8:32 - Best spots for normal paddles with edges: • 5" up the throat or • (2) 3-gram strips at the 8 o'clock and 12 o'clock positions, just where the flat side edge begins 12:11 his recommendation for *edgeless* paddles

Thank you for your work, but I’d like to suggest that you lower the volume of the background music. It is very distracting.

The goodness just keeps on coming. Really awesome stuff! Thanks so much for continuing to dig in and clarify where there is so much confusion out there.

Super informative video man! Probably one of the best objective and data driven pickleball video about paddle modification. Keep up the good work brotha✊🏻💯

Awesome video man watched the first one and I’m glad you remade it!

Woah, the ALW paddle setup is crazy. A twist weight of 9 is absolutely insane. Thanks for taking the time to make/update this video.

This is a GREAT video! I just bought the briffidi tester and I had no idea how to use it, so this video was really helpful 😂 subbed!

Solid Science! This systematic and thorough approach is greatly appreciated!! Thank you !👍🙏

You gonna be a front runner for paddle nerd awardee from B&B.

Well done mate, concise, informative and well delivered. Top notch video 😎

Great video! Your approach to the topic was very thorough and fair

Thanks for the good information. Now I know how to modify my paddle without buying an expensive machine.

Okay, so I sold my PPE and had no choice but to test it out on my PCE. I put lead tape all around the paddle, tungsten tape from top of grip up the sides of the paddle and 1 gram lead at bottom of paddle towards grip. It weighed a whopping 11oz!! I played with it and I still have my control but the amount of power I have is unreal!!! Only drawback is… my forearm is so sore after about 30 minutes of play. I need more training to see if I truly like this set up! Thank you for inspiring me!

Great video and thx for the info. Will be trying the 3g weights at 4 and 8 on my Gearbox Control Integra. My only complaint with that paddle is the twist weight and sweet spot, so hopefully that set up will open it up a bit more.

Dang impressive information. Appreciate it

I have a CRBN 3x. I put 3 strips of pre-cut lead tape (3 grams each) on both sides for a total of 6 strips, which equals 19 grams. My paddle now weighs 9.7 ounces. I don't have a problem playing with it or swinging it around. Instead, I work out by doing whole-body resistance training. I also perform pickleball movements using resistance bands. So far, I am doing really well with it.

Nice!! Thank you so much very helpful ...I just got that paddle BD Edgeless

Great video. Would love to see a follow up using a few different brands of protective edge tape. I suspect these tapes are denser than most ppl would expect, and are therefore affecting twist and swing weight, especially when applied to edgeless designs.

Excellent! Thank you

This is THE best video on led tape 👍🏻🙏

This was one of the most helpful and informative videos I’ve seen in a long time. Thank you for doing all this work… but now I’m not really sure I want to change anything at all 😂

Really nice job. Thanks!

Sick video man! Thank you for putting in all the time for this video LOL I can’t imagine how many hours you spent applying/removing/re-applying the weights and also making sure they’re exactly the same on both sides. So precut lead tape seems to be the winner, unless it’s an edgeless paddle. Or if you have a paddle that is extremely light and go with ALW’s setup, 9 twist weight is wild… 124 twist isn’t too bad once you get used to it. I’m curious what would happen if you did ALW on the most popular low swing weight edgeless paddles haha ie the electrum stealth series. Thank you for trying out the weight in the handle! I assumed, it wouldn’t change anything but move the balance point and maybe add more “pop”. Since force=mass x acceleratiob

Grateful for this video.

So glad you did Anna’s paddle, I was waiting for someone to do it and I’m BLOWN. 9?! Nine?! Please make a video with your thoughts on her exact paddle setup

Excellent info. I'm coming around on low swing weight. As a pretty big dude, I don't need the paddle to add power for me, but now that I'm officially Not As Young As I Used To Be, the hand speed at the kitchen matters. Strongly considering the Infinity Black Diamond with your tungsten setup. I'm currently using a 16mm Prism Flash. Tried the Viva Pro Gen 2, but it feels too head heavy and sluggish at the kitchen.

I set up my alw-c 12.7m exactly like anna leigh sets her paddle. I love it!

