Sidespin Nova Padel Racket Review

This review will cover the basic features of the padel racket after a few games and close examination of some the features. This racket is currently used on the APT by Pedro Garcia-Conseguera so it's no slouch when it comes to intense games. 

First thing is first, the feel of this racket is superb. The centre of gravity is central which makes the racket feel light and agile enough to adapt to different kind of shots from all over the court, making this a great choice for beginner and intermediate padel players looking to get serious about playing and working their way up to a higher standard of playing. Having said that, this is the weapon of choice of the APT player Pedro Garcia-Conseguera. 

The Structure 

Working our way up from the bottom of the padel racket we find the wrist strap. Annoyingly, the wrist strap is the stringy kind which we don't mind, but we much prefer the self tightening ones. Either way, not the end of the world and I doubt it will affect any kind of player. If you're the one who likes blaming mistakes on technical nonsense, then this may be the racket for you. 

The grip is quite short, my standard sized hand does reach the rubber grip holder. However, this can sometimes make it feel as if you have a smaller racket which can enhance your control. If you like extending your index finger (some people do, don't ask why) then you will find this noticeably shorter. This where we think Sidespin could have made the grip slightly longer by about 1-2cm. 

The heart of the racket is very straight froward with a clean design. There are no carbon or rubber "anti-shock" bits floating around making it comfortable for your non dominant hand to rest easy on the heart of the padel racket.

Moving slightly further up, to the most important bit, is the face. The round face, as mentioned previously, is great. It's simple round shape keeps it looking good with a large sweetspot across the face of the racket. Upon closer inspection, the face shows the carbon texture that is below the paint. The hexagonal/honeycomb carbon pattern acts similar to a 3D face, typically found on Drop Shot rackets but is less pronounced on the Nova. How about we look at this as a middle ground between the smooth face of the likes of the ML10 and the 3D faces of the Conqueror 9.0? Yeah, we agree. Moving on.

The design 

It is rather attractive, don't you agree? No over-complications, just a straight forward contemporary design fusing blues, oranges and a mirrored finished for the logo. We think it's very cool. 

The Technology

The R&D team at Sidespin have managed to create an entirely flat face. Meaning that the face is completely flat from end to end, what did you expect? Notice how we mentioned the huge sweetspot earlier? Yeah, that's why. 

In addition to the tubular frame, we can find the Vibralock technology. This piece of tech is actually built in during the manufacturing process. What do you think of that? 

The reduction in vibration is actually really noticeable. If you're prone to tennis elbow or show signs of it after a game, do take it seriously and invest in anti-vibration technologies that are built in instead of add ons. Sometimes the add-ons can be a bit of a placebo effect just because you spent £15 on a special grip or pieces of rubber that simply mask the vibration instead of killing it, doesn't make you immune.

One of the final things we wanted to touch on is the carbon. We like carbon. And so do a lot of padel racket manufacturers. The carbon on this racket behaves interestingly, while some racket have larger areas of different shaped carbon fibre weaves, this padel racket actually uses the carbon in a more scientific way for both attacking and defending. When moving the racket abruptly, the carbon stiffens to make it more of a harder impact, the opposite happens when preparing for a softer, more controlled shot. The carbon loosens and so does the racket. 

The Verdict

We like it. We think it's a great racket for those looking for a consistent game, so we would not put it into a specific category such as "beginner" or "intermediate". The features all compliment each other very nicely and result in a well rounded racket for all types of games and players.