Episode 90 | Why Some Durable Grits Last Longer, Loco 2, Neonic FLX, Luzz Cannon XPP

[00:00:05] What is up, nerds? Welcome back to Episode 90 of the The Pickleball Pursuit Podcast. I'm your host, Lewis. Here with my co-host, my pickleball wife, the man, the myth, the legend, the oracle, the mayor of Nerdtown, Justin from Pickleball, etc. Justin, how you doing, big dog? You look very, very handsome today. I like your hat, dude. Oh, wow. Thanks. You like it? It's pink. I don't know if it shows up. No, it looks a little tan on my phone right now. Real men wear pink. That's right.

[00:00:33] Contrary to what Bart would say, who I think is honestly, secretly in love with me. I get a lot of interesting comments from him. Every video. He definitely loves you. You want to be my sugar daddy, Bart? Taking applications. Open application. Yeah, dude. Episode 90? 9-0. That's getting close to 100. Dude. We have to decide if we're going to try to do something for 100 or if we're going to continue to be lazy, just be ourselves. You know, do nothing.

[00:01:03] I mean, we did a big blowout for episode 69. It was in person. We did all kinds of stuff. We did a big what for 69? Well. Oh, God. Yeah. And by the way, just for the newcomers here who haven't been around forever, the Pickleball wife thing, it's not because, it's not only because Lewis is attracted to me that he calls me that. The joke started because we were talking about one time, you know how you have like your work wife? Yeah.

[00:01:32] Like, it's like a joke, but you have somebody at work who they're like become like your friend. Usually, usually it's the opposite sex, but it doesn't always have to be. But then they end up becoming like your work wife. Anyway, that's where the joke came from because like in the Pickleball space. Yeah. That's what. And I told him so many times we could be, I told him so many times we could just be Pickleball husbands. That's okay. That is okay.

[00:01:59] But, you know, when the joke starts, you just got to keep it going, you know? You just got to roll with it. You got to roll with it. I figured I'd just share some lore for the people who are sometimes confused by that. A little pee-pee lore. Oh, man. Well, yeah. You know, I'm going to be honest. I do love you if I'm being totally honest. And I am just head over heels. All right. We got a lot of stuff to talk about and not a ton of time.

[00:02:26] We're going to have no Nerdtown this week, but we're going to run through some new paddles, some pretty exciting paddles. And talk about in net gains, we're going to talk about what we're working on. And then in New Week, New Man, we're going to dive deep into our current fuel preferences. Maybe kind of share, like, where we started and kind of where we are now, if you want to go that deep into that, Justin. But we got quite a few exciting paddles to talk about.

[00:02:54] The first one, which is one I think people are probably has the most hype around it, is the Loco 2. So got these in and I've only played with the elongated shape and looks very similar to hex grit, like almost identical. I'm sure there may be a slight difference. Maybe. Maybe not. But I'm sure. No, I'm just guessing.

[00:03:23] But it looks extremely similar to hex grit. They're calling it their space dust grit. Great name. And apart from that, yeah, great name. Apart from that, really nothing about the paddle is different. Same shapes, same feel. Well, there's no wide body this time. Oh, there's no wide body. I thought they were just delaying that. Okay. I thought it was just, okay. It's elongated and hybrid only. It seems like that's a trend.

[00:03:52] Well, when you look at the sales numbers, I'm surprised it's taken this long. So just for reference, most brands, unless they've built something special around their wide body, you know, i.e. Mach 2 Forza or there's probably other wide bodies that have kind of a sub brand of their own. Yeah. But if you just look at general across the board, it's normally like 10%, maybe 15% or less of sales are wide body or standard.

[00:04:18] And it used to be overwhelmingly elongated, but actually it's pretty close now between hybrid and elongated. Nice. So both sell well, both are worth selling. But however, like the additional approval cost and mold cost and everything to have a wide body, if it's selling, let's just say it's 10% of the total sales. It's not so worth it. Tough sell. Just make a, like they have, a pretty forgiving hybrid shape. And you're good. Yeah, a very stable hybrid. Yep, I agree.

[00:04:43] Um, so apart from the grit, the feel is, I would say like 98 to 99% the same. It's not really anything that you're going to pick up on immediately unless you've been playing with the Loco forever. And then your first play session, uh, you know, you play with this new Loco too. You're always going to notice something different between a new paddle and a used paddle. Yeah. If they're the same paddles regardless, but there is a very, very slight difference.

[00:05:11] It's virtually unnoticeable. So that could be a good thing or a bad thing. Um, depending on if you wanted something new or a new feel, but I don't think really many people are going to want something new in terms of feel from this paddle. They just want the durable grit. And, uh, after a PlayStation play session, no, no noticeable change, but you know, still early to tell. But I would imagine that this is going to be a permanent grit option. Uh, that's just my, my hunch. Yeah.

[00:05:41] Um, what do you think about that? Yeah. I got some extra information for you. I haven't played a fun. I only hit it against the, I only hit it against the, uh, Dinkmaster. But I will say I had a pretty fresh Loco that I had from Nerdy Tourney and I hit the new one versus the old one just against the Dinkmaster. So this isn't full play. So huge grains of salt here. But I thought that the new one was a little less dense and it could just be my models. Um, but in a way that I actually liked, I preferred it. Yeah.

[00:06:11] And I also thought it felt a little less harsh again in a way that I would prefer. Yeah. So you guys know, I always said about the original Loco, amazing performance, not my favorite feel. So far, just on the little bit I've hit it, the Loco 2 has moved the feel more towards what I like, but that's just a personal preference. Um, but the actual information here is I did the, the hillbilly drill test. Hillbilly drilly. Yeah.

[00:06:37] If you guys don't know, it's, uh, using a drill to spin a ball at 1500 RPM, five pounds of pressure on the face. And I do that for a couple of rounds and then we'll check it, um, for both roughness and look at the microscope in between. Mm-hmm. Anyway, uh, it held up great. You know, on this podcast, we don't talk about tiers or anything like that because we don't have the data to support that. We just say, when we talk about grit, it's either, it's either nothing special, it's longer lasting, or it's permanent. Mm-hmm.

[00:07:04] And I would say this behaves just like the permanent grits that we know. Yeah. Um, it looks on the microscope and behaves just like the permanent grits. So, I haven't seen any of the, uh, the guys who do the empirical data tiers, but I'm expecting the drill test is still undefeated, actually. Still. We had a scare for a minute. We had a little case of the scaries there. But I expected this to be a tier one. Yeah. Which is cool. Yeah. I, uh.

[00:07:34] Yeah, this is, I haven't played with it, just I've been so busy with work stuff, but this is one I definitely want to play with. It's actually been in my bag. I just haven't had a chance to pull it out. It's also way lighter than the original Loco. Yes, it is. Uh, so, I want to get into playability, but before I do that, I'll kind of share the specs on the elongated. Uh, you have the swing weight, twist weight of your hybrid, right? 109. 109. 6.3. That's real nice. 7.9 ounces.

