Welcome to Selkirk University, your home for pickleball product education, comparisons tips, and all things pickleball! Adding weight to your pickleball paddle can create a lot of advantages. In this article, you will learn how to put weight on your pickleball paddle, the advantages of putting weight at different locations, and how to set up your Selkirk LABS Project 008 for optimal performance.
Where to put weight on your pickleball paddle
Where you put weight can vary from paddle to paddle, but a good first step is to take your new pickleball paddle out to the pickleball court (before you put any weight on it), and play with it for a while.
To know where to put the weight, it's important to understand the topic of “swing weight.” newer players are concerned with the “static weight” of the paddle, which is the actual weight (for example: 7.7 oz., 8.2 oz., etc.).
However, two paddles that weigh the exact same can feel drastically different in your hands if they have different swing weights.
Top of the pickleball paddle
Paddles that are more “head heavy” or have more weight toward the top of the paddle are going to feel heavier than paddles that are more balanced or have more weight in the throat or the handle. So it's important to not just look at static weight but to look at swing weight.
The first thing you should do when you get a new paddle is to feel how fast it feels in your hands, how much power you are generating off of drives, and overall what the paddle feels like in terms of maneuverability.
Middle of the pickleball paddle
After you’ve tested that and have an understanding of how quick this paddle feels, you can then move on to focusing on the sweet spot: Where do I constantly hit the ball, or where is that perfect sweet spot located on the paddle?
After that, you can decide if you want to add weight: If you want to move the sweet spot up or down, you should move the weight up or down accordingly.
Bottom of the paddle
There are many advantages to placing weight at different locations on your pickleball paddle: The higher up you move your weight on the paddle, the more it's going to increase the swing weight, and the slower it's going to feel in your hands. But you're also going to feel a little bit more pop or power. So if you need help with your drives or serves, you could sacrifice a little hand-speed and move that weight to the top corners of the paddle.
However, if your drives and serves feel good and you want a little bit more stability for your dinks and soft shots, you could put weight at the throat or the bottom of the paddle.
If you need a little help with your resets or your midcourt game you could add weight to the sides of the paddle, which will help its ability to not over-twist in your hand.
How to add weight to your pickleball paddle
In this video, Barrett Bass will teach you how to add weight to your pickleball paddle. He is adding weight to his Selkirk LABS Project 008 with Selkirk tungsten tape.
