One of the most annoying things is to see a pickleball paddle undergoing wear and tear. After all, you have purchased some good bucks.
Throwing and buying another one is not just the solution.
In this guide, I will explain to you how to fix pickleball paddles effectively and save your money.
Table of Contents
Why do You need to Fix Pickleball Paddle?
Pickleball is increasingly becoming popular in European as well as Asian countries during the last five years or so. A lot of old and new companies are involved in pickleball gear. Go to Amazon and search for pickleball paddles. I am sure that you are going to find hundreds of these.
The price of any good quality pickleball paddle is around 100$ or even more. However, a lot of cheap buying options are available there. But everybody has his/her own budget to buy this sort of equipment.
Buying a high priced paddle doesn’t mean that it will be going throughout your life. One day or another, it’s going to cause some problems for you.
But throwing out your old paddle is not just the right solution. Throwing away your old paddle will result in buying a new one.
- You can’t simply play properly with a damaged paddle.
- Firstly, this will ask for some good hundred or more bucks to get a new one.
- Secondly, you may have to face a certain number of problem in finding out the best pickleball paddle for you
- Even if you have selected and ordered there may be delays in the delivery of products due to any reason including weather etc.
- A new product might not meet your quality parameters actually.
- In case you are not satisfied with the product then once again you have to initiate a customer service process. This may take a considerable amount of time.
- Both delivery delays and warranty claims consume time. You might have a pickleball tournament match right ahead. So you can’t afford such delays.
- You are used to your pickleball paddle for a long time and this creates some sort of affiliation with your gear. Getting yourself comfortable with a new one will take some time.
So, if you are not prepared for any of these, then please don’t throw your old paddle. Instead, pickleball paddle repair work will save you from all of the above problems.
Top 3 Reasons behind Damaged Pickleball Paddle
1). Pickleball Paddle Edge Guard
One of the most leading causes is Edge Guard for Pickleball Paddle. An edge guard is extremely important for the proper working of your pickleball paddle.
Although the main purpose of this guard is that it serves as a pickleball paddle edge protector but actually it helps in holding different layers of paddle together. So, it ensures durability and reliability.
In case of a problem, the edge guard loses firm grip on different layers, and layers start detaching.
The most common issue that occurs is with the edge guard of the pickleball paddle. Pickleball paddle’s handle faces most of the pressure while you smash the ball during a match or even practice sessions.
Usually, you face the following problems:
- Loosening of pickleball paddle edge guard
- Paddle edge falls off or lifts up from the surface
Most of the pickleball paddles are made up of single pieces using aluminum and carbon fiber. So, whenever the edge guard lifts slightly up or down, layers start to become loose. This weakens your paddle and ultimately results in the breakage of the paddle.
2). Balance Problem
This sort of problem is not faced by everybody. But some players like customization of their paddle. This is done by using a lead tape or balancing tape.
You can add a lead tape on your paddle and increase the overall weight of the paddle. This weight increase results in the power and momentum of the paddle.
Some of you might experience some vibration while playing. Balance problems can be resolved by using lead tape in inappropriate places.
3). Damage to the Pickleball Paddle Grip
With the passage of time, handle grip can undergo wear and tear. This sort of damage can pose some serious problems for you:
- You may start feeling slippery.
- On some occasions, you might be feeling grip twisting in your hand while smashing the ball.
- The paddle may slip out of your hand accidentally. It is equally dangerous for both you and your opponent player.
- Loss of control over paddle.
Apart from these problems, you may want to change paddle grip just for your liking and fun. To solve these problems you will require a pickleball paddle grip.
What will you feel while playing with a damaged Pickleball Paddle?
If you have a damaged paddle then simply you will not be able to play smoothly. Winning a game will become difficult for you.
However, for the sake of my audience’s insight I am highlighting different symptoms and problems that you may feel:
- Loss of strength and integrity of the paddle itself
- You will feel that your shots are weaker in strength
- The damaged paddle can cause mishit
- Smashing the ball becomes difficult
- You may feel annoying vibration while playing
- Feelings of a jerk on wrist and elbow
- Shots will require more strength
Top 4 Must-have Pickleball Paddle Repair Parts – [Instant Repair]
To do pickleball paddle repair work, the first thing that you must first know is details about various repair parts available in our community. Let’s hangout through the list of pickleball paddle repair parts.
Edge Guard for Pickleball Paddle
As I have mentioned earlier the edge guard holds different layers of paddle together and gives it integrity. With a proper edge guard, you have the ease and comfort of playing.
In case there is a malfunction in the paddle guard, your game will be severely disturbed. This is the most common cause that needs pickleball paddle repair.
If your paddle edge guard has become loose, then please don’t prolong its usage. Instead, replace the old edge guard by getting some reliable repair parts. Pickleball Paddle Edge Guard Crash Tape.
For enhancing the protection of the pickleball edge guard, you can wrap any good pickleball edge guard tape right on top of it.
Apart from regular wear and tear from regular use, quite often you have seen that paddles felling from the hands of players. Some players throw their gear in feelings of anger and disappointment.
All these actions can cause scratches and crashes to the paddle edge. A crash tape protects the paddle’s edge from such damages.
