Your first padel racket: a good one for under € 100

You have played a few times with a rented racket and you are hooked. Time for your own. The good news: you do not need to spend much. The expensive rackets are made for players who hit hard and often, and they are usually harder to play, not easier.

What a first racket needs

Forgiveness first. In your first months plenty of balls land off-centre. A racket with a big sweet spot sends those balls back anyway. That is a round shape, or a teardrop with a medium to low balance.

No diamond. Diamond rackets have their sweet spot high up and punish every miss. Great for a smash once you can hit one on purpose. Not now.

A soft or medium core. Easier on your arm while your technique is still growing, and you get more help from the racket on slow balls.

A normal weight. Somewhere between 350 and 370 grams suits most adults. Lighter is fine if you are small or have arm trouble.

What you can safely ignore

Carbon counts like 12K or 18K, 3D surfaces, pro player names. They change little for a starting player, and they are where the price goes up.

The best starter rackets under € 100

This list only shows rackets that cost € 100 or less today at a shop we track, that are forgiving in our profile and that are not diamond-shaped. Sorted on forgiveness first, then on the overall score.

Prices move every day. The list updates with them, so a racket can drop in or out.

One tip

Buy last year's model. Brands release a new version every year, often with small changes, and the old one gets cheaper. On every racket page we show when an older version is technically the same.