every tester noticed was the stiffness. Kew rated it the stiffest of the 236 paddles in his database, and Pickleball Studio called it the stiffest foam paddle they’d ever hit. Most 2026 foam paddles make a low thud on contact, and this one makes a high, hollow ping. If you like a crisp paddle you’ll enjoy it, and if you like plush foam it will feel wrong from the first rally.

Both The Kitchen and Kew measured their units at 7.9 oz with a 114.5 swing weight. That’s light for an elongated paddle, so it moves fast at the net. Twist weight came in between 6.0 and 6.12, which is low, and you feel it on mishits. Pickleball Studio also weighed two retail units and got swing weights of 114 and 118, a four-point gap between copies of the same paddle. Worth knowing if you buy online.

The handle is 4.125 inches around with flat sides and short bevels. Pickleball Studio said it feels more rectangular than round. If you have big hands you’ll probably want an overgrip, and if you like a round handle you should try this one before you buy.

Performance

Pop is what this paddle does best. The Kitchen’s 5.0+ testers said it has “plenty of pop on short punch volleys,” and that it creates more offense than the Pro V, which needs a bigger swing to get the same pace. Counters come off fast. The quick response and the light swing weight work together well in a kitchen firefight.

It isn’t as powerful as the name suggests, though. Kew placed it in his mid-power tier, with power and pop scores of 65 and 63 out of 100, and said it isn’t as explosive as the Selkirk Boomstik. JJ Pickleball and Matthew K both found less firepower than the hype promised. It’s a pop paddle, not a power paddle.

It’s the grittiest face JOOLA has made. Kew measured 2,147 RPM and JJ Pickleball got about 2,100. Kew rated that as good, though he expected more from a surface this rough. The bigger concern is how long the grit lasts. In Kew’s wear test the face lost about 15 percent of its spin, which puts it in his third durability tier. Several $180-$200 foam paddles from Honolulu, 11SIX24, Six Zero, and Selkirk do better.

The soft game is where the Power FX loses a lot of players. The face is stiff and holds the ball for very little time, so if you get lazy on a dink or drop, it pops up. JJ Pickleball had trouble with topspin drops and dinks. Kew found no hot or dead spots and called the sweet spot about average for a Gen 4 paddle, but a miss sends a sharp buzz into your hand and the ball falls short. Pickleball Studio said the sweet spot is worse than on most foam paddles.

Pickleball Studio and JJ Pickleball both said it plays better with added weight. Lead tape at 3 and 9 o’clock raises twist weight, which is what this paddle needs most.

The price is where it gets complicated. It’s $120 cheaper than the Pro V, but the Pro IV 16mm has been on clearance for about $150. On every bench that measured both paddles, the Pro IV had more twist weight, and it comes with a 4.25-inch grip. Unless you specifically want a stiff foam feel and a rougher face, the older paddle is the better buy.