Moreover, it comes in a variety of colors and designs. So, it adds some additional style to your paddles.
Lead Tape for Pickleball Paddle
It is actually a balancing tape that you can use. Actually, the lead tape is not a repair part. But using this can add stability and weight to your paddle. This can enhance the balance of the pickleball paddle according to your desire.
However, sometimes repair work done by you doesn’t match the quality of a professional fixer. To cope with this, you can use a lead tap for the pickleball paddle to adjust its balance.
You can use a variety of positions on your paddle to add balancing tape. A lead tap can help you in a variety of ways:
- Increase in paddle power and swing speed
- Customizedbalancing point
- Decrease vibration by increasing stability
Pickleball Paddle Grip
Paddle grip is the most important part of your paddle. During hot summer seasons, temperature affects grip material by melting it. Melted grip becomes thin and slippery.
When you try to play with such a grip, the paddles will slip from your hands as you play shots. For a comfortable and enhanced experience, you can replace old grips with new ones easily.
If You are new and searching to find a proper guide for leaning pickleball then you must go and read this how to play pickleball.
How to do a Quick Pickleball Paddle Edge Guard Repair? [Step by Step]
Are you worrying about your paddle’s edge guard? Please don’t be. I am giving you a step by step recipe to repair your pickleball paddle edge guard.
But it will be quick only if you follow these steps carefully. Let’s have a look at these:
Things you need to Do Quick Fix(Step # 0)
It is the foundation of your quick fix guide. In case you don’t follow it then your fix will not be a quick one. You should be proactive in this regard. It’s always a good practice to have a backup with you.
To do this quick fix you will need the following things:
- Pickleball Edge Guard: I personally suggest you keep at least two pickleball paddle edge guards with you. This will come in handy in case your paddle’s edge guard tears down quickly.
- Knife or Scissor: In certain cases, the edge guard is glued to the edges. When you remove the edge guard, some of its chunks will keep sticking to the edges. So, you should have a scissor or knife to clear out all these patches.
- Cleaning Cloth: You will also need a hard cloth to rub and clean the edge guard.
- Glue: You may want to glue the edge guard as before. So, having glue is really awesome.
Remove Old One (Step # 1)
First of all, remove the older edge guard with great care. You can use scissors to cut guard from one side to have some grip. Grip always makes it a lot easier to remove the rubber guard.
Similarly, you can use a knife to cut edge guard into pieces and remove them.
A lot of companies actually glue edge guard to pickleball paddles. This makes the removal task a little time taking. First of all, you should try to remove patches in a clean manner.
However, if certain portions remain sticking to the edge, you can use your knife carefully for scratching these patches.
Scratching will make it easier to remove patches.
Clean Edge Guard Properly (Step # 2)
After complete removal of the edge guard, you may still be seeing small-sized patches sticking to the edges. Use your knife and cloth effectively to rub/scratch these ones. This will surely make you get rid of these patches too.
Replace Edge Guard (Step # 3)
In replacing the edge guard, you may or may not want to use glue. If you intend to use glue, then you will have to follow both A and B steps. Otherwise, only step B is required.
A:
To glue edge guard you will need a good adhesive glue. There are two alternatives for you. In both situations, you should care a lot about using the amount of glue. Use glue that is enough for adhesion.
Over usage of glue will pour out and affect aesthetics.
- You can put glue inside edge guard rubber and then place it on the edges.
- Alternatively, you can glue the paddle’s edges first and then put an edge guard on it.
B:
Edge guards are mostly made up of rubber materials so these are extremely flexible. All you need to do is to extend the edge guard and place it on the edges carefully.
As a tip, always select an edge guard the fits tightly on the edges of the pickleball paddle.
However, please don’t go for over tight ones as these will pose great difficulty for you. You will need a lot of effort to put those on.
You will have to extend rubber guards and overextension may cause damage to these. Similarly, a loose one will not fulfill your purpose as it will not properly fit on it.
How to Enhance Swing Speed and Power of Pickleball Paddle? [Step by Step]
As I have discussed earlier that using a lead tape on a pickleball paddle can enhance speed and power. You can accomplish this by adding tape on top of the edge guard. In this section,
I am going to show you how to use lead tape on pickleball paddle to increase power.
Step 1: Things you will need
- Alcohol or some cleaning liquid
- Cotton
- Scissors
- Electrical Wiring tape
- Measurement Scale
- Lead Tape
Step 2: Clean Edge Guard
The adhesive material is used to attach the lead tape. Moreover, the lead tape is always added to the edge guard. First of all, you will need to clear any sort of dust particles from the edge guard.
You can use a cotton swab and some cleaning liquid to do it. Cleaning edge guard will offer you strong adhesion.
Step 3: Judge Amount of Tape Required
In this step, you will need to estimate the weight required to balance your paddle. Please keep in mind that a ¼” wide and 1” long tape will add 0.25 grams of weight.
Using these metrics and your estimate, you can calculate the length of tape required. This is the most critical step. Without performing this estimation, you will only be wasting lead tape.