[00:08:03] So, that's significantly lighter than Loco 1, which would explain why it would feel more hollow. Maybe it's a lower density. Yeah. BP, which is lighter and more hollow feeling. Um, but yeah, I mean, that was one of the small knocks on the original Loco, especially with the elongated. It's like, it's pretty heavy. Good news. A lot of the Locos were 120 plus. 116. 116. Yeah. So, really ideal swing weight.

[00:08:30] I think, for me, I would like a elongated shape to be 116 to 114 swing weight. Like, that is my preferred range. And then you add weight. And then you add weight. Exactly. Yeah. Um, but that can hurt a paddle's performance. You know, there are some paddles that are just too light to get to that point. And, uh, you know, but with most modern day foam paddles, 114, 116 for an elongated shaped paddle usually performs pretty damn good.

[00:08:58] Um, but yeah, you can expect this to be a power paddle. It's going to have quite a bit of zip to it. It's got a very satisfying crack to it. Uh, I remember I hit one overhead today and, uh, Ethan was like, damn, that sounded, sounded like you got all that. And I was like, yeah, that was pretty damn loud. Um, but I'm sure when I play these side by side with the original Loco, I will notice more nuanced differences, but it wasn't anything that jumped out at me.

[00:09:25] You know, this is a feel that I would describe as like chocolate vanilla swirl, you know, just a little bit, a little bit better than vanilla, but nothing that's crazy. And somebody, almost everybody's going to enjoy this feel or be able to play with it and be fine with it. It's nothing that's like super crazy or super unique, which honestly, in a lot of cases is not bad. Uh, a lot of people get a little bit offended when we say things like that, but I mean that in a good way.

[00:09:54] You know, you, you can have a unique paddle, but also you can have a very successful paddle that is just a very traditional feel. And I think that's what this is. So, um, pre-order is already live. I'm not sure if they're doing rounds. Um, yeah, they are pretty sure the whole first round of elongated is already sold out. Okay. And then are they doing it like every two weeks like they did with the original Loco or every whatever? Yeah, I assume so. Um, that's how the original Loco was for a while. Just like drops and then.

[00:10:24] Yeah. Each one would sell out within, you know, a day or less or whatever. And then, uh, last I saw the hybrid was still awaiting approval, but they fully expect it to be approved. Gotcha. I'm doing a horrible job shilling this battle right now. Um, that might disappoint some people. Um. Tell people your discount code and how much money you'll make if they buy one. Oh God. Uh, I think I make 10% on, um, bread and butters and, uh, and they get 10% off.

[00:10:53] I'm just joking. Yeah. 10% off. Yeah. You know, that's what you got to do if you want to chill. You got to chill. You ask me, I'll tell you, dog. Uh, I ain't scared. Um, but, uh, yeah, great paddle so far. Definitely gonna play with it quite a bit more. Um, I would definitely check out bread and butter's website. If this is one that interests you and you were just waiting on people to get it in their hands and give you some, you know, in-depth thoughts or see how the grit's going to hold up or how it performs. This is one that is very promising. So, uh, if this is one that interests you, check out bread and butter's website.

[00:11:20] You can use code pursuit when they have their next pre-order job or if they have it live right now to save some money. And, uh, one that I'm definitely going to play with quite a bit more dual certified UPA and USAP extremely gritty. So, this is not like a, you know, before the USAP spin test smooth grit. So, you're going to get virtually hex grit level roughness.

[00:11:46] Um, haven't, you know, rubbed them side by side, but are you rubbing them both at the same time? Uh, feels identical. Dude, feels identical. Yeah. That's what I, I, I success, six, Jesus. That's what I expected. I can't talk right now. I'm rubbing two at once. Yes, I love when you rub both of them at the same time. All right. Um, I don't really have anything else on the Loco too. Paddle, that's going to be awesome. We might have to revisit it because I need to play with it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. As well.

[00:12:15] I mean, I don't expect us to have any surprises, um, but yeah, I mean, pretty promising, right? Yeah. It's like, I believe it's 200 after code if I'm not mistaken. Um, 20 before. So a little bit more expensive than the original Loco, but you get what we believe is probably going to be permanent grit. All right. Um, we're going to move on. I want to talk a little bit more in depth on the Neonic Swift and Frost FLX.

[00:12:43] FLX, I still have played very little with the Frost, but I've played a ton with the Swift. And I mean, these paddles are damn good, dude. This is, this is a Spitfire competitor. This is the first paddle that I've played with in a while where I've been like, hmm, this might be, uh, this might, you know, give it a little run for its money. This is a hundred dollar paddle and it is very similar in terms of feel, not out the box,

[00:13:12] but very similar in terms of feel once you break it in, which usually takes about eight to 10 games. And it's super similar to the overall feel of the Spitfire lower in terms of firepower, but I think that's a good thing. You know, albeit just slightly, it's not as close to the all court category as the original FLX battles. I would say this is kind of floating in that mid to lower tier of the power range, but still

[00:13:42] gives you tons of offensive capabilities. The grit durability is holding up extremely well. This is another one that I would be not surprised at all if it got a permanent or tier one, um, rating from John Q. I think it's holding up extremely well. No noticeable difference in terms of the surface roughness or surface texture. And it's just a damn good paddle. Super light out the box.

[00:14:11] It's doing every single thing right. Two really solid shapes. The only gripe that I have with the shape might just be a little too long in the handle, bro. That's, I mean, I've never, I've never complained about length, you know? The frost. Yeah. But, um, I mean, that's just me being nitpicking at this point. And that kind of feels like, it's a hybrid, right? But it kind of feels and plays like a wide body, but the long handle. Yes. It's like a really long handle. Kind of. I would agree. Similar-ish to like a J3. Yeah. In a way. Yeah, that's good.

[00:14:40] Or it's like super stable, really large sweet spot, but a longer handle. So maybe the balance point's slightly higher. Mm-hmm. Um, I don't have the Neo-Grit versions. Vin was scared of the drill test. The Neonic guys. Just kidding. I just don't have it yet. Hopefully I get one. Yeah. But I did have the versions without the Neo-Grit. So I know them well. I have played them. I'm sure those feel a little bit different. Yes. Much more hollow. Um, a little thonkier. Yeah. And a little bit more firepower, right? Like you said, it's all good stuff.

[00:15:09] I think the same family as the Spitfire. It's almost identical in terms of feel. Obviously there's slightly different, different feedback vibrations or feedback notes, but, uh, very, very similar. One of the most similar feeling paddles to the Spitfire. So. So like hollow and kind of meaty being soft. Slightly soft. Yes, absolutely. We talked about this months ago. Remember when I was saying that'll be the next thing for development. Yeah, I do remember that.

[00:15:38] People are going to go for soft hollow, at least attempt to. I remember thinking, I was like, that would be interesting. I don't know how much I would like that. Turns out a lot. Turns out a lot. Um, the command kind of leans in that direction, um, as well as one of the ones that's also recently released. Yeah. Um, so something interesting or kind of unique about those, uh, FLX series is the EVA floating foam that goes around the face of the paddle extends down into the handle.

