What Paddles Do the Pros Use?

The honest verdict first: the paddle a professional plays is not quite the paddle you can buy, and the gap matters less than you think. What you can buy is the signature retail model — the frame a tour player's name is printed on, built to the specification the manufacturer sells. What a pro actually has in hand is usually that same frame, hand-selected from a production run for weight and balance and then modified with lead tape, a built-up grip, or both.

So "what paddle does Ben Johns use" has a true and useful answer — the JOOLA Perseus line, currently the Pro V — and an asterisk that nobody selling you one will mention. Below: the four signature models we carry, what the endorsement proves, what it does not, and the single spec difference in the range that is worth more to a normal player than any name on the throat.

Units we claim to have tested: 0,and we hold no tour credentials. Everything here is JOOLA's own published specification plus our editorial read of it. Prices come from our live layer and move daily.

What a signature paddle actually proves

It proves a contract. That is not a cynical reading, it is the structure of the sport: professional players are sponsored, and the paddle on court is the paddle the sponsor makes. The useful inference is narrower than "this is the best paddle," and it is still worth something.

What you can reasonably conclude from a signature model: the frame is good enough that a top-level player can win on it, the manufacturer has quality control tight enough to be confident in a production run, and the construction is current rather than a clearance line. What you cannot conclude: that it suits your game, that it is the best value at its price, or that the pro has not quietly modified theirs.

The part that gets lost is that elite players adapt to equipment far better than recreational players do. A pro can win with a paddle that would cost you fifteen points a session, because their contact point is consistent enough that forgiveness barely registers. That is precisely why "the pros use it" is a weak buying argument for an intermediate player and why we rank on published specs instead — see our methodology.

The range, and how the names map to paddles

JOOLA's signature range is the one most readers are asking about, and the naming is less confusing than it looks once you separate the three axes.

Two things fall out of that table. First, Perseus and Hyperion are different platforms, not different paint — the Perseus is the one most people mean by "the Ben Johns paddle", and the head-to-head is on Hyperion vs Perseus. Second, the Jardim model is the Ben Johns Hyperion with one number changed, which is the most honest thing anyone can say about a signature colorway.

The grip difference is worth more than the signature

JOOLA lists the Simone Jardim Hyperion Pro IV at a 4 1/8in grip against the Ben Johns version's 4 1/4in. Everything else is published identically.

That eighth of an inch is genuinely useful, because it is almost exactly what one overgrip adds back. If you overgrip every paddle you own — most players do — buying the 4 1/4in version and wrapping it lands you at roughly 4 3/8in, which is a size up from where you meant to be. Starting at 4 1/8in and wrapping once puts you back at 4 1/4in. A grip that is too big is the quiet cause of a lot of arm trouble and a lot of lost hand speed; our grip size guide covers how to measure yours, and replacing a grip covers the stack.

Pro IV or Pro V — the generation question

JOOLA launched the Pro V collection in March 2026. The Pro V changes the Perseus formula in two places: a raw-carbon hitting surface and the patent-pending KineticFrame, a slimmer throat built to flex on contact. It is the priciest paddle we cover, at roughly double the Pro IV's current live price.

Our read, which we have not changed since the launch: it is a feel revision rather than a measurable spec upgrade, and the Pro IV remains the better purchase for almost everyone. If you want the detail rather than the summary, it is on the Perseus core comparison and in our Pro V review. The same logic applies to the Scorpeus: JOOLA sells a Pro V version at roughly twice the Pro IV's price for a throat redesign and a face change.

What a pro's paddle cannot tell you about yours

Every paddle in this list is a power-first frame with a 7 on control in our ratings. That is not a coincidence — professional doubles is played at a speed where the paddle's job is to generate and survive pace, and the soft game is handled by hands that have hit ten thousand more resets than yours.

If the points you lose are drops that sit up rather than drives that get blocked, a signature power paddle will make your week worse, not better, regardless of whose name is on it. Diagnose first: power vs control paddles is the five-minute version. And if the paddle you actually need is a standard shape or a widebody, the honest pick from this list is the Scorpeus, with our standard-shape roundup as the cross-brand comparison.

The bottom line

Buy the Pro V if you want the current generation of the sport's most recognisable paddle and the price is not the deciding factor. Buy the Perseus Pro IV 16mm if you want the same platform for roughly half the money, which is the pick we would make. Buy the Scorpeus Pro IV if you want the pro construction in a standard outline. And buy the Jardim Hyperion if your hand sits between grip sizes — which is a better reason than any of the others on this page.

What none of them will do is make you play like the person on the throat. If you want the version of that argument with the evidence attached, it is in do pickleball paddles actually matter.