14mm vs 16mm Pickleball Paddle: Same Model, Two Cores

Most composite paddles are built the same way: a core, traditionally a polymer honeycomb, with a face layer of carbon fiber, fiberglass or graphite bonded to each side, and an edge guard around the rim. The millimetre figure is the depth of that core layer. A 16 mm core is 2 mm deeper than a 14 mm core, about 0.08 inch.

It is not the same as the overall paddle thickness. HEAD, for example, gives the Radical Pro EX15 a 15 mm thickness figure in its listing without calling it core depth, and gives the Extreme Elite an 11 mm paddle thickness; we record core depth only where the maker or the USA Pickleball registry states it as the core. That distinction matters when a listing quotes one number and you assume it is the other.

The word core no longer means honeycomb by default. Of the 96 single paddles in our catalogue with a 16 mm core, 49 describe the core as foam in their published specs: 11SIX24's floating foam and EMA foam cores, Six Zero's Propulsion Foam Tectonic Core, Selkirk's PureFoam, Bread & Butter's EPP and EVA foam, and JOOLA's EPP foam in the Perseus Power FX, among others. 11SIX24 even states that the Vapor Alpha Pro Power has a 10 mm honeycomb inside a 16 mm thickness. So two paddles labelled 16 mm can contain very different structures, and the material line on the spec sheet deserves as much attention as the number.

In our catalogue, 154 of 169 single paddles publish a core depth (four of them list two depths), and they cluster heavily around 16 mm. The 14.3 mm paddles are Paddletek's Bantam TKO-C and Tempest Wave Pro-C; the 15 and 15.2 mm group includes HEAD's Radical Pro EX15 and three Engage Pursuit models; the 12 to 13 mm group includes the Franklin Signature Pro 13 mm and Selkirk's SLK Halo Power XL. The outliers are the Franklin Pilot at 10 mm and Selkirk's three LUXX Control models at 19 mm.

The cleanest way to see what thickness changes is to hold everything else still. Several brands sell one model in two core depths with the same shape, face and handle. The table lists every such pair in our catalogue, with each maker's published weight per version and the date each was added to the USA Pickleball list.

Read across a row and the pattern is modest. JOOLA lists each 16 mm version 0.1 to 0.2 oz heavier, Volair 0.3 oz. CRBN (3X Power) and Six Zero (Ruby, Double Black Diamond) publish the same weight, or a range centred on it, for both depths. Franklin's pair is 13 against 16 mm rather than 14, and the midpoint of its published range moves up by about 0.35 oz at the deeper core. Prices within each pair are the same or close, so thickness is a free choice rather than an upgrade.

The rule of thumb most shoppers meet is that 16 mm means more control and a softer response, and 14 mm means more pop and a quicker paddle. Many retailer guides state it as fact, and it appears in Reddit threads in the same shorthand. One r/Pickleball user summed up the common view as “Thick paddle face: more control… Thin… more power”, which is a fair statement of the belief, offered as player opinion.

Not every maker agrees. Onix's own paddle FAQ says paddles with a thicker core often have more power and thinner cores more control, the exact opposite. A top-ranking YouTube Short for this search also says 16 mm gives more power. We are not in a position to settle that, since the site does not lab-test paddles, so we present these as what they are: claims by the people selling the paddles.

What we can do is count. Some makers label paddles as control, power or all-court. Among the catalogue paddles that carry a control label and publish a single core depth, every one is 15 mm or thicker: nine at 16 mm, HEAD's Radical Pro EX15 at 15 mm and Selkirk's three LUXX Control models at 19 mm. That supports the thicker-is-control idea. But among the 27 power-labelled paddles that publish a single depth, 17 are also 16 mm (five of them 11SIX24 models), against ten thinner ones, mostly CRBN's 14 mm TruFoam Waves paddles. So 16 mm is simply the default depth for both camps, and the label comes from the rest of the build.

Core material helps explain it. 11SIX24 labels its Power 2 models power and its Jelly Bean 2 models control, yet every one of them lists a 16 mm core; the Power 2 line describes a floating foam core and the Jelly Bean 2 line an EMA foam core with a carbon-and-fiberglass face. Same depth, different materials, opposite labels. If you want to predict how a paddle is meant to play, the maker's category and the core material tell you more than the millimetre figure on its own.

There is also a ceiling on how much any construction can add. USA Pickleball caps the paddle-ball coefficient of restitution (PBCoR) at 0.43 for paddles tested from November 1, 2025, down from 0.44. Whatever a deeper or shallower core does, an approved paddle has to stay under that line.

Because the makers' own numbers show only small weight differences between paired versions, the choice comes down to which framing you trust and how you play. These are the situations where the decision is clearest, phrased as what each maker's framing implies rather than as anything we measured.

If you are buying your first good paddle and have no strong view, take 16 mm. It is the depth of 96 of the 154 single paddles that publish a core, so you get the widest choice of shapes, faces and prices, and it is the depth most brands describe as the more forgiving option. Our finder treats 16 mm as the beginner-friendly end for the same reason.

If you already play a quick, attacking style and the brand you like describes its 14 mm as the livelier version, the 14 mm is the one to try, and in the JOOLA pairs it is also listed 0.1 to 0.2 oz lighter. If a brand like Onix tells you the opposite about its own range, follow the maker's description of its own paddle; it knows how it tuned the build.

If you are stuck between two versions of one model, remember what the table shows: the same shape, the same face and the same published size. Thickness is a fine-tuning choice. Shape and weight (our Elongated vs Widebody Pickleball Paddle and Pickleball Paddle Weight guides) move a paddle further than 2 mm of core does, and the How to Choose a Pickleball Paddle hub puts thickness at step five for that reason.

One practical route if you are genuinely undecided: buy the version your preferred maker describes as matching your style, keep the box and receipt, and read the seller's return terms before you hit with it. Since paired versions share a shape and size, the paddle you return and the one you keep will fit your hand identically, so you are comparing only the core.

Listings get this wrong more often than you would expect. The CRBN 3X Power 14 mm listing we read gives the variant as 14 mm in its title but states a 16 mm core in the dimensions bullet, copied from the 16 mm listing. We took the 14 mm figure from the USA Pickleball registry instead, which records a core depth for most entries.

So check in this order. First, the maker's own product page, which usually states the core depth plainly. Second, the USA Pickleball approved list: search the model in our USA Pickleball Approved Paddles lookup and open the official entry, which shows core material and depth for most paddles. Third, the marketplace listing, read with care when its title and bullets disagree.

When comparing a 14mm vs 16mm pickleball paddle in our catalogue tool, the core filter splits paddles into under 15 mm and 15 mm and up, which keeps the 14.3 mm and 15.2 mm outliers on the expected side. Pair that with a brand filter and you can line up both versions of one model and compare their published weight, price and approval date in one view.