[00:16:06] Most paddles have either honeycomb in the handle or EPP or like a rigid foam. But on those, I'm going to, this is the local I'm holding out, but just imagine that the EVA that goes around the outside here just keeps going and then becomes the core of the handle. That's actually quite unique. Um, and to have a sort of softer, more vibration dampening foam in the handle, I thought really changed the feel of that paddle.

[00:16:33] And for me, what it did is, and this is going to be good or bad depending on your preference, but it really deadened a lot of the harsh feeling shots. It didn't make them better, but like say you catch one really near the handle in the throat. Um, it didn't feel nearly as harsh, I think because of that more dampening material in the handle. Yeah. So a lot of people find that feel to be very forgiving, um, which is nice. And it's something different. Like I said, no one else or very few, any are really doing that.

[00:17:02] Um, but yeah, I can't wait to get them and try them out, especially with the grit. I, I personally really liked that frost shape. It's a hybrid. It's a basically flat top, super stable, long handle. That's like right up my alley. Of course. Great for them. Big old mitts. Uh, the release date as of now, from what I've been, um, communicated with is not set. I'm not sure if they've announced anything on Instagram. That's usually where they announce a lot of things, um, where you can just kind of keep

[00:17:32] up with this battle, but it should be probably mid to late October, I imagine. Uh, so it's coming soon, but a paddle that absolutely needs weight because they are very light one 10 swing weight stock for the S the swift, which is the elongated and then one Oh eight for the frost, which is the hybrid well under eight ounces, right? Yeah. They're, they're light. Um, definitely going to need weight on these to optimize the overall forgiveness, sweet spot size and just plow through.

[00:18:01] So, um, if you're somebody who does not like to add weight to your paddle or modify paddles, this is one that would definitely be, yeah, definitely avoid it. Um, but also learn how to learn how to add weight to your paddle. It's pretty damn easy. Um, the, um, I would say the pretty much just blanket statement for most paddles, throw three grams at three and nine and just call it a day. Uh, you'll be totally fine. That is your first go. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:18:29] Um, but yeah, that's really all I want to say on that. I am extremely happy and, uh, impressed with the FLX series so far. Definitely going to be playing with these a lot more. These have main material written on them. Um, not literally, but you know, figuratively. Yeah. So yeah. Well done. Probably same for me. Based on $99. That one comes in $99 after code. Yeah. I mean, we are getting some, we're very spoiled right now.

[00:18:58] Paddles are so damn good. It's getting to the point where it's like, I'm making reviews and I'm just like, you know, let me just only say the bad things. Cause everything else is pretty good. You know, there's, I made a full air command. I mean, that's, you know, to give you a little credit, uh, there wasn't really anything negative about the paddle, you know, like the only thing I negative I could say was it only comes in the hybrid shape. You know, if you don't, if you don't like it, you know, like slightly soft and slightly hollow paddles, you may not like it.

[00:19:29] Uh, the end. That was probably really it. Um, so we're, uh, you know, we're spoiled, spoiled rotten. All right. Uh, got the new Holbrook fuse paddles with their Vantagrit. And these are the paddles that I famously, not really famously. I don't know why I said that. No one listens or cares, but I said that these are paddles. That I was extremely excited to play with.

[00:19:57] And boy, these paddles kick ass. Um, let me start with the most important thing. Now they come with a extremely rough grit texture compared to the original fuse paddles. They have a completely different feel profile. Super thonky. Not super thonky. I'd say they're pretty damn thonky. Quite, uh, hollow. Soft. They're pretty soft paddles. I think they have one of the most unique feel.

[00:20:26] Uh, most unique feeling paddle that I have played with in quite a while. I was actually trying to find the nearest, you know, close competitor for the fuse. And I mean, the Spitfire was like the only thing that was remotely close to it. Um, in my, you know, at my, in my shelf, but it's a wild feeling paddle. It feels really, really, really good. I mean, I cannot emphasize how much I've enjoyed the feel of this paddle. This is up your alley for sure.

[00:20:55] There's two things about this battle that are going to be potential deal breakers for people. Number one, this is marketed as a durable grit. However, the grit has not held up very well. With that being said, it is a much rougher surface texture compared to the original. So if you play with the original and you just want more spin and a crazier feel, you know, this is right up your alley.

[00:21:19] Um, but don't go in expecting that this is going to be a long lasting or permanent grit texture because in my testing, the grit has worn down pretty noticeably. And I've only played two play sessions with it. And it's definitely, definitely seeing some wear to it. There is some slight wear visually, but most importantly, tactically, you know, feeling the grit texture itself.

[00:21:45] It is significantly smoother in the, you know, prominent areas where you're, I know you like that. Uh, I probably used it incorrectly as well, uh, where you're prominently hitting the ball. So sweet spot, definitely showing some, some wear. Um, second thing that may be a deal breaker for people with these battles. These are not predictable battles. They are nonlinear and the feel is incredible, but there were so many times where I'm like,

[00:22:12] God, it's just so many times there's a few shots where I'm just popping them up and it's killing me. Let me ask you for a clarification on this. Cause I've been thinking about this too. I understand what you mean, but would it be better to say, instead of saying it's not predictable, that it's a paddle that's going to take some adjustment because it's different from most other paddles. Because my thought is if you play with just this for a while, which we don't do,

[00:22:40] you're switching paddles, but if this became your main and you played with it for two weeks, you probably could predict it pretty well. Yeah. It would take me time. The power curve. It takes a, it's not just this paddle. No. Um, like for instance, I just have this here. Also the Zen. It's those type of paddles. I think maybe a better way to say it is like, Hey, this power curve is going to take some real adjustment. Yeah. So you're going to be, have to be someone who's okay with that adjustment period and stick with it. Unless you came from something super similar, which is going to be rare because there's not a lot that's similar. Yeah.

[00:23:10] But yeah, I think, I don't know. I'm just being pedantic. I think. Yeah, no, I get it. Maybe that's what we say as well. You know, it's not predictable. So therefore you will need quite a bit of time to play with it, dial it in and have a basically learning period. Uh, there's a steep learning curve with this paddle. If you're not playing, but with that, it is a incredibly high performing paddle.

[00:23:39] I mean, it is almost, you know, if, if I like had to compare this to like, it's almost like a formula one car. It's like, it's got the peak performance. However, only very few people can tame it. Um, and it's got some, it's got some poor performance to it. It hits very hard. The pop is very good. The sweet spot is pretty much gigantic spin. Fantastic.

[00:24:06] Uh, I'm sure that will, you know, not be quite as good as you use it more and more with this current grid. I'm going to do a test on it. How did, how'd it go? So drill tested. So we had a prototype of this Vantigrit. You had one too, right? Mm-hmm. Before this original or this release version. And the prototype for me on the drill test did not do well at all. Like it kind of, it was just like peel ply. It just went worn smooth. Yeah.