Great video dude! Love the in depth analysis and not taking too long to get to the point. Your music was a bit loud at the start so it was kinda hard to make out what you were saying, just a heads up!

Thanx for dropping the 411!!

Six Zero is doing something similar with the perimeter weighting on their Infinity line to get the twist weight to about 6.6.-6.8 and keep the sw around 108-110. So luckily you won’t have to mess around with the tungsten tape if you get a new six zero paddle. I love that Six Zero is experimented with weight placement. No other company is doing that. There’s something so nice about getting a new paddle that you can play stock.

Can’t wait for you to do this on the joola gen 3 Hyperion 14mm please !

Looking forward for the Ruby 6.0 to get back in stock, so I try it out!

Sweet Video! I appreciate your curiosity and diligence in making this. I was wondering if you’d be able to help me out with finding the optimal spot for weights on the Diadem Edge 18K standard paddle. Thank you for all you do for the pickleball community!

Curious about tape and the two Kevlar APE paddles. I Longacre’s and somi-hi-bred. Both competing on courts with Ruby.

Thanks. I just ordered the four 8 inch tungsten strips to put on my gearbox Pro Power Integra. Hopefully it goes well. 😊

Love the video and the science-based approach. Maybe you don't want to burden your videos with too much math, but i think it's interesting to note that twist weight is simply a layman's term for what mathmaticians would refer to as "rotational moment of inertia" (RMI). Adding lead tape increases the RMI by the mass of the tape multiplied by the SQUARE of the distance from the twist axis (which is the axis going longitudinally through the handle). The squaring effect is very powerful, which is why adding only, say, 5% to the weight of the paddle can result in adding 25% to the twist weight. It's also the reason why the effect is even bigger on standard paddles than on elongated paddles, if the added weight is to the sides of the paddle. In general, I agree with your approach that for most players, you want to maximize twist weight while minimizing additional swing weight. However, one additional parameter that you sometimes ignore is simply the overall weight of the paddle. The overall weight matters when having to quickly raise and lower the paddle during hands battles. One thing I might take issue with is in the suggestion to add weight to the throat of the paddle (or to the hole in Selkirk paddles). It's unproductive weight - it doesn't strongly affect the twist weight or the swing weight, but it makes the paddle heavier, and therefore slower overall. Keep up the great work! Important stuff needed to cut through marketing hype.

great info on lead tape,

Put the weight on the handle, you'll change the balance point. You get the plow through and you don't lose maneuverability. I have my Vatic pro flash 16mm set at 9 oz with all the weight in the handle. Works great

Awesome!!

I would be curious to see the stats on wrapping the entire ALW paddle with a single strip of tungsten all the way around the paddle. I'm really intrigued by this paddle and would love to try one. The twist weight to swingweight ratio is super good. I do wish the handle was longer, though.

Please make a cheat sheet or doc on optimal lead placements for min maxing on paddles you tried!

Good information. BUT, I think everyone is different and should just play around with different positions and see what FEELS best. I'm new to pickleball coming from a tennis background and found I like the precut strips at the 2, 4, 8, & 10 o'clock position. I play with the B&B Loco.

It would be _SUPER_ helpful if this was in a spreadsheet and with a TL;DR summary somewhere. Also, chapters would be great.

I noticed that electrical tape around the edges of my paddle could raise the weight of the paddle 2-4 tenths of an ounce on the total weight of the paddle....doesn't seem like much but everything adds up plus it helps with twist and swing weight too

Cool cool. I've beefed up the handle on my DBD to a proper man size and ended up with just the 3g on the bottom side, about 1/4" from the 6.0 logo is where I settled. I'm not happy about an overall weight of 8.75oz, she feels a bit chunky but plays well.

Great Vid! What would you recommend for a Gearbox Pro Control Elongated, with the goal of keeping swing weight down as much as possible (its already pretty high in the stock config) and trying to increase the twist weight as much as possible? Thanks

STS great video. Can you test if the placement of the lead tape affect the balance point/sweet spot of the paddle? For instance if the position of the sweet spot is low on your paddle, can you move the position of the sweet spot higher by putting lead tape at the 2/10 vs 4/8?

