I noticed an interesting trend at my local pickleball club today. Many of the women I play with have all suddenly switched to the new Joola Scorpeus pickleball paddle! I hit a few shots with the Scorpeus to see what the hype was about and then asked them what they liked about the paddle.
But first, both the Collin Johns and Anna Bright Scorpeus (not Scorpius, it’s spelled with an e!) pickleball paddles (along with the Ben Johns Perseus pickleball paddle) are the latest pickleball paddle offerings from Joola. Aside from the different colors, the Collin Johns Scorpeus version is 16mm in thickness whereas the Anna Bright Scorpeus version is 14mm in thickness. The dimensions of the paddles are the same. Both have the traditional squarish paddle shape as compared to the Ben Johns Perseus, which has a more rectangular elongated shape.
The Anna Bright version is just a hair lighter (.2oz) and they have the same raw carbon fiber face that I love. Joola calls it CFS, short for Carbon Friction Surface.
All of the latest Joola paddles (Scorpeus and Perseus) have a stiffer feel and harsher sound than the previous Hyperion paddle generation – which gave a softer feel and quieter sound when hitting the ball. This is because the carbon paddle core now goes all the way into the handle, resulting in a stiffer paddle. Other paddles on the market consist of two pieces – the handle is separate from the paddle face and they are fused together.
So why are all the women playing with the Scorpeus now? I got three answers:
The Cool Factor
The Scorpeus paddle design is clean, sharp yet understated. There is a gray color theme that was liked. It seems almost analagous to the now popular grey cement colored cars that you see everywhere out on the road. Hmm…
The Handle
Lots of compliments on the Feel-Tec grip. The spongy handle is quite comfortable and long enough for those who rely on using two hands for both backhand drives and dinks. No additional grip tape required.
The Control
The control is amazing with the Scorpeus. It is quite easy to dink the ball accurately and the squarish shape of the Scorpeus along with the hyperfoam injected walls really expands the sweet spot and cleans up those off center dinks that might not make it over the net with other brand paddles. Resettability was also called out as a strength. The paddle can handle all manner of hard drives directed at players at the net.
And there you have it – the three main reasons women at my pickleball club have switched to the Joola Scorpeus paddle line. If you see someone on the courts using one, definitely ask them to try out the paddle.
Final Word
Since I’ve also played with the Ben Johns Perseus and now the Scorpeus, I can report that the power and spin is there if you are looking for it, but as noted above, they were not the main reasons people were switching to the Scorpeus. For doubles, I would recommend going with the Collin Johns Scorpeus version over the Anna Bright version as it is 16mm and gives you more control. If you’re interested in how the Perseus line compares to the previous Hyperion generation, here are my thoughts.
Joola, the company, was already well known as a table tennis brand. But during the pandemic, they decided to enter the rapidly growing pickleball paddle market, and I’m happy they did. Joola’s latest Scorpeus and Perseus line, while on the expensive side, is really tough to beat from a performance standpoint and is the paddle that I measure other paddles against.