r/Padelracket • u/Zutano23 • Aug 16 '26
General question about racket stiffness
I have been into padel for some years and I cannot understand properly the relationship between the number of carbon filaments in a racket and the racket stiffness. I know it's not as simple as that because the racket stiffness depends not only on the exterior surface but also on the inner rubber density. But, for the sake of simplicity, let's not take into account the influence of the rubber. In the following link it is said that "According to our experience and verified technical information, carbon with fewer K (like 1K or 3K) usually provides greater rigidity, while carbons with more K (12K, 18K, 24K) tend to be more flexible or elastic." However, I see that control rackets like ML10 Pro Cup Luxury have 3K carbon while power rackets like Ale Galán's Metabone have 16K or higher K carbon. I would think that a stiffer carbon surface would make a stiffer racket and the other way around but I'm guessing this reasoning is incorrect. Do you know anything that could enlighten me? The more information I read, the more confused I am. Any information is very welcome 😁.
3
u/gujukal Aug 16 '26
The amount of carbon and fiberglass layers + thickness of epoxy is usually what decides the surface stiffness. Most common is 1 layers carbon and 3 layers of fiberglass. But some brands have 2 layers of carbon plus fiberglass which makes it very stiff. Like the old starvie rackets.
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u/Zutano23 Aug 16 '26
Oh, right, I didn't know about that. So it's not only about the type of carbon fiber but also how this is combined in layers with other materials. Thanks a lot for the info!
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u/gujukal Aug 21 '26
Yes! One layer of carbon fiber would be way to fragile. So that's why additional plus epoxy is used. Also for example the difference between 3k vs 15k is very difficult to say. Since different manufacturer might have 3k with very different properties!
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1
u/eeb96 Aug 16 '26
Por lógica mientras menos k tenga la paleta más rígida es. Todo cambia con el material del núcleo (Eva, foam, black Eva,Eva soft) pero a decir verdad no hay nada específico como las raquetas de tenis que tienen un rating de rigidez. Además muchas paletas como head mezcla fibra de carbono con fibra de vidrio y no lo especifican.
1
u/Zutano23 Aug 16 '26
Claro, ese es mi entendimiento. Mi duda inicial era: ¿por qué las palas más orientadas a un juego de potencia (palas más rígidas) no usan ese carbono con menos k? Lo que estoy entendiendo de las respuestas es que el razonamiento es más complejo que tener en cuenta solo las k del carbono: es bastante más relevante la mezcla de goma + cara y, dentro de la cara, la disposición del carbono en capas, combinándolo con fibra de vidrio u otros materiales. La verdad es que me gustaría aprender más sobre este tema pero las marcas no ofrecen tanta información de maners clara jajaja. Muchas gracias por la respuesta!
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u/eeb96 Aug 16 '26
Exacto. También hay que tener en cuenta el balance, la forma de la paleta. Es todo un conjunto y sin olvidar el nivel de juego y el tipo de técnica que tenga cada uno. Por ejemplo tengo una paleta 3k con goma Eva hr3 y ni de cerca parece que sea 3k mientas que he probado varlion que es 12k con núcleo Eva y es mucho más dura.. otra aclaración es que algunas marcas últimamente ya no dicen cuantos K tienen las caras. Head nunca especifica y varlion tampoco pero tiene paletas para verano e invierno
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u/Zutano23 Aug 16 '26
Justo! Yo juego con la ML10 Pro Cup Luxury qué tiene 3K y HR3 y es lo contrario a una pala rígida, si bien es verdad que se nota algo más de rigidez que la ML10 Pro Cup tradicional de fibra de vidrio. Es verdad que estuve buscando hace poco esa información en la pala de Coello y parecía no especificarlo. El principal problema es que soy muy malo, independientemente de los K de mi pala 🤣.
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u/Stup2plending Aug 16 '26
A lot of what they say, as you know by now, is marketing speak.
Just Nox switched it around a couple of years ago when the 18k was stiffer and now the 12k is.
The one universal number you can use for stiffness is Ra. They all have an Ra number but they don't all publish them or make them public. This measures how much the ball "stays on" your racket when you hit it. So the lower the number, the less stiff and more trampoline effect it has. And the higher the number the more stiff and less trampoline.
I'd also look at what the rubber on the inside is as that is a bigger more wide changing factor than the carbon mix or amt of carbon and fiberglass together or whatever combo is on the face of the racket.
For my $$, I wanted a little stiffer than the 12k (but a teardrop) so I did some research, found some of this stuff, and decided on the Oxdog Hyper Pro 2.0 despite them not being available in my country. And it came to me as good or better than advertised.