[00:24:34] I looked at these under the microscope when I first got this new one and they look mostly the same, but slightly different. So I was encouraged. I was like, cool. I think I changed something. Um, however, on the drill tests, still not great. Yeah. I will say now though, this version I would call like longer lasting asterisk. Asterisk. So it is better than peel ply, but it's still not, it doesn't retain as much as something

[00:25:01] like, uh, the Spitfire, which is also in that longer lasting, but not permanent category. It reminds me of the, um, Harmony Grit. It's like, yes, it definitely is doing better, but it's not a massive jump. Um, that could have just been my model, but I felt like it was, it was all right. It wasn't bad, just all right. So it's slightly longer lasting than peel ply. Um, that's good.

[00:25:28] And maybe this needs to be a separate segment if you're ready to go into it, but I have kind of some thoughts about some of these grits I've been testing. Yeah. Yeah. That's pretty much all I have to say about this paddle. Um, it is just an upgrade on the previous model in virtually every single way, unless you don't like, you know, super hollow thonky paddles. So if it's, if you're someone who likes a denser, you know, more stiff paddle, this is probably going to be a downgrade for you.

[00:25:56] But overall playability, exceptional feel, in my opinion, fantastic. Grit is way better. You're going to spin the ball way more, but it doesn't seem to be like a super long lasting grit texture. All right, go ahead and talk about aesthetics. Holbrook's always making stuff, man. Such good looking paddles. Holbrook's branding and design is just always good. It's so clean. Handles feel fantastic. The edge guard looks sick.

[00:26:23] I mean, just the design pro design from these paddles are almost second to none. I would say this, Selkirk, they always have phenomenal branding and looking paddles. Very premium. Yes. All right. You go ahead. So here's what I've learned, quote unquote. It's not really a shock, but basically every single permanent grid or long lasting grid

[00:26:50] or durable grid that doesn't use some kind of hard particle, they don't last long. So if we're talking about just a coating over peel ply, you know, two examples right here in front of me. Of course, we just talked about this Holbrook fuse. There's no particles that I can see on the microscope. It's just a coating over peel ply. And then I have this Apes Zen, which Yvonne, owner of Apes, he knows this. He said that they're back to the drawing board. Like he understands this grid isn't maybe up to his standards.

[00:27:18] So I'm not, you know, revealing any news here. But there's more too. There's more that I don't have in front of me. But basically every single one that doesn't have a hard particle in it doesn't last. I mean, at best, it's like slightly longer lasting. And yeah, it kind of makes sense when you think about it, because we already know the epoxy peel ply, right? The embossed epoxy, it doesn't last. We already know that. That's what we're used to. That's what we're trying to improve on. It's brittle. It wears down.

[00:27:48] And then if you try to put something, it's like a gnat. If you try to put something on top of that, like how would you expect that to then work? It's like it would be like pouring concrete on top of sand. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's like really hard. You're like, cool, cool, cool. This is durable. But then if the sand under it is still sand, it like starts to crack and move and the concrete just flakes off or whatever.

[00:28:13] But now imagine you have sand and you add a shitload of aggregate to it, you know, like rocks and things like that that are much harder and bond better. And then maybe you can make a base that, you know, so concrete or, you know, a harder coating can stick to. So you're so smart. Anyway, we have yet to see. And I wonder if we will see just a coating that works. There have been quite a few. I mean, that have kind of failed.

[00:28:43] And yeah, I don't know. Yeah. The ones that add particles, though, for the most part, people are starting to figure that out. Yeah. Yeah. It seems like the very good. Peel plies are doing the best, obviously. I don't know if you would technically. I mean, yeah, you would technically define hex grid as that, right? It's basically just an infused peel ply. Yeah. I mean, like I said before, there are some kind of manufacturing trade secrets of how you apply it that makes it better or worse.

[00:29:09] I mean, there are definitely people trying to be like, let's just dust it on there, slap it on there. And then, of course, a lot of it falls off because it's not great. And then you end up with longer lasting, but not permanent. Yeah. However, if you have a better manufacturing method that's more thoughtful or like 6-0, they've been doing it for a while, they're like blending it in. It's like it's in there and it's coming out. Yeah. So then, of course, that's tier one. That lasts for as long as the paddle lasts.

[00:29:37] But yeah, I don't know that we're going to see a coating that performs well, has high friction and lasts forever without changing the entire resin content of the layout to something other than epoxy. Meaning, maybe in the future, people are making thermoplastic paddles and there's a different resin. But that would be a completely different, that would be like a total departure on the manufacturing method and take different machines and everything. So. Yeah. We'll see.

[00:30:07] Well, that's good info. I like your little analogy with the sand and aggregate. That was very cute. Well, I'm sure there's some construction workers out there who are like, you idiot. That's not how it works. This is how I buy it in my hands. All right. Well, I wanted to talk quickly about the CPX paddle and then I'm going to just show off the new Luz paddle. But we talked about the Boobies paddle and I said I would hit it some more, which I finally

[00:30:37] did. And yeah, I mean, this paddle hits hella hard. Like it is. Yeah. It's got to be one of the most powerful paddles on the market. It up there with the Mark Unmarked 2026. Unmarked 2026. And that was it called? Yeah. I don't know. Those paddles are crazy to me. Crazy. So this is, I mean, it's a unique paddle. I'll give them credit where credit's due. They're not just a, it's just not just a cookie cutter paddle. You know, they have like the X. No, not at all.

[00:31:07] The X foam core, if you want to call it that. And it, it's a rocket launcher. This is a paddle that very, very, very, very emphasis on very few people will be able to control. I mean, this is the Holbrook being the F1 car. This is a rocket ship. It's like only three people in this world know how to use it and have the capabilities of doing that.

[00:31:34] So is it a paddle that I would recommend? I don't know. So I don't, I don't, I don't know. If I go to open play and I come out on the court and I see the other team has got the CPX hyper plus and the mark unmarked. I'm going to walk out there and be like, Oh, Oh, I'm getting a call. Sorry. Yeah. I gotta go. Like, yeah, yeah. It's a, it's a monster.

[00:32:00] I mean, I had to be pretty careful, you know, I definitely felt like I was playing with a paddle that if I got ahold of a counter and was not precise, it could be dangerous. Um, dangerous to the wall. Even, even paddles, you know, right now I feel like are dangerous. Like that aren't even crazy powerful this. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you gotta be careful. Um, some people may be listening to this and be like, Oh baby, I'm buying one.

[00:32:31] Uh, but there is a crowd that's not us. Like good for grandma something, super handsome and athletic people who maybe need help generating power. And that is great. You know, but yeah, the grandmas will love this. This will be right up their alley. Yeah. But you know, um, I will, I watched shout out to whiskey dink, uh, Martin. I watched on his channel and interview with the owner, founder of CPX and got to say, dude

[00:33:00] was saying all the right stuff. Oh yeah. He answered all the questions he owned up to everything. He didn't like try to hide. Like even though they are, they have a lot of marketing and that's what we've known the brand as he was a very real human. He wasn't just doing marketing speak on the interview. So I liked the interview and I was like, okay, okay, cool. You know? So they are clearly whoever runs the business is clearly extremely smart in terms of e-commerce.