Great video. I actually just ordered a black diamond infinity today so this is prefect timing for this video. Does adding protective tape on the top portion of the paddle affect anything such as swing weight or twist? Thanks so much! Keep up the great work!

I have the Ruby so I found the tests interesting. However for my play I think stock is not so bad.

Wow, you explain stuff with real clarity. Thank you for helping us with the confusion of different implementation. What would you recommend for the Gearbox pro power elongated?

I went on Amazon, bought some lead 6g per strip (the small individual pieces like the CRBN) so TWICE as heavy at the same length ! this would be nice to see if the 6g per piece at the 5/7 area would be Ideal to increase twist while not affecting the swing as much.

This video is fantastic, man. Quick question. When you say “more lag on drives” can you explain what you mean? … because I *think* I know what you mean and it’s a great way to describe it.

Not many have review the proton soft surface paddles what are your évaluation of it particulurly the john Cicola paddle? Thank' s for your great work

Great vid, and you put alot of effort into it, thanks, but what is swing weight and twist weight measured in?

How would you tape up a Gearbox PPE (given its high swingweight to start), as that was touched on in your first video? Thanks

I'd love to see how adding a hexacore grip changes the DBD :)

Good video. Is that all of the possible options to optimize a paddle?

Curious if you could get numbers on Luxx Invicta with the 2 strips of tungsten running parallel on each side but starting from the top of the grip on throat of the paddle?

One big component you forgot about which affects swing weight is handle balance. I match paddles swing weight of units I like using the hang off the table method. No guessing, and exact placement of lead/tungsten since you move it around while balancing.

Appreciate the video! Wanted to buy some Tungsten tape after your video and was wondering what discount your coupon code provided as it's showing -0.00 for me currently on Selkirk's site.

How would you tape up a Moven and Gruven 13S Bought this paddle as a result of one of your videos, thanks.

Wow this video was much needed thanks! What would you say is the optimal setup for a the 16 MM Joola Hyperion C2?

Tungsten tape doesn't come in 1 inch strips like pre-cut lead tape strips. For tungsten tape, if I want 3 grams on each size, would it be ok to overlap the tape strips 3 times (1 inch each similar to lead tape pre-cut strips) or do you recommend instead of overlapping just having 3 inch starting from the recommended position (4 and 8 o clock)?

That's an amazing amount of data. Have you thought about charting your results. I see a lot of ranking of paddles and a few spreadsheets. If you really want to nerd out, how about some graph charts... in Power Point? LOL

Out of curiosity did you measure the Selkirk Luxx with the longer thin Selkirk Tungsten tape since it's an edgeless paddle?

Where would you recommend lead for the 14mm mach 2 forza? would it still be the start of the flat portion down into the throat or alw it?

You mentioned the Twist Weight Number for the Ruby with Strips added to the handle, but you didn't mention how it changes the Swing Weight. Can you post the number for that if available? I do find the Ruby a little head heavy, so I was curious if adding weight to the handle would help offset that feeling. I do totally concur empirically from my own experimentation that the "optimal" setup for the Ruby seems to be near the handle up into the throat a bit. I personally used Selkirk Tungsten strips and overlapped them in the middle halfway, starting near the handle. I also have a hesacore overgrip applied. Anyway I was curious if putting weight in the handle would help offset the head heaviness at all. Thanks much if you get to and reply to this comment!

Do you think the one tungsten strip running from the bottom of the throat up the sides is more effective, less swingweight and larger sweetspot, then placing 3 gram lead weights on the bottom corners, on curve?

Watched this video again because I have the Black Diamond Infinity and some tungsten tape. I wonder how much swingweight you would save, and twistweight you would lose, if you moved the double tungsten strips lower towards the handle. Did you happen to run this #?

Maybe you could do best lead tape setup for singles players as well as on elongated paddles?

Could we get a paddle specific setup video for DBL 6.0??

I have a crbn 3x and tungsten tape (1g = 1in). What’s optimal position and length? Thanks in advance! Keep these fire videos coming bro

What about lead tape on the handle? And/or around the butt end of the handle? And/or those weighted buttons ends - Slyce.

