In the world of pickleball, HEAD is a titan. Decades of engineering dominance in tennis have given them a legacy of quality, and their entry into pickleball was met with high expectations. They haven’t disappointed, creating a full lineup of paddles… but this has also created a lot of confusion.
You’ll hear players talk about the “Radical Pro,” the “Radical Elite,” the “Extreme Elite,” and the “Radical Tour.” The names are similar, but the paddles are very different.
This review is a deep dive into one of the most popular and, in our opinion, one of the most important paddles in their lineup: the HEAD Radical Elite.
Why is it so important? Because it’s built for the messy middle. It’s for the player who is “no longer a newbie but also not fully over the learning curve.” This is the hardest stage in pickleball—you’re learning the soft game, but you still want to hit with power, and you’re not ready to drop $250 on a “pro” paddle.
So, does the Radical Elite bridge this gap? Is it a “power” paddle? A “control” paddle? Or is it something else entirely?
As an Amazon affiliate site, we’ve analyzed the tech, synthesized player feedback, and put the paddle through its paces. This is our 2,000+ word deep dive into the HEAD Radical Elite.
Quick Verdict: The King of Forgiveness
If you only have a minute, here’s what you need to know.
The HEAD Radical Elite is not a “power” paddle. It is not a “control” paddle. It is a “confidence” paddle.
Its single greatest feature is an enormous, forgiving sweet spot that covers nearly the entire face. Its unique combination of a thin 11mm polymer core and a soft fiberglass face creates a paddle that feels “soft like a pillow” when blocking hard shots, yet solid and stable when you take a full, controlled swing.
This paddle is the perfect upgrade for a 2.5 – 3.5 level player coming from a cheap, hollow-feeling starter paddle (like an Onix Z5). It will immediately make your serves more consistent, your drives feel more solid, and your blocks at the net more effective.
Its primary trade-off is elite-level performance. It doesn’t have the “pop” of a 16mm thermoformed paddle, nor the “plush” touch of a high-end control paddle. It is a “master of none” that excels at one thing: making you feel like a better, more consistent player.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Massive, Forgiving Sweet Spot (The whole face) | ❌ Lacks “Pop” (Requires a full swing for power) |
| ✅ Excellent Value (Pro-level feel for a budget price) | ❌ Not a “Dink Machine” (Softness is for blocks, not touch) |
| ✅ “Soft” Feel for Blocks/Resets (Absorbs pace well) | ❌ Thin Core (11mm core isn’t for everyone) |
| ✅ Good Spin (Textured fiberglass face) | ❌ Brand Naming is Confusing (Easy to buy the wrong paddle) |
| ✅ Stable & Comfortable Grip | ❌ Not for Advanced Players (You will eventually outgrow it) |
| ✅ Durable Edgeless Design |
Bottom Line: This is the paddle for the player who wants to gain consistency. If your game is more about controlled, fast, topspin shots than a delicate dink-and-drop game, the Radical Elite is one of the best “tweener” paddles on the market.
Clearing Up the Confusion: “Elite” vs. “Pro”
Before we go further, we must clear this up. HEAD’s naming is confusing. If you are not careful, you will buy the wrong paddle.
- HEAD Radical Elite (This Review): This is the intermediate paddle. It’s known for its fiberglass face, 8.1 oz weight, and a thinner 11mm (or 13mm, depending on the generation) core. It’s built for forgiveness and a soft-but-solid feel. It is very affordable.
- HEAD Radical Pro: This is the advanced paddle. It’s a step up in price and technology. It features a thicker 15mm core for more control and a different face technology (“SpinOn” coating). It’s designed for a player who has already mastered the basics and needs more refinement.
- HEAD Extreme Elite: This is another paddle that is often confused with the Radical. The Extreme line has a “diamond” shape, while the Radical line has a more traditional, squared-off shape. The Extreme Elite is lighter (7.8 oz) and has a different balance.
When you’re shopping, make sure you are looking at the Radical Elite. It offers, in our opinion, the best blend of features and value for the advancing player.