[00:33:27] Like they clearly know what they're doing because their ads are tight. They're very, very high quality productions. Real tight. Um, yeah. And, uh, boy, oh boy, do they got some, uh, AI boobies on there. But, uh, I think it's a good looking paddle too. You know, it may be a little busy, uh, if you're really nitpicking, but it's a bit NASCAR-y, but yeah, it looks good. Yeah. But I mean, then again, you know, it can't be worse than the enhanced 4.5. Yeah.

[00:33:58] That's in the same. I didn't hate that paddle, but yeah, I get it. I get it. It's a lot. It's a lot going on. But, um, I think if this was like toned down, this would be a very promising paddle. Like if it was just like a little. Is what you want. Yeah. Just are the hyper, you know? No plus. I think it would be a very popular paddle. Feels great. It's very dwelly, a little bit hollow, a little thonky. Um, it's got a good feel to it and it rips spin.

[00:34:25] But, uh, I think at the price it is right now, which is like $300 or like, I can't remember what it's like, 190. You don't actually pay 300 bucks ever. You can probably get it for 180. Okay. I don't know. Look, there was a list price of 300. Then there was a pre-order price of 150, but you had to wait longer or you could just get it on Amazon for 180. Um, I'm sure a lot of that is just internet marketing. Yeah. But I don't think you're, um, if I remember right in the interview, the actual like price

[00:34:55] price that's, that's planned to go to market with not a pre-order price, not a sale price. Nothing is like 199. Mm-hmm. And maybe you miss out on some of the other stuff and, uh, look into this if you're interested, uh, watch on Whiskey Dink's channel because there was some good information in there that I'm probably misquoting or misremembering. But one thing I will say is they had a, uh, really good and generous warranty. So he was heavily emphasizing taking care of his customers, uh, first. So I respect that. I like that. And that's something that is valuable, honestly. Yeah.

[00:35:23] I will say to bang on with the dimensions, 16.5, 7.5 on the dot. Um, so yeah, I think it's a, a very powerful paddle. One that I think the older crowd will really enjoy because it can generate some power for them. Um, but just know if you're really don't want to pop up your dinks or pop up your resets, might want to buy something else.

[00:35:49] Um, yeah, a little hyper without the plus action would be pretty sick and very maneuverable. 114 swing weight or no one 15. Sorry. So a very maneuverably long at a shape paddle. All right. Um, anything else on the CPX? No, I don't have not hit this paddle yet. Uh, but just wanted to show off the new Luz cannon XPP. This is their X pop core.

[00:36:18] So it's no longer a polypropylene core and it has what seems to be a very unique grit texture that is going to be a durable grit texture. So can't comment on its longevity or durability at this point. The only thing I can comment on is this paddle's heavy one 23 stock swing weight. Um, that's that XPP by the way. I immediately picked it up and I was like, Oh boy, that this is going to be high.

[00:36:45] I was like, either I am very, very tired and fatigued from my pickleball earlier today, or this is a very heavy paddle. Sure enough, one 23 swing weight. And, uh, I think it's 6.3 twist weight. So it's got a pretty decent stock metrics that you could probably just play with at stock. However, it's head heavy. So, um, keep that in mind, but don't really know anything else about the paddle. Uh, but it does look intriguing. And I have not. XPP, it usually means extruded polypropylene.

[00:37:16] It's a unique grit structure. I'm sure. I'm not sure if you can see it very well. But what I mean, XPP is likely the core, um, is a foam type. It's extruded polypropylene extruded in the sheets rather than, rather than beaded. Um, and then, you know. What is extruded? Nerdtown. Like, do you know what an extrusion is at all? Nah, I don't think so. Okay. You're, picture like the Play-Doh toy when you were a kid and it had like stars in different shapes.

[00:37:46] You put the Play-Doh on top, you pull the lever and it, that's an extrusion. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, extrude out into a star or whatever. So imagine now you take a foam material, a polymer, in this case polypropylene, and you extrude it through maybe a large rectangle and extrudes out sheets that then are cut into course. Okay, interesting. Another way of the foaming process. Um. That's cool. So, you know, MPP, EPP, XPP, all polypropylene. So all the base, same base polymer. Yeah. A different foaming method.

[00:38:13] Um, I've known about it for a bit, but one of the major drawbacks is it's heavy in the densities that work within a paddle. So that would track if that paddle's heavy. I don't have that paddle, but that makes logical sense to me from a manufacturing perspective. But it is interesting and I bet we will see that material more, especially if we can figure out how to use it in a lower density. Gotcha. Correctly while still passing testing.

[00:38:37] I do like, Liz, I like how they are always trying to innovate and improve on their previous models and if they throw something out there that doesn't do well, they immediately go to the next thing. Um, cause they're, you know, they're always trying to, always trying to change it up. I mean, that's, that's the good side of the coin. The bad side of the coin is that their product catalog is a little all over the place. Yeah. It is. They have a lot. Yeah. Tighten it.

[00:39:05] I wonder, did they kill off the Tornazo? Cause it seems like this would just be the Tornazo. Cause the Tornazo was EPP and the Inferno was MPP. Um, I mean the Canon's a more successful brand than Tornazo. Yeah. It would make sense. Maybe use that. Yeah. Uh, speaking of, you know, we used to say this a lot about Honolulu, how they were like, throw everything at the wall, but they've tightened their product line so much. Very much, very much so. For years now.

[00:39:32] I mean, it was just like FC plus kinda NF and then now it's been CR and then there's going to be CR MPP. And that's been like two years now of much tighter product line, which I think is easier for new consumers. Yeah. To Honolulu. And like everything they make is good and it's only this eight models. That's it. There will be a new, um, CR MPP pedal coming out, which is right. Sounds right up my alley. Uh, hopefully I can control it a little better than the original, um, CR series.

[00:40:03] Um, which man, it's just like one of those paddles where like you play with it really good and then you have like one or two shots where you're like, Oh, yep. That's, that's something I don't want to do. So different. Yeah. That was the weird part to me. I liked the J2 CR long handle, but the power pop profile for me is a little poppy for my preference. I think it's a great paddle. Amazing paddle. But I was like, ah, if this could feel a little bit softer and less poppy, it'd be ideal for me. Yeah.

[00:40:33] Yeah. That's why I eventually moved off of it, but I played that paddle for a good bit. That's another one too, that has a learning curve. Um, albeit not as bad as the, or, you know, difficult of a learning curve as the fuse, but it is just a touch, just a touch unpredictable at times. We got to be careful saying fuse. Cause we got panel fuse and Holbrook fuse. Holbrook fuse. Thank you. The Holbrook fuse. Um, the original fuse. It's not as difficult as the Pacal fuse either. Yeah. Oh boy. Anyway, yikes.

[00:41:03] That paddle, uh, smokes the ball. Um, all right. That's really all I got for paddle talk. You want to jump into, uh, net gains? What we're working on? Yeah. This would be a pretty world. Yep. Um, I have a tournament this weekend actually. Um, and then I think I'm going to take off of tournaments until the, till worlds. There's somebody, a couple of people invited me to play a couple of tournaments. I don't, I don't think I'm going to play. I just get me too busy.