Step 4: Cut Desired Tape Length
Lead tape is shipped in lengths. You are not required to use all the available tape. In fact, you need a specific length. Use scissors and a measuring scale to cut the desired length of lead tape. Carefully measure and cut it.
Step 5: Place Lead Tape on Paddle
For enhancing speed and power you will need to add lead tape on the sides and top of the paddle. Use the cut length and start wrapping it from one side to top and from top to the other side.
Step 6: Wrap Up
Fixing lead tape with glue will disturb aesthetics. Its color may add reflection for the opponent which is not a good thing at all. Depending upon the color of the edge guard you can use standard-sized electrical tape to cover up the lead tape.
How to Change Balancing Point of Pickleball Paddle? [Step by Step]
You can use lead tape to change the balancing point of the paddle. Some players like the heavier feelings near the handle while others like it on the paddle side. For the paddle side, you can wrap it on top (as given in the previous section).
To make a balance shift towards your can wrap lead tap on either one or both sides of the handle.
Have a look at these steps:
Step 1: Equipment Required
- Scissor
- Measurement Scale
- Lead Tape
Step 2: Remove Handle Grip
Adding lead tape on paddle grip is not a good option. Although lead tape has a small height. Yet it is high enough to cause gripping problems. To counter this, you will need to wrap it right beneath the grip of the paddle.
For this, you will need to remove the handle grip carefully.
The original company made handle grips are of extremely good quality. You can grab one end (from the paddle area) and open it in a rounded motion.
Don`t rush it as it can tear grip apart. So, do it nicely and easily. This will expose the handle.
Step 3: Add Lead Tape on the Handle
Wrapping lead tape around the handle like grip is really a bad idea. This will again make your grip uncomfortable. Cut two pieces of lead table. The length of tape will depend upon the weight required.
Remember again, ¼” wide and 1” long lead tape length will increase 0.25 grams of weight. If you need 2 grams of weight it will be ideal to cut 2 pieces of lead tape with each piece have a 4” inch length. After cutting lead tape place both the pieces on paddle sides.
Step 4: Wrap Up Grip Again
After you have placed the lead tape on the right spot, again, wrap up the handle grip on the handle. You can wrap grip using a reverse circular motion. After wrapping up the grip, use electrical tape for grip closure.
How to Increase Stability by Decreasing the Vibration of Pickleball Paddle? [Step by Step]
For increasing stability, you will need to lower down the vibration of the paddle. You can add lead tape on both sides (right and left) of the paddle.
You can achieve it using these steps:
Step 1: What will you need?
- Lead tape
- Electrical tape
- Scissor
- Measurement Scale
Step 2: Cut the Lead Tape
It is ideal to use tape lengths on both sides. Using tape on one side will imbalance the paddle as the weight distribution will not be even.
If one side is heavier than the other then it is bound to cause problems.
Again, use the weigh length formula and decide the amount of tape required. Use scissors and a measurement scale to cut the desired length of cables.
Step 3: Place Tape on Paddle Sides
In this step, use both lengths and place them on both sides of the paddle. To understand the position assume that the paddle area is just like a clock. Visualize time numbers written on it.
For decreasing vibration, you will need to capitalize on two positions i.e. 8 ‘o clock to 10 ‘o clock and 2 o’clock to 4 o’clock. You can see it in the below diagram:
Step 4: Wrap Up
Use electrical tape to cover up the places wherever you have used the lead tape.
How to Replace Pickleball Paddle Grip? [Step by Step]
If you are facing problems with your grip it’s time to change it. Changing a pickleball paddle grip is not difficult at all. All it requires is the equipment and patience.
You can follow these steps to change grip:
Step 1: Equipment Required
- Grip (obviously!!)
- Scissor
- Electrical Tape
Step 2: Remove Old Grip
Have a look at both ends of the handle. I am sure you will be able to find a small piece of electrical tape on either or both ends. Peel off this tape.
This will leave your grip open. Use rounded hand motion to remove the older grip.
Step 3: Cut Grip Length (if needed)
Comparing the length of the new grip with the old one is really good practice. This gives a great idea of whether you need to cut it or not.
In case it is long, use scissors to cut it from either end to make it equal to the old one. Whether you want to cut or not that totally depends upon you.
Step 4: Wrap the Grip
This is the most important and critical step. You start it by putting one end of the grip on top of the handle. Place the thumb on it and start wrapping it using a circular motion.
Make sure you wrap it in a good direction. Wrapping too much at one location will make grip raised from that area.
Some grips come with adhesive material coated on the backside. These sorts of grips require great care. Wrapping tape requires you to carefully watch the direction of wrapping.
Step 5: Closure
After you have finished wrapping the grip, the last step is to put a lock on the grip. To close grip on the pickleball paddle edge tape is required.
Cut a small patch of electrical tape and put it on either or both ends of the grip. This will keep the grip fixed from the ends.
Final Words
Throwing your old paddle is never a good solution. Instead, you should go for a quick and cheap alternative to this problem.
I have tried my level best to cover all the aspects of the topic: how to fix pickleball paddle?
In this guide, you have probably understood the repair work of guard edge, grip, and balancing of pickleball paddle. I hope that you have understood and liked all these aspects. In case of any problem and feedback, please write to us.