Technical Specifications: The Anatomy of “Feel”
Let’s look at the specs. The magic of this paddle is in the combination of these materials.
| Specification | Value | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Core Material | Polymer Honeycomb (Optimized Tubular Core) | HEAD’s name for its polymer core. It’s designed to be soft and absorbent, reducing vibration. |
| Face Material | Fiberglass Hitting Surface | This is the key. Fiberglass is “softer” than graphite, “grips” the ball for spin, and provides a “plusher” feel on contact. |
| Core Thickness | 11mm | This is very thin! Thin cores are usually “poppy” and loud, but HEAD pairs it with a soft fiberglass face to create a unique, “soft-but-solid” feel. |
| Average Weight | 8.1 oz (230 g) | This is the perfect mid-weight. It’s heavy enough to be stable and absorb shock, but light enough to be “whippy” at the net. |
| Paddle Length | 16 inches | Standard length for a great balance of reach and speed. |
| Paddle Width | 7 7/8 inches | A traditional shape that provides a massive, predictable sweet spot. |
| Handle Length | 5 inches | Standard length, great for one-handed players. |
| Grip Size | 4 1/8″ (Small-Medium) | Uses HEAD’s “Hydrosorb” grip. It’s comfortable and ergonomic. |
| Design | Edgeless (or minimal edge guard) | This design increases the usable surface area, contributing to the huge sweet spot. |
Deep Dive: Deconstructing the “Soft Power” Contradiction
The single most confusing thing about the Radical Elite is its “power.” You will read reviews saying it “lacks power” and other reviews saying it “increased my hitting power immediately.”
How can both be true? Because they are defining “power” in two different ways.
1. Why It’s NOT a “Power” Paddle (The “Pop” Deficit)
This paddle lacks “pop.” When you are at the net and you want to put away a high ball with a quick-wrist flick, you will feel the paddle “just doesn’t have that extra oomph.” The soft fiberglass face and polymer core are designed to absorb energy, not reflect it.
A “banger” who loves a hard, “poppy” paddle (like a Nomex-core Onix Z5) will hate this. It feels “soft, and I feel like it steals all of the enjoyment of hitting the ball!” as one user put it. If you want free power, this isn’t it.
2. Why It IS a “Power” Paddle (The “Confidence” Factor)
So why did one player say, “This paddle gives me so much more power – I immediately felt a difference”?
Because they were upgrading from a cheap beginner paddle. The “power” they’re feeling is consistency.
This is the magic of the Radical Elite. The sweet spot is the entire paddle face. A player upgrading from an inconsistent starter paddle is used to 20% of their hits feeling solid and 80% feeling “off-center” or “dead.”
With the Radical Elite, 100% of your hits feel solid.
This paddle invites you to take a full, confident swing. You don’t have to aim for a tiny sweet spot; you just swing. This “Dynamic Tension” (as HEAD calls it) means that a controlled, full stroke is rewarded with a fast, solid, and accurate shot.
As one player noted: “As in pickleball, we shouldn’t power through our stroke, take a controlled swing and let the paddle provide the power…this is incredibly exactly how this paddle plays…it makes all the power you need, without the effort.”
The Verdict on Power: This is a “power” paddle for a control player. It is a “control” paddle for a tennis player. It rewards good form with controllable power, but it will not give you free “pop.”
On-Court Performance: A Rating Breakdown
Forgiveness & Sweet Spot: 10/10
This is the paddle’s defining characteristic and the #1 reason to buy it. The combination of the edgeless design and the composite face means you simply cannot mishit this paddle. A shot on the “e” in “HEAD” feels the same as a shot dead-center.
This is a massive confidence-booster. It’s the perfect tool for a player who is still developing their hand-eye coordination and consistent contact.
Control & The Short Game: 7.5/10
This is a tale of two “soft” games.
- Blocking & Resets (9/10): The paddle is “soft like a pillow.” At the net, when someone rips a drive at you, this paddle absorbs all the power and “puts it nicely back on the other side.” It’s an excellent defensive paddle for neutralizing bangers.
- Dinking & Touch (6/10): This is where it falls short. The “soft” feel is for absorption, not initiation. As one player confessed, “my dinking hasn’t improved much with the paddle.” The thin 11mm core doesn’t have the “plush” feel or dwell time of a thick 15mm-16mm “control” paddle (like a Radical Pro or a JOOLA). It just takes more “personal control and feelings” to dink.
Spin: 8/10
This is a huge upgrade from any starter paddle. The textured fiberglass hitting surface “grips” the ball well. One player noted, “My serves and return of serves are hitting near the baseline… with a level of spin that I couldn’t achieve with other paddles.”
This is a great paddle for learning topspin drives and serves. It’s not at the elite level of a $250 raw carbon fiber paddle, but it’s more than enough for an intermediate player to be dangerous.