[00:41:31] I'm picking a paddle and I'm locking in. Um, I'm picking two paddles and I'm locking in. I'm picking a few paddles and I'm going to be, I'm going to be in. All right. Uh, Justin, what are you working on? So for context, that worlds is what? November 7th. You and I are playing four or five. So for Lewis and I, we ain't playing the young man's division though. We're playing 35 plus Chris is trying to bully me into it.

[00:42:00] I'm like, no bro. I know. So we do know a lot of people playing the four or five division in the young men's division, including Chris. Yeah. Um, Mr. Pursuit of five over play with us. But you know, what's going to happen. I told him this, if we play in that division, we're just going to get matched up first round. Yeah. Like you have this dream. You're like, okay, cool. Let's play the same division. Maybe we play each other in finals. That never happens. No bro. You travel to a tournament and you end up playing your friends in the first round every time. So I told him, I was like, nah dude. Yeah.

[00:42:29] And Chris is, I mean, I would say Chris is a bonafide five. Oh, at this point, he may be with his back injury. He hasn't been as, uh, you know, mobile as he was prior to, but, um, he's bonafide better than us. Put it that way. He's very good at pickleball. Like he's legitimately good. There's no more Chris is a three, five joke. Uh, I think the joke is Chris is a four or five, you know, that's, and what's crazy and even bigger joke is that he's playing in four or five. All right. What you working on? That's the right division for him.

[00:42:59] Um, volley lobs. Oh, because I mean, this is like, you see this at pro play a lot. It's just something I finally need to do because it's actually a perfect fit for me as a person who regularly people playing against me complain that my arms are too long or I'm too lanky or whatever. Like, that's like just the thing that people say. Cause I take a lot of stuff out of the air, both forehand and backhand and like rolls and flicks are kind of my favorite shot.

[00:43:24] So I already have the entire foundation built to then like mix in volley lobs. And more specifically, um, I'll be playing mostly right side when we play together and a forehand volley lob out of the air, kind of to the back corner is usually the perfect one because if it's a righty, you go over there backhand shoulder, which is really hard to deal with. Um, so I already reach in all the time and either like do a little sharp cross court,

[00:43:53] like small dink, roll dink, or I reach in and then speed up, you know, either middle, sometimes all the way across at the person's body, rarely at the body in front of me. But so I'm already doing that. So all I need to do is, you know, figure out the movement pattern to make it look the same and instead just push it up and over. Yeah. So it's, it looks, it's one of those shots. It looks way easier than it is. So I was telling Justin this, I was like, man, I have no, I cannot wrap my head around how to hit that shot.

[00:44:23] Like it's, it looks so easy, but every time I do it, it's like three feet long, like minimum, such a feel shot for me. I'd have a different problem. I almost never hit them long. I want them wide by the way. Hmm. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. Or I don't put enough on it and then we just end up eating an overhead. Yeah. That's what I was telling Lewis that often if you do it well enough, even if it's not high enough, the person hitting an overhead is like backpedaling, you know, to get to it. And they end up kind of like hitting an overhead and leaning back like a little wrist slapper.

[00:44:53] And it's not that threatening. Yeah. You can just hang in there and counter it. Sometimes you win the point on a counter if you're there and you like just put it back at the other partner's feet or even their feet. Cause they're like off balance from hitting high. Yeah. So it's actually not the worst case scenario unless you're playing against one of those badminton people. They will eat your lunch, like just wrist snap anywhere on the court, you know, without jumping. Um, and it makes people foot fault a lot. Not that that matters in amateur. We can't really call them. Yeah.

[00:45:21] But unless people are constantly like doing this and stepping back to overhead and their foot faulting like crazy. So you never know in a metal match when we got a referee. Yeah, that's true. Get some foot faults out of people. That'd be pretty tight. Yeah. That's been my thing. It is, uh, pretty difficult and also pretty annoying for the people I'm playing against for me to constantly be working on it. Yeah. Um, yeah. You know, cause it definitely changed, it kind of ruins the flow of the point, which is exactly what you want.

[00:45:46] You know, especially for teams who are very pressure heavy at the kitchen line. Yeah. They're like really in. Uh huh. And then, you know, like I said, because my game is reach in and speed up anyway, they're almost always like, uh, cause I think they're ready to counter and then you catch them in that moment where they kind of like freeze and then you lob them and they're like, oh crap. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah. That's a powerful tool. I mean, Anna Bright is, um, a monster at that. I think she was, she like was spamming those a couple months back.

[00:46:16] She's so good at it. Yeah. She's, she is, um, love Anna Bright. All right. Uh, the things that I'm working on, uh, quite a few things, but more specifically yesterday I was drilling the deep drop. So good return. They drop it. They left from the left side. Yeah. I drop it cross court to the other left side player and they think, oh, you know, this is an easy role.

[00:46:43] I can just put it in the mid court and you know, they're not gonna be able to attack it. We'll just take their next one and try to take it out the air. I've been working on going, instead of doing a cross court drop into, you know, either the middle or in the cross court on the fifth shot, I've been working on a two hand drive. So having that fifth shot, two hands speed up. Yeah. Speed up would probably be the best thing, but yeah, best way to describe it. But yeah.

[00:47:10] So instead of going, you know, drop cross court, come in for the mid court reset, going for something a little bit more aggressive to generate some offense, especially if they leave a high, you know, role. So I think that's something that's going to add a dimension in my game that will make me a little more scary, you know, not for lack of a better term, but you know, I think a lot of people don't want that shot.

[00:47:38] They don't want to have to deal with a mid court roll or a mid or a mid court speed up or a mid court drive because you have less time, you know, but somebody who does like that on the opposite end of the spectrum will eat you up. So it's got to be a shot that is, you know, chosen at the right time, the correct time and executed well. So that's why I've been drilling that. And then just obviously being more consistent with my movement.

[00:48:05] So something that I've been struggling with is some points I'll play like really big, you know, other points I'll be like, oh, you get it. You get that inside foot dink. Uh, and that partner are doing that. I can't do that one way or the other. Yeah, I know it's, it's, um, I would say I'm like 75, 25, you know, 75% of the time I'm, I'm pretty damn good about it. But the other 25% of the time is when you can lead your partner to make mistakes.

[00:48:33] You know, if they're expecting you to get something, you don't get it. They're sure as hell not going to hit a good ball. So that's something I've been trying to work on, especially in mixed, you know, where in men's there's, you usually cover a little bit less court, obviously. Um, but you do want to help your right side player out if there is a pretty tough dink to their inside foot. But that's kind of what I've been working on the most and consistency always just in any, any shot is so important. But yeah, I got a lot to work on, man.

[00:49:03] We're, uh, it's a work in progress. Yes, always. My arm is sore, dude. Arm is sore from that. Fifth shot speed up? Yeah. Um, I, he sent me videos of it and I was like, what is this? Why would you do this? And then, uh, he sent me a video. You were like, I saw a 5-0 guy doing this exact pattern a lot. And you sent me a video of him doing it. And I was like, ah, and he was eating people up with it. Cause basically if you're the left side guy, you have, you're hitting your third shot drop cross court. Your partner often is moving up and applying pressure. Yep. Right. Right.

