Pioneer Neo 14mm Pickleball Paddle, Raw T700 Carbon Fiber Pickleball Racket USAPA Approved for Tournament Play with Paddle Cover, Polypropylene Honeycomb Core Power & Control, Black/Yellow

I just received my Pioneer Neo 14 paddle and when I opened the box, my first thought was "if the manufacturer places as much thought into the paddle as they do the packaging, I am going to be very happy". They did not disappoint with this paddle. I am between a 3.0 and a 3.5 74-year-old player and I am always buying paddles to test them out in hopes of getting just a little bit more of an edge to make up for my lesser agility. I have to say this paddle did just that. Now, I have only played a few games so I can't speak to the longevity of the paddle, but I can speak to the performance. I was making shots that I was not making with any of my previous paddles. I felt the paddle gave me more control and when I had that occasional mishit, the ball still responded well.

Since we got all the necessaries for a driveway pickleball court, I've made an effort to accumulate enough paddles for everyone and guests to play with. However, I've tried to get ones that aren't so cheap as to be flimsy or beneath a more experienced player's level. I'm not sure how this brand measures in the world of pickleball, but I don't think it's a direct knock-off like some seem to be. You go to the website and they seem focused on artistic design, which is kind of cool. Of the rackets I've gotten, though, this also tends toward the higher end, performance-wise.My son is a pretty good rackets player for his age and I use him as a sounding board. He doesn't love this one, preferring one with more touch, but I was able to appreciate it. This racket hits the ball hard. At 14mm, I believe that's what it's designed for and it follows through on that front. At the same time it's light enough for a smaller person. It might give something back in weight by having a slightly narrower face. It also has a relatively slim grip.The carbon fiber face leans toward the less gritty end of things but, like a lot of the carbon fiber rackets, you can still put spin on the ball. Even if this one doesn't appear built for touch, the ball comes off the racket crisply. It's able to perform in the more delicate aspects of the game.Performance aside, I kind of like the oblique smile design on the face. It's subtle enough to not distract or come off as cheesy. But it's recognizable after looking for a second. I guess that more up-market design conforms to the Bond brand's marketing. Otherwise, the construction seems more than reliable.(And if, for comparison sake, you want to see how I/we reviewed other paddles, they're elsewhere in my profile.)

Now that I have several weeks of Pickleball under my belt, I've moved up from much cheaper family paddle kits, mostly fiberglass paddles to this Carbon Fiber. A rather cool design on the paddle face, aesthetic only and unrelated to performance. But if you like it, maybe you'll think your playing better lol. The grip is nice, firm. And again that's a preferential thing, others may differ. This paddle feels like it hits with more authority. Hits harder imo. The face of the paddle feels grittier compared to all of our beginner paddles and imparts more spin. In my case that spin is not always imparted with precision. But its there and I just need more control. All in all its a good upgrade as my skill improves. Not sure if the manufactures hype is worth the price tag though, so 4 stars.

My first thought was that I've never seen a paddle packaged this nicely! It came in a really thick, foam-lined box with a nice little lanyard for your bag. The paddle itself is very nicely crafted. It has great balance and a good grip. It is comfortable to hold. I tried it out for 3 games and then let friends put it through the rounds as well. Everyone thought it had a nice grip and a good face for imparting spin and was just overall comfortable to play with. I'm a solid, intermediate player and have tried a lot of paddles over the years. This one is really nice at the $60 price point. The value is a solid 10 out of 10. It is USA Pickleball approved. I would highly recommend this paddle.

The price for this paddle and the performance it delivers is absolutely amazing. These paddles once costing over $150 or more can now be had for under $50 while performing almost identical if not better. Since the value of this paddle is so good and wanting to see how 14mm (yellow stripe) performs in comparison to the 16mm (blue stripe), I decided to get both paddles and thinking the 14mm slightly more power for my singles game. Having said that, this 14mm that I'm reviewing does seem to provide a bit more power while the overall play and control is on par with the 16mm version. One thing I did notice between the 14mm and 16mm was the 16mm version feeling a bit grittier than the 14mm. I believe this is not intentional though as I've also noticed inconsistency with other paddle manufacturers where two identical model paddles have different grits for whatever reason. Overall, for the price and performance you get with this paddle, it's a great buy while performing like paddles costing many times more.

Picture shows Gen3 tech, but paddle definitely sounds like Gen 1/2 and hits like it. Overall, still cheap enough could be ok for a beginner player that's coming from other racket sports

This item was selected as a charity raffle prize, the kind of exciting reward you might think twice about buying for yourself but would be ecstatic to win. Additionally, pickleball has been gaining significant popularity in my local community, and prizes such as this are very well-received.