I have around 5 Ronbus pickleball paddles, and have been a fan of the paddles for a long time, so I was ecstatic to hear that Ronbus was coming out with the new Tenon paddle. I’ve been playing with the paddle exclusively recently, so I’m excited to review this paddle for you.
The public release date for the Tenon is scheduled for Friday, July 24th. I asked Dong Ronbus about a pre-order option, and he mentioning that’s not planned, but Ron may have an early release for Ronbus Connect members on Friday, July 17th. Add your name to this 1 question launch release notification form, and I’ll email you right when it launches to hopefully get it before it sells out, and I’ll include a $20 discount code.
In this article, I’ll plan to share the first impressions as I have two models (R3, and R4), the playability, cost considerations and how to use the code PICKLEBALLER, and then which paddle shape I would choose.
First Impressions
There are four different shapes of the Tenon including R1, R2, R3, and R4. I opted for the R3 which is the elongated option, and R4, which is the hybrid shape. Here’s a close up look at both paddles
Overall, I felt that the paddle’s grip length was really nice on both options, making two handed backhands comfortable. The paddles have Nanoband technology that the team states only 8-15% spin loss of Tenon NanoBond vs 22-32% spin loss of regular raw carbon fiber surface, thus resulting in less spin degradation over time.
Here’s a closer view of the Tenon R3 pickleball paddle.
Here’s a closer view of the Tenon R4 pickleball paddle.
What’s interesting is that each of these paddles have a grip length of 5.5″ making these each fall into a similar elongated grip handle length.
Here are the specifications Ronbus’ CEO provided me.
Playability
The Ronbus Tennon is designed to set the benchmark for all-court control performance paddles, and I would argue that it’s setting itself up as that.
Spin
The spin was one of the first things I noticed with the Tenon paddles, especially when shaping serves. I was able to get really nice movement on the ball, and my knuckle serve had more action than usual. On a few serves, it honestly looked like the ball jumped or moved about a foot after it hit the ground, which made it really awkward for my opponent to handle.
The surface feels like it grabs the ball well without feeling overly gritty or harsh. Ronbus mentions its NanoBond surface is designed for persistent spin, and that matched what I felt on court. I was able to shape serves, roll drives, and get the ball to dip when I needed it to. Here’s a close up of the grip.
Between the R3 and R4, I would call spin a tie. I did not notice a huge difference in spin production between the two shapes. Both paddles let me shape the ball well, especially on serves and drives, and both had that nice bite off the face.
The R3 may give you a little more leverage because of the elongated shape, but in actual play, I thought the spin felt very similar between the two. So for this category, I would not pick one over the other. Both the Tenon R3 and Tenon R4 are strong spin paddles.
Control
Normally, I would expect the hybrid shape to have a little more control and forgiveness, but I actually felt more comfortable with the Tenon R3. The elongated shape just fit my game better.
The R3 is 16.5 inches long with a 7.5-inch face width, while the R4 is slightly shorter and wider at 16.25 inches long and 7.75 inches wide. Here’s a side view of the paddle.
The R4 also has a higher twist weight, which usually points to better stability and forgiveness, but for me personally, the R3 gave me better directional control and confidence.
I could hit two-handed backhands pretty much whenever I wanted with both paddles, which I loved. The 5.5-inch handle gives enough room for that shot, and I never felt cramped. But with the R3, I felt like I could drive the ball, shape it, and place it a little more naturally.
So even though the R4 may be the more forgiving shape on paper, I would still give the control category to the Tenon R3.
Power
The power was probably the biggest surprise for me. I had a lot of pop and put-away power on both serves and returns, and I could really see it when the ball skipped through the back baseline.
There were multiple points where the ball stayed low and shot through after the bounce, making it really difficult for my opponent to return. I probably had around 10 aces while testing these, which is the most I have ever had in a session. That tells me the paddle was giving me more than just decent power. It was giving me easy, usable power.
The R3 has a higher swing weight than the R4, which likely helped with that heavier ball and extra plow-through. The R3 comes in at a 117 swing weight compared to the R4 at 111, so it makes sense that the R3 felt like it had more drive behind it.
The R4 still has good power, but the Tenon R3 wins here for me. It just produced a heavier, more dangerous ball, especially on serves, returns, and two-handed backhand drives.
Cost Considerations
The Ronbus is priced at $169 before any discount code, making this a compelling option considering many paddles in this space retail for around $200.
That said, you can use the code PICKLEBALLER that takes $20 off this paddle’s cost, reducing the price to $149.
$20 Off Discount Code: PICKLEBALLER
Which Tenon Paddle Shape Should You Choose?
Personally, I would choose the elongated R3 option. Here’s why.
I honestly thought there was a chance I would prefer the R4 because hybrid shapes usually give you a nice blend of power, control, and forgiveness. But after playing with both, the R3 just made more sense for how I like to play.
The elongated shape gave me more reach, more leverage on serves, and a little extra power on returns and two-handed backhands. I also felt like I had better control with it, which surprised me. Sometimes elongated paddles can feel a little harder to manage, but the R3 felt natural in my hands.
The R4 may be the better option if you want a slightly more forgiving hybrid shape, but for me, the R3 gave me the better overall playability. More spin, more power, and better control for my style.
So if I had to pick one Tenon shape, I’d go with the Ronbus Tenon R3.
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