[00:49:33] So then that person's fourth almost always goes just like a back cross court situation to the mid court because you hit a deep drop. So you're back. So there's court space there and you're almost kind of baiting them into it. So they almost always go there and then you're ready to step in and hit the two. And realistically from where you are on the court, you actually have so many options. Oh yeah. You can easily go line, middle, body. Your partner needs to be aware because if you do speed up and they counter it, they're going to get probably killed at the net.

[00:50:02] But, um, so I'm happy you sent me the video. So I know what the hell to expect. I got you baby girl. Yeah. I'm not going to, I'm not going to throw you into the, you know, feed you to the wolves. Hopefully. Well, you will. We will. A couple of times and I'll do it to you as well. We definitely will. We certainly will. In fact, I guarantee it. Uh, but I certainly am not going to try to, but yeah, I agree that, uh, what you said, it gives you so many options because you can be aggressive, not only with that speed up,

[00:50:29] you can be aggressive with, you know, a role or, uh, you know, a, another drop that goes to their inside foot of the right side player. You can do a lot of stuff with that. And that's something I want to make sure that I have in my game is with any shot that I'm hitting. I don't want them to be like, Oh yeah, I know exactly what he's going to do. So, you know, I want to have multiple options for each, each position. All right. Um, that's it for net gains. Anything else before we move on? Nope. All right. This is the last segment.

[00:50:58] Everyone's favorite segment, new week, new main sponsored by Bodie performance. If you need tungsten tape, over grips, sleeves, and other pickleball related accessories, you can use code pursuit to save 15% at checkout at Bodie performance.com. Thank you Bodie for sponsoring new week, new main. That's with threes. All right, Justin, it's a new week. I noticed that. Let me guess.

[00:51:25] You're still rocking the Valer CMD. Valer command. Yeah. I mean, dude, it's just, it feels like home. Although I am trying something different. Oh, you got some edge guard tape on there. Yeah. A lot of the reviewers and other people who have been playing this are like with this paddle specifically, like, Hey, I'm actually playing this way lighter than I normally play paddles. Mm-hmm. And they're liking it. Um, so I was like, I'm about to try this.

[00:51:51] And so this is just stock with edge guard tape. So it's actually really light. I mean, it's barely over eight ounces. It's like, I think maybe it's 8.1 with the over grip, which is lighter than I normally play. I normally play like 8.3, 8.4. Um, and I think the swing weight is somewhere in like the one 13 range and the twist weight is like 6.7. So, so good. Super light. Yeah. Um, yeah, it's interesting. I don't know if I'll stick with it.

[00:52:20] I love the, how well would the, uh, tungsten tape stick to that edge guard? You just put it underneath. Does it adhere well to it? If you wanted to add it on the outside? Yeah. Yeah, it would. I've never used edge guard tape. Not once. I don't use it either, but this, if you think about it, it is like a 0.25 gram per inch. It's like 0.2 per inch. So then you wrap the whole head and it's very even distribution.

[00:52:49] Um, and like I said, I just like the Keith Haring stuff. I think it looks really cool. It's good looking. Um, so yeah, I'm just trying this. I may go back to my old setup, which had like, you know, weight all the way here. It's a little bit heavier. You're a bling boy now. So far, this lighter setup, I'm kind of really enjoying at the net. Oh shit. Honestly. Like the hands are definitely faster. The flicks and the stuff. The resets.

[00:53:16] I think are actually fine because when I'm, when I'm fucking up a reset, it's not because my paddle is 0.2 ounces less. It's because I'm hitting the wrong part of the paddle. Yeah. So as long as I'm hitting roughly center, whether with this or a heavier paddle, it is the same. Where I noticed the difference though is like a good return and I have to hit a tough drop or like a scrappy drive. So you have like a heavier ball coming at you or if someone's serving really hard. Yeah.

[00:53:43] So returning a hard serve or trying to hit a good third off of a tough return, then the lighter paddle, I feel like it gets pushed around a lot more and it's not my favorite. Heavy ball. Man, I've heard people say that so many times and that's the first time anybody's actually described what a heavy ball was to me. But now you understand the concept, right? The one that feels like it pushes your paddle. It makes so much sense. Yeah. Yeah. It's not all about pace. It's about a combination of pace and spin and angle. Yeah. Basically.

[00:54:12] But yeah, I might be okay with those trade-offs because you don't always play against hard returns, hard serves. And ideally we're spending most of our game at the net. And if I like it better at the net, I think it might, I don't know. We'll see. I'm playing around with it. But I was just convinced because a lot of people, they're like, I'll just put three grams on each side. I'm like, dang, the paddle's so light. It's still super light. That's all I did too. Three grams at not quite two and ten, like two and a half and nine and a half.

[00:54:42] That's better, I think, higher up. Yeah. Meanwhile, I had six grams on each side on my other one, 12 grams total. Big boy. But it was still only 8.3. It wasn't like heavy at all. Yeah, that's true. And it was like 114.5 swing weight. I can't remember what paddle I weighed it up recently. That's when it was like, Lewis added five grams to that paddle. That's crazy. It was some elongated paddle, but I can't remember what it was. Had me cracking up in the comments. Yeah. All right.

[00:55:12] Well. So I'm still on that. Yeah. Same stuff. I've been experimenting with shoes again because I finally have a healthy foot. So you're telling me that you're going to show me another new shoe that you're dating? No, it's actually all my old shoes that I've had that are really good. But I've been scared to wear because my Achilles has been bugging me. But for now, my Achilles feels great. Like, I think I'm finally at 100%. Hell yeah. So I was playing in the Onyx again. You remember the Onyx used to play in? Oh yeah.

[00:55:40] I was playing in the Asics Solution Speed FF4s again. I played in the Cocos again. But I think these Head Revolt 5.0s are still my favorite. They're still in? Weird. I love it. This has been a shock to me. I got some of those on the way, baby. I'm pumped. Tournament? I think I'm wearing these. They're a little bit heavy, but I don't really care about that. Like, I don't have weak-ass legs that can't lift the shoe. Yeah, dude. This guy's strong as... Anyway. Same bag?

[00:56:11] Yeah. ADV? Yeah. It's... The ADV bags are too good, dude. Like, I use two of them interchangeably. The Backpack V2 is like my main bag at home. And then when I fly, I just move everything to the Flex because it actually fits under the seat. Yeah. And I like the Flex a little bit less, but it's still really good. And, of course, it's better for travel. And I try... By the way, I keep trying other bags. I've tried to travel with other bags. I'm like, hmm, I'm going to try this one out. A new one I'll switch over,

[00:56:40] and I always end up back on that ADV Backpack V2. It's just perfect for my use case. Like, regularly having six paddles, a tripod, I have a big glasses case, you know. I have literally, what, six or seven balls in there because I have the new Franklins, the new Selkirks, the Lifetimes. I've been getting people to try all those. And it just doesn't even... Like, it's just easy and super comfortable, even with all that stuff. Yeah.

