Recess Pickleball Paddle Review: Not My Favorite Paddle

Recess pickleball is a hugely popular brand, so I dedicated my 53rd pickleball paddle to see what’s the hype was about, so I wanted to review a Recess pickleball paddle.

Let me tell you.

While I was extremely impressed with the design (and my daughter was impressed too), I was absolutely NOT impressed by the playability.

For example, even with the discount codes, this recess pickleball paddle was well over $50, which is a turn off given the amazing budget pickleball paddles I found.

I will say that I was thankful that with the speed of shipping. I purchased the paddle directly from the Recess pickleball website, and the paddle arrived in 4 days. That’s impressive as it’s not Amazon.

That said, let’s talk about the unboxing experience, move to playability, talk about the specifications, and ask an important question you have to consider.

Unboxing Experience

I have been spoiled with amazing unboxing experiences with Volair and Bread and Butter, so I try to keep my expectations low.

That said, my expectations were still not met with the recess pickleball paddle experience.

Firstly, the paddle cover is fantastic, and well designed. Unfortunately, that’s where the benefit stops.

The paddle’s cover was quite wrinkly as it appears to be made of only cotton. I have not seen a paddle cover so wrinkly, but I still liked the design.

Thankfully, the paddle behind the cover was equally welly designed. I can understand why many people purchase these paddles, based solely on the design.

I love that the back of the recess pickleball paddle is different. That provided a plus one in design in my book.

Unfortunately, the design of the recess pickleball paddle is where the good story ends. Let’s chat about the playability.

Playability

The recess pickleball paddle was unfortunately acceptable at the power, but I would not say that it excelled as a power, control or spin paddle. I tested this paddle for quite some time, so let’s talk about the basics.

Power

While my serves were okay with the recess pickleball paddle, I did not feel that I got nearly the power with some of my other power paddles.

I would argue that even my Warping Point Grasp Control 20mm would have similar power to this paddle, even though the Warping Point paddle specializes in control and less power.

So, I would argue that the recess pickleball paddle provided okay power, but did not excel in it.

Spin

I often test each paddle for spin. I was thankful to see some grit to the Recess pickleball paddle that allows for more spin, but I did not see enough to get me excited.

When I play with a truly exceptional spin paddle, I can actually see the ball spin up to 1 foot different from where it drops (not on top spins obviously).

It was painfully difficult to spin the ball with the recess paddle, and I did not see the spin distance I would like to see to call the recess paddle a spin paddle.

Control

Finally, I tried to use the Recess pickleball paddle with my new dink set to understand whether this paddle provides control.

Unfortunately, I did not feel that I could get the control needed to provide consistently accurate dinks or drops shots. It was disappointing as I had played multiple practice times with this paddle, and it continued to fail to impress me.

Let’s chat about the specifications.

Specifications

Here are the paddle’s specifications from the website. To see all of these specifications, you would have to click on the features and the specifications.

• 15.9” H x 7.8” W
• Weight: 7.8 oz.
• Grip Circumference: 4.25″
• Surface: Strong and durable fiberglass.
• Core: 14mm thick honeycomb interior.
• Edge Guard: Custom made to withstand the elements.
• Grip: Highly condensed foam used in the tennis and golf industry, covered by a custom color faux-leather grip. Sweat-proof and built to last.
• Grip Band: Custom branded silicone ring that holds the grip in place.
• Canvas Cover: Keeps the paddle safe and clean while not in use.
• USA Pickleball Approved

The first thing that sticks out to me is that the surface is fiberglass, which I do not believe is the best pickleball paddle material. Secondly, this paddle is a 14mm thick honeycomb interior. I believe that a 14mm is a paddle thickness that set more for intermediate to advanced players.

If you are intermediate or below, I would often prefer a 16mm paddle over a 14mm paddle as it provide more stability and control.

Should You Purchase the Recess Pickleball Paddle?

If you are just going for design, then the recess pickleball paddle may be 100% right for you.

I believe that the Friday paddles are well designed, but I would argue that the Recess pickleball paddle design is even better.

That said, if you are looking to actually play pickleball, then you may want to consider alternatives.

For example, a great budget paddle under $50 could do the trick, or if you aren’t as budget conscious, you may look at the best pickleball paddles for control or for spin.

You could also look at the best pickleball paddles for beginners.