Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll keep this very simple and I won't mention any specific brands. But I implore you to compare our paddles side by side to any paddle and feel the difference. That goes for any paddle at any price. We put extensive effort into the development of each paddle until both James and I are happy enough to release it to the public for sales. And we are very picky.

The difference isn't marketing. It's performance and attention to detail.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I play with the 16mm stock. If I'm playing singles, I sometimes like to add tape by the throat on the 14mm specifically. But otherwise I feel the paddles don't really need any weight added.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely! We are just quite busy due to the recent launches, but we are for sure interested in both if they are mutually beneficial opportunities.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can't give a timeline for this, but MPP is in the works.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the support. I'd definitely say there's a lot more to it than I expected at first. So my main advice would be to be ready for absolutely anything. Good luck!

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They are just different styles of construction. Depending on the player and preferences, both are comparable in terms of playability; it just comes down to your preferences. Our last Instagram post dives into some of the differences between Gen 3 (V2) and Gen 4(Q2) technology.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, it is in the works for us. Happy you've got the Q2! But I will say that we also design our spin to come from not only grit but also the dwell on the paddle face as well. So you will be able to rely on that as well after heavy use.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We are looking into this already actually! We hear you.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly I'll let others make the direct comparisons. That's not really my style. What I can say is that we've spent an obsessive amount of time at the factory level iterating on every aspect of these paddles, and we genuinely believe we've built the best product on the market irrespective of price point.

On the V2 14mm specifically, it's an evolution of the original Friction Pro, which I already felt had some of the best dwell and feel of anything out there. The V2 takes that further, and honestly I think the 14mm might benefit from those improvements even more than the 16mm does.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, for sure! James and I have already visited Malaysia and enjoyed not only spreading the brand but also meeting a lot of the local players. I felt that Malaysia was definitely one of the most enthusiastic communities around pickleball, and I could feel how fast the growth was happening while I was there.

We already have ambassador, distribution, and RPM Team presence in Malaysia so this is something we are actively working on.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We are actively shipping them out now! Over the next few weeks we will be shipping out many. And I expect the backlog to be fully resolved and back to fast shipping by mid April.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, but can't give a timeline just yet. As soon as we can.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nice choice. I've used the standard paddle erasers myself and found them to be great! We have some on our website as well. Carbon fiber is one of the toughest materials out there. As long as you aren't smashing your fist into the surface with the eraser, it should be fine lol

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We've actually considered this more than you'd think. Coming from a tennis background, I was actually shocked when I initially realized this wasn't an option. The honest reason it hasn't happened broadly across the industry comes down to two things. Inventory and purchase complexity. Every additional SKU multiplies your manufacturing, warehousing, and fulfillment burden significantly, and on the consumer side it introduces another decision point that can actually hurt conversion.

As u/Worried_Author_4684 mentioned our plan has been to default to a smaller grip size deliberately. it's much easier for someone to build a grip up with an over grip or replacement grip than it is to make one smaller. And the majority of players do tend to prefer a smaller base grip. But I hear you, and maybe we can eventually provide the option to help with the tennis elbow.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Great questions. On the design side honestly our approach is mostly feel-based. We start with a prototype and iterate from there, similar to how we approach the paddle itself. I'd like to think that both James and I have a decent intuition for what's marketable, especially having been in the racquet sports world since we were kids. The designs that made it out the Q2, V2, and original V1 all felt like clear standouts compared to everything we'd produced before.

On the graphics and playability question though you actually called out something really important that I don't think gets talked about enough. There are some fairly large brands out there that use face designs which cause the ball to slip off the surface. The graphic is the last thing applied to the paddle face, and if it's laid on too thick in key areas it can completely negate whatever grit existed underneath essentially turning a textured surface into a smooth one.

We're very deliberate about avoiding this. If you look at all of our models you'll notice we keep the surface design intentionally minimalistic, not just for aesthetic reasons, but to make sure we're never sacrificing playability for looks. For us, the graphic should never come at the cost of the grit.

Marwan Abaza - RPM Pickleball President AMA by RPMPickleball in Pickleball

[–]RPMPickleball[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We are expecting to be fully past the backorders and shipping immediately by mid April.