[00:57:07] Well, new week, same main. Sport a Spitfire. Nothing has dethroned this yet. But it's just... It's got a unique feel. There's really almost... There's only one paddle that really feels extremely similar to this paddle, and that is the Neonic FLX. Neonic. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I love this paddle. The grit, it's still there, bro.

[00:57:33] I mean, I let somebody play with this last week for like 10 games. I'll probably have damn near 150 games plus on this paddle. And it feels fine. It's not like... You know, it is noticeably less gritty compared to the Widebody Spitfire, which actually drops October 8th. So don't miss out on that. And let me double check and make sure that is the correct day.

[00:58:01] It is, yeah, Thursday, October 8th, which will be the day after this airs. So just a great paddle. Love it. I like... Even though I don't have to pay for these paddles, I like the fact that it's $99. It's like if I ever was like, you know what? I think I need an extra one. It's still my top recommended paddle. It's... Because a lot of people who are asking me for recommendations are people who aren't like super freaks in pickleball and they don't know stuff about paddles. And I'm like, dude, just get this one. Yeah. It's $99.

[00:58:31] It's gonna last you forever and there's nothing to complain about. Nothing. So... Yeah. Now, if someone is like a tournament player and they've tried a bunch of stuff, then I might like dig a little deeper and maybe there's a different recommendation. But a lot of, like I said, a lot of people were asking me are casual-ish but looking to get better. That's the go-to recommendation for me. Yep. It's a killer paddle. I wouldn't be playing with it for two months if it wasn't. So highly, highly recommend this. Shill!

[00:58:59] I'm shill using this. All right. Still rocking the Cocos, but I do have those Revolt Pro? Radical Pro? Revolt? Revolt. Revolt Pro shoes on the way, which I'm... The 5.0's is a specific part because the 4.0's and the 4.5's are those same shoes I hated. Yeah. I remember you saying that. That's why these have surprised me so much. I'm excited to check those out. Because you haven't steered me wrong yet. Yonex were solid. The...

[00:59:30] The... The Diodorus? Yeah, the Diodorus. Diodorus were really good. I really enjoyed those. But now, don't even want to look at them. But the Cocos still rocking with those and then rocking the Selkirk Tour Bag still. The new one. And yeah. All right. Let's very quickly talk about kind of our current feel preferences in paddles. Because I've gotten a lot of new paddles on the market that have different feels

[01:00:00] or not as common of a feel profile that we've seen in the past. And I think we're both kind of in that same boat. For me, I'm a soft guy. But it's got to be hollow as well. So, it can be slightly soft. It can be slightly soft and hollow. But it can't be like super soft and dense. Like that's... I'm way out. Like Flick F3 territory. Yeah. Or the original coral. Way out.

[01:00:30] The original coral wasn't terrible. But I probably would pick it up right now and be like, eh, I'm out. But yeah. Soft. Softer and denser is a no-go for me. Stiff and hollow. Totally fine. But I do prefer soft and hollow for sure. That's kind of my preferred feel profile. Which is why I'm rocking that Spitfire pretty hard. That's why I love that Holbrook Fuse. That's why I love that Neonic FLX. But what about you?

[01:00:57] I think our ideal profile is pretty close. But then like our backup or which way we would lean is totally different. Yeah. So, for me, slightly soft. Maybe slightly hollow. Or let's say middle of dense and hollow would be perfect. Yeah. Too hollow? Not a fan. I would actually rather go more dense than more hollow. So that's where I differ from you. And stiff and hollow is a no for me, dog. Yeah. That's just like, I don't want to play with the board. You know, that's what it feels like to me. It feels like a springboard.

[01:01:26] Which, I get it. I can play fine with it. It's just not my preference. I would rather play a soft and dense paddle than a stiff and hollow paddle. Yeah. Notice how neither of us have said stiff and dense. That's the garbage cut quadrant so far. Throw it in the trash. Yeah. But yeah, not too hollow for me. And also, I would say not too soft. Because you go like GX2 power, super soft and hollow. Yeah. Tough to understand. A little challenging.

[01:01:56] So that's kind of a compound, but I guess it's kind of like the middle. Yeah. I know. Well, back in the Flare Prime X days, I liked the stiff paddle. I really did. You love stiff paddles. It wasn't super hollow back then. No. Yeah, I played with the Prism 14mm, the Groovin 13S, 13mm, the Flare Prime X. Which, today, they probably wouldn't be that stiff of paddles. But back then, they were pretty damn stiff. The ESQC, the Paddle Tech. Yeah.

[01:02:25] I played with that for a minute. So I played a lot of stiff paddles, but they weren't super hollow. Something about the stiff and hollow to me feels so, I mean, literally like empty. I hate it. I'm like, what? This is just, I don't know. It just feels super empty. Yeah. So. It's funny. I mean. Yeah. Put me somewhere near the center, and I'm happy. Yeah. Of the fuel chart. Yeah. I just like it on, it's got to just be on the hollow side a little bit.

[01:02:54] It doesn't, I don't really, I wouldn't say I play bad with like super hollow paddles, but probably play a little bit better with something that's kind of like in the middle of the hollow, you know, quadrant. So, not quadrant, but side. But yeah, that's where we're at. I used to be a soft guy. I used to love soft paddles, and then I loved stiff paddles, and now I'm kind of back to soft paddles. So, it's been a whirlwind, you know?

[01:03:24] I've changed preferences drastically. I mean, I used to be too trash for a power paddle. Like, I could, now. Now you like power paddles. Bruh, if it ain't a power paddle, I'm out. It's too soft for me. I'm still too trash for a power paddle. Give me an all-court plus. Yeah. High all-court. That's where I'll play my best. Yeah. I, yeah, like kind of low to mid power categories where I play pretty damn well. If it's like mid to high, I can play well.

[01:03:52] But I can play really bad with it too. So, it's got a, it's a fine line. Fine line that I'm tiptoeing sometimes. All right. Well, I think that's really all we got for this episode. You got anything else before we call it? No. Let's get out of here. This has already been 30 minutes too long. Let's get the hell out of here. Yeah. Yeah. We, we were talking, we were yapping. Well, we will be off next week, but we'll, we will return.

[01:04:20] So if you guys have any topics y'all want us to cover when we come back, be sure to drop those in the comment section below. For anybody who was saying I'm too trash for a power paddle and that's why I can't handle the lifetime. You guys suck. I totally do fine with power paddles. But, uh, man, we don't like X-40s either. We don't know. We do not. Oh, you guys suck. You just like X-40s. No, we don't. Garbage. Yeah. Uh, I do like the lifetime.

[01:04:48] I like a broken in lifetime, but if I could have a slightly softer broken in lifetime, boy, I'd be a happy boy. All right. Well, uh, if y'all have anything that y'all want us to talk about next episode, be sure to drop it in the comment section below. Thank y'all for watching episode 90 of the PP pod. I'm your host Lewis here with my co-host Justin until the next one. We'll see you guys. Peace. Mm hmm.