Introducing the Avant FPX: Not All Paddles are Created Equal

When we set out to create our own paddle brand, we knew immediately that making "run of the mill" paddles was not on our agenda. There are plenty of companies already doing that and more new brands popping up constantly. With a sport as popular and as enjoyable as pickleball, it isn't surprising! If you take a quick inventory of the paddles on the market, you'll see that almost all use the same basic concept of a honeycomb core, composite (generally carbon fiber or fiberglass) faces, a flexible edge guard, and foam or balsa wood handle buildups wrapped in a rubberized, faux-leather grip. It's a formula that works but leaves so much room for improvement. Our paddles embody that improvement.

The Track Record

Our already successful Gel-Core technology proved that a relatively minor tweak to the internal structure of the honeycomb can yield major benefits and our Avant Exo-Frame has shown to be a vast improvement in structural rigidity and edge durability of a paddle.

Bringing it All Together in a Single Paddle

The Avant FPX combines both Gel-Core and Exo-Frame technologies into a single paddle, providing more features than you'll find just about anywhere else at a price that's significantly lower than other high performance paddles. Let's check it out!

At the heart of the Avant paddles is the Exo-Frame integrated edge guard and handle. Most pickleball players know from experience that the handle/paddle face junction is a critical weak spot inherent in traditional pickleball paddle designs.

The Exo-Frame tackles this weak spot by providing a semi-rigid, continuous structural member that spans from the butt cap all the way through the handle/face junction and continues around the paddle. The V-Strut reinforcements carry the ball impact load from the paddle face through to the paddle handle, vastly increasing rigidity and durability. 

The additional stiffness provided by the Exo-Frame is truly game changing, both technologically, but also in performance and play style. No longer do you have to compensate for the flex that is inherent in traditional paddles. You have a direct connection to the ball, so more than ever you can control the power vs. touch balance by simply adjusting your grip strength.

Internally, our second-generation Gel-Core Polypropylene honeycomb provides the Avant FPX with vibration-damping and inertial stabilizing benefits. We've discussed Gel-Core at length, and you can read lots more about it here.

Real Talk About the Sweet Spot

You'd be hard pressed to find a pickleball player who doesn't have strong feelings about the "Sweet Spot" of a paddle. Reading ad copy on pickleball paddles across the market can be so confusing when almost all paddles brag about "...a larger sweet spot..." Logic tells us not all paddles can have a sweet spot bigger and better than the rest, so we took the step of developing our own "Sweet Spot Tester". It allows us to put the marketing jargon aside and objectively measure the sweet spot of any paddle. 

With the Avant line, we also took color and design to a new level with our color-coordinated edge guards and butt caps. Show your true colors with our 5 vibrant designs!

You can see the full Avant FPX specs, learn more, and buy your own now, exclusively from Players Pickleball