What to look for in a 16 mm paddle, in the order that matters
Core thickness is the first filter, not the last. Once every paddle on your shortlist is 16 mm, these are the specs that decide which of them suits your arm — and all five below publish them, which is itself the reason they are here.
- Grip circumference. The most under-rated spec on a paddle and the one most likely to be hurting you. A grip that is too small forces you to squeeze to keep the paddle from twisting, and squeezing is what loads the forearm tendons. Franklin publishes 4.5 in (large)on the Signature Series Pro — the largest published grip on any paddle we list. JOOLA publishes 4.25 in on the Hyperion and 4.125 in (small) on the Graf Edge, Selkirk 4.25 in on the Atlas Max. Our grip size guide has the measuring method; paddles for small hands covers the other direction.
- Face material, because it changes the feel of the 16 mm core. Fiberglass (Franklin’s MaxGrit) is the softer, more forgiving face and gives a little more pop; raw carbon (Selkirk, JOOLA, Friday) is stiffer and grittier for spin. A 16 mm core under a fiberglass face is the gentlest combination here. See carbon vs fiberglass and graphite vs carbon fiber for the distinctions makers blur.
- Shape.Three of these five are elongated (16.5 x 7.5 in): more reach, more leverage, and a sweet spot that sits further from your hand. The Atlas Max is the exception at 16 x 7.85 in — a widebody, so the middle is closer to the edges and an off-centre hit is less punished. If your contact wanders, take the widebody. Paddle shapes explained covers the families.
- Published weight, where it exists.Four of the five publish a figure or a range: 7.6-8.1 oz (Atlas Max), 7.9-8.3 oz (Franklin), 7.6-8.0 oz (Graf Edge), 8.0 oz average (Friday Challenger) and 8.3 oz average (Hyperion). The Hyperion is the heaviest here by a clear margin, and on a sore shoulder that figure is the one to respect — see lightweight paddles if under 8 oz is the constraint.
- Handle length, last — unless you hit a two-hander. If you do, the 4.85 in Atlas Max handle will not fit your bottom hand; the 5.5 in and 5.6 in handles will.
What 16 mm gives up
Honesty matters more than enthusiasm here, so: the thicker core costs you power. A 16 mm paddle returns less of the ball’s energy, which means a drive that would have landed deep off a 13 mm paddle lands shorter, and serves take more arm to hit the same distance. For a player who hits cleanly, has no arm trouble and misses the pop of a tennis racket, that is a real loss and 13 mm is a defensible choice. For everyone else the trade is lopsided in favour of the 16: the extra dwell time is what makes a drop shot land in the kitchen instead of popping up, and the game at 55+ is decided by resets far more than by drives. Our control paddles roundup is the broader version of that argument.
A second caveat worth stating: 16 mm is not a cure for a sore elbow. It reduces one input — shock arriving at your hand — and so does a bigger grip, a softer ball and a shorter swing. If your elbow already hurts, the paddle is one change among four, and tennis elbow from pickleball covers the rest. There is a documented link between tendon load and this kind of overuse injury, but no paddle has been shown to treat it, and we will not pretend otherwise.
How we ranked these five
We own none of these paddles and have tested none of them. Every figure in the tables above was read off a manufacturer or retailer spec sheet on the date stamped in that product’s own table, and the ranking is editorial: how many players over 55 each paddle is right for, weighted toward the comfort specs rather than price. There are no scores, because a score would dress spec-reading up as testing — here is exactly what we do.
That filter also set the count. The registry holds nineteen paddles; only these five have a maker who prints the core thickness. Several paddles we like — the ProKennex Kinetic models, the Gamma Obsidian 13, the Paddletek Bantam EX-L at a published 12.7 mm — are either thinner or do not publish the number, and a page that guessed on their behalf would be worth less than this one. Where a cell in a spec table reads “Not published”, that is a finding about the maker, not a gap in our research.
Two of these also carry a price-tier argument. The JOOLA Graf Edge 16 is the only 16 mm paddle we list that lands under $50, which makes it the cheapest honest route into a thick core — it is also the top of our best paddles under $50 page. If your ceiling is three figures rather than two, under $100 has the wider field.
