About Pickle & Spin
Last updated 2026-11-08
Sukie Gao is the founder and editor of Pickle & Spin. She builds the site's paddle catalogue from manufacturer spec sheets and the official USA Pickleball approved-paddle list, and writes the buying guides. Pickle & Spin does not lab-test paddles; every number on the site links to the place it came from.
What this site is
Pickle & Spin is an independent pickleball paddle comparison site. It helps you narrow a crowded market down to a short list of paddles that fit how you play and what you want to spend, and it shows you where every number on the page came from.
The paddle market is hard to read from the outside. Dozens of brands release new models every season, product pages describe almost every paddle as offering “power and control,” and the specs that actually separate one paddle from another, such as weight, core thickness, handle length and face width, are scattered across maker sites in different formats and units. We collect those specs in one place, in one format, so two paddles can be compared line by line.
What you will find here
- A paddle catalogue. Roughly 120 to 150 paddles and paddle sets. Each entry lists the maker’s published weight, core thickness, shape, length and width, handle length, grip circumference and face material, with a link to the page the numbers came from and the date we read it.
- A paddle finder. It asks plain-language questions (how you hold the paddle, whether you hit two-handed backhands, your budget) and explains each pick in terms of the specs that matched your answers. Its rules are published on the editorial process page.
- Side-by-side compare. Put paddles next to each other and share the comparison with a link, so a partner or coach sees exactly what you see.
- A USA Pickleball approved-list lookup. A searchable copy of the official approved paddle list, about 5,400 paddles, copied on 2026-11-08 from equipment.usapickleball.org. See the USAP lookup.
- A grip-size tool based on the ruler method Selkirk publishes for measuring your hand. See grip size.
- Buying guides that explain what each spec does and who it suits, starting with how to choose a pickleball paddle.
What this site does not do
We do not lab-test or hands-on test paddles. That limit shapes everything else on the site, so we state it plainly. We have no swingweight, twistweight or spin figures of our own, and we will not imply that we do. Where another review site has published lab measurements, those numbers are that site’s work. If we ever quote one, we name the site it came from rather than presenting it as our own.
We also do not show star ratings or Amazon review counts, and we accept no sponsored placements. No brand can pay to be listed, to be listed higher, or to be described more kindly. We sell nothing: there is no cart and no checkout on Pickle & Spin. When you click a buy link you leave this site for Amazon or the maker’s own store.
Who runs it
Pickle & Spin is run by Sukie Gao, its founder & editor. She compiles the catalogue from manufacturer spec sheets and the USA Pickleball list, maintains the finder’s rules, and writes and edits the buying guides. Her public profile is linked in the card at the top of this page. When a page on the site says “we,” it means the editorial work described here.
We do not claim credentials, competitive results or years of experience that the site cannot show you. The case for trusting a page here rests on something you can check: every spec links to its source, every source carries a read date, and every page shows when it was last updated.
Where the numbers come from
Specs come first from the maker’s own product or spec page, because the maker is the party accountable for the paddle. Approval status comes from USA Pickleball’s approved list and its Equipment Standards Manual (Rev 3.0, January 2025). We also consult the UPA-A approved list. Listing details such as current price and availability come from Amazon’s official Product Advertising API, refreshed daily and shown with an “as of” date. For paddles sold only on a brand’s site, the price is the one shown on the maker’s store page, with the date we read it.
When player experience is useful, such as a paddle that comes up again and again in r/Pickleball threads, we quote it with a link and label it as user experience. A forum post tells you what players report. It is not a measurement, and we never present it as one.
How the site makes money
As an Amazon Associate, Pickle & Spin earns from qualifying purchases. Some other links are affiliate links too. It costs you nothing extra and never decides which paddles we list. The commission comes out of the retailer’s margin, not your price. Commissions never decide which paddles are listed or the order they appear in. Many good paddles are sold only on brand websites that pay us nothing, and they are in the catalogue anyway, because leaving them out would make the comparison worse.
AI assistance
Articles on this site are researched with AI assistance and edited by Sukie Gao before publication. Specs and prices are checked against the sources listed on each page. AI tools help organize research and draft text. Specs, prices and approval status are checked against their sources by hand before a page goes live, and anything that cannot be traced to a source is removed.
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Contact
Found a spec that does not match the maker’s page, or a paddle missing from the catalogue? Email sukielovesupport@gmail.com. The contact page explains what to include, and the privacy policy and terms of use cover how the site handles data and links.
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Pickle & Spin is an independent site. It is not affiliated with USA Pickleball, UPA-A or any paddle brand. Brand names and trademarks belong to their owners.