Hand Speed & Maneuverability: 8/10
At 8.1 oz, it’s a stable mid-weight. It’s not a “quick” paddle, but it’s not “head-heavy” either. It’s “whippier at the net and better for quick hand battles than the Joola.” The weight is perfectly distributed to provide stability against hard shots without making you feel slow.
Ergonomics and Build Quality
The “Hydrosorb” Grip
This is a standout feature. It’s a comfortable, ergonomic, and slightly tacky grip that just feels premium. It’s a massive step up from the dry, slick grips on most beginner paddles. One player noted, “I was having trouble holding my paddle solidly because my previous paddles were too large… I can wrap my fingers around it without having to hold it tight.” This reduces wrist strain (though one player did note “paddle wrist shock” at first, this is common when adjusting to any new paddle’s weight and balance).
Durability & Design
The edgeless (or minimal edge) design is a pro and a con.
- Pro: It maximizes the hitting surface.
- Con: On any paddle, an edgeless design is more prone to chipping on the edges if you scrape the ground. That said, HEAD’s construction is high-quality, and the paddle is known to be very durable.
The graphics are simple, professional, and not “flashy.” It looks like a serious piece of equipment.
Who is the HEAD Radical Elite Really For? (And Who Should Avoid It?)
This paddle is an A+ for a specific player and a C- for another.
✅ Buy the HEAD Radical Elite If…
- You are an “Advanced Beginner” (3.0-3.5): This is your perfect first upgrade. It’s the paddle that will take you from “beginner” to “intermediate.”
- You are a Former Tennis Player: You will love this paddle. You already know how to generate your own power with a full swing. This paddle will give you the control and spin to place those hard, fast, topspin shots.
- You Value Forgiveness Above All: If you are tired of mishits and want a paddle that makes every shot feel solid, this is it. It’s a confidence-boosting machine.
- You Play on a Budget: This paddle plays like a $150 paddle but costs a fraction of that. The value is outstanding.
❌ Avoid the HEAD Radical Elite If…
- You are a “Banger” Looking for “Pop”: You will hate this paddle. It will feel “soft” and “dead” to you. You want a Nomex or a thick thermoformed carbon fiber paddle.
- You are a “Dink-Master” (4.0+): If your game is won with delicate touch shots and a precise, soft short game, this is not your paddle. You need a thicker 16mm core paddle (like the JOOLA Essentials or the Radical Pro).
- You are a Brand-New Beginner: You could start here, but a softer, more control-oriented paddle like the JOOLA Essentials might be a better first step to learn the dinking game, which is the weakest part of the Radical Elite.
How It Compares: Key Alternatives
- vs. Onix Z5 (The Beginner Classic): The Radical Elite is a massive upgrade. The player in the review who made this exact switch said it all. The Z5 is a “poppy,” loud, hollow, and harsh Nomex paddle. The Radical Elite is a solid, soft, quiet polymer paddle with 10x the control and spin.
- vs. JOOLA Essentials (The Beginner “Control” Paddle): As one review noted, “If your game is more geared towards dinks and touch, the paddle like Joola is much softer.” The JOOLA is a true “control” paddle for learning the soft game. The Radical Elite is a “control” paddle for learning the power game. The JOOLA is for the dinker; the Radical is for the driver.
- vs. HEAD Radical Pro (The Next Step Up): If you play with the Elite for a year and love its feel but wish you had just a bit more touch and control for dinking, the Radical Pro is your next logical step. Its thicker 15mm core is designed for exactly that.
Final Verdict: The Best “Tweener” Paddle on the Market
The HEAD Radical Elite is a “tweener” in the best possible way. It bridges the gap between something slim and hard (like a Gearbox) and something thick and soft (like a JOOLA).
It’s not the best power paddle. It’s not the best control paddle. But it is the best confidence paddle.
Its superpower is its giant, forgiving sweet spot, which makes every shot feel solid. This paddle doesn’t give you power; it gives you the confidence to use your own. It doesn’t give you touch; it absorbs pace, allowing your blocks to be your best weapon.
For the advancing player who is still building consistency, or the tennis player who wants a solid, stable, and spin-friendly paddle, the HEAD Radical Elite is an absolute home run. It’s a premium-feeling paddle at a beginner’s price, and it might just be the tool that unlocks the next level of your game.