So does adding weight to the upper half of a paddle increase or decrease wrist lag?

So, with 2 strips of tungsten tape, the BDi has almost the exact twist weight of the Ruby (6.8), but a swing weight that is about 4 points lower (113 vs 117)? This compares to a twist weight of ~6.2 and swing weight of 110 with both the 3 g CRBN strips and a single strip of tungsten tape. The Ruby is my primary paddle, but I also have the BDi-which I use if I'm playing super aggressive opponents and am anticipating a lot of hands battles at the net. In my situation, I'm thinking that the single strip of tungsten or the 3 g CRBN strips might be best because that increases the twist weight and sweet spot but still results in a swing weight that is significantly less than the Ruby. When I add two strips of tungsten, the BDi ends up feeling very similar to the Ruby (wouldn't be a bad thing if I didn't already have the Ruby!). I know the swing weight is still 4 points lower, but subjectively the BDi doesn't feel quite as quick in the hands relative to the Ruby.

I always hear that you're supposed to place the weights on the spots you mishit on often. Is this correct? Like if I tend to mishit with the tip of my paddle 12:00 put it there or on the sides like 3 and 9, place the weights there.

I appreciate this excellent analysis. Would like to see a percentage change of the before and after. I think it would improve the context and add value to this specific analysis.

Banger of a vid ty

Probably a dumb question but what does adding lead tape to ALL OF THE PADDLE HEAD do? I’m considering doing the same since I came from tennis and preferred heavier rackets

Some control oriented paddles are too light for me, is there a way to increase weight without compromising the control aspect too much?

Any update on best placement for Gruvn muvn 13s with tennis elbow?

You mentioned that the benefit of higher TW when adding lead tape is larger for standard or wide body paddles vs the hybrid shape you tested but it would be interesting to see the numbers. For example, by adding 5” at the throat you added 0.6 to TW at the cost of 2.0 SW - what does that look like if done on a standard paddle?

Have you ever tested how much adding edge guard tape impacts the twist and swing weights? It’s usually around 4-5g so have been wondering what the effects are

So can you clarify what the optimal tape set up would be for the Luxx reviewed. I recently got this paddle so I would be very curious. I'm also curious if adding edge guard tape and lead tape would make any impact (hoping it wouldn't)

What do you recommend to place lead tape on the GB Power Fusion??? Thanks.

How much lead do you use on your Mach 2 Forza 16mm? Where do you place it? I play mine stock given the already high twist weight. How do you find the lead helps that particular paddle? Tx and great video content

just started playing with the Prokennex Black Ace XF (elongated &edgeless). Where would you recommend 3G lead precut tape placement to increase the sweetspot. I find that when I hit outside of the center spade towards the edge, the shots become very unpredictable.

What’s the stats on ALW paddle with other set ups?

what was the issue with the measurement device you used for the first video? Were you using the briffidi SW machine too?

How much TW increase if added lead tape for whole edge guard?

Did you try 3g of precut tape on the throat of the paddle but closer to the outside? Also, did you try combining the 3 gram precut tape on top of the 5in of lead tape? Would it double the twistweight and swingweight?

I use the Gearbox C14 Ultimate paddle. Where do you suggest the lead tape should be? I have 1 two inch strip on the sides.

The dbd 6 zero 16 mm is giving me bad forearm pain. I think it’s too heady heavy. Rec where to put tape?

For the 5 inch 1g strips, is it 2 strips per side? Or one strip per side?

I have the new Vanguard Control Lightweight. So, is the best setup for that paddle the 2 strips of Tungsten parallel since it is as light as an edgeless paddle? Or is there a different setup to get the most out of it? Thx in advance for your answer.

My paddle has a stock 7.45 twistweight and 108 swingweight,

Putting a hesacore with overgrip adds a bit of weight to the handle

The dBi lead setup wouldn't it be like a cheaper DB?

Do you think 2gram strips will be much different than the 3 gram strips?

Can you do the ALW paddle without doing the top portion. In other words trying to get the highest twist weight/lowest swing weight.