Yes, they are made in New Berlin Wisconsin. All the materials are from USA based companies.

Yes, they are!

You can see them on the USA Pickleball Approved Paddle list by entering the name “Drive Pickleball” in the Search Manufacturer box here.

Please read the following:

Our paddles are identified by one or two capital letters followed by a single number. The following explains their meaning. 

STYLE: The letters CT (Contemporary Type) identifies the style that uses two tubes to connect the handle to the paddle. The letter C (Classic) identifies the style with the handle connected directly to the paddle. Both styles have been approved.

MODEL: The number following the style letter/s, identifies the shape of the paddle. All three models (2,3 and 6) are approved.

THICKNESS: The numbers 716 and 916 indicate the thickness of the paddle i.e., 7/16” or 9/16”. Both thicknesses have been approved. 

See FAQ’S below for material description.

Sorry, that will be left up to us, and here’s why. There is a limited supply of some of the wood; when it’s gone, it’s gone. Several of the sources have less than twenty pieces available.

Your paddle will come with a removable sticker that tells you where the wood came from. We hope you appreciate the surprise!

Yes, they will be made from any one of the listed wood sources.

They are innovative and look cool! Besides the obvious, those tubes between the top of the handle and the black (or white) connector create a recess that allows your index finger to rest on the top radius of the handle. Some will find it gives them a more powerful grip by having the ability to “hook” your index finger on that radius.

Carbon fiber: they are strong. They extend well into the paddle and handle. Polished aluminum is available at an additional cost.

Synthetic rubber.

Yes, it is exceptionally durable, and won’t wear off. And, unlike the conventional wrapped handle, our coating can be cleaned with Isopropyl alcohol, hand sanitizers, or even anti-bacterial hand wipes. Want a white handle? Don’t worry, you can keep it looking new by cleaning it occasionally. (Have you seen white wrapped or textured rubber handles that have a lot of play time? Gross!)

Yes, they are made from one of the thirteen sources shown on our About page. They are coated with durable white or black synthetic rubber.

Isopropyl alcohol works great, get the 70% variety. Look for an empty mini spray bottle to keep it in. One large store has them in the travel size product isle. Stores that sell items for a buck also have them. It will only take a minute to spray it on and wipe with a paper towel or cloth.

The following will also work well: small individually wrapped alcohol swabs; spray on hand sanitizers with at least 66% alcohol; gel hand sanitizers work too. Please do not use solvents!

That is your choice. There are too many variables in hand size and a player’s hand position on the handle, for us to make a suggestion. You can find a variety of suggestions online on how to determine the right size handle.

We do offer a variety of options:

For the C6 and C3, the handle can be anywhere from 5 to 6 inches long. The C2 has a longer paddle head, so the handle length is limited to a maximum of 5-1/2inches. The CT style paddle is limited to a handle length of 4-7/8 inches.

Note: The CT style is designed to be held differently, so the short measurement is easily long enough for large hands. The photo shows how we measure the C Style handle. The notch is 3/4″ deep.
Our 6″ handle will give you 5-1/4″ from the paddle to its butt end.

High Pressure Laminate. It is scratch and wear resistant and comes in 16 colors. Now that you know, we will answer another question you have:

Isn’t that “kitchen countertop” material?  That is exactly what it is!  You’re probably skeptical… chuckling, even. As we said in our About page, we know using HPL is out-of-the-box thinking. Yet we believe it is absolutely the best surface for a pickleball paddle. A pickleball will never wear away the surface of laminate.

Our paddle with the standard surface imparts spin on the ball in the hands of a player with that skill. We offer two optional surfaces for those who want to maximize spin: Super Bee Matte Black and Mist Blue SS. The photos show the surface finish.

Super Bee Matte Black	Mist Blue SS	Standard Texture

Just a bit of history regarding Formica. Many people refer to laminate as “formica.” But they are mistakenly using the brand name Formica to identify the material. Formica originally invented it in 1912. They have been providing laminate for kitchens- and many more applications- for so long that the name became synonymous with laminate countertops. We use Formica for half of our colors. Formica, and the other two top brands we use, are made in the USA.

Polypropylene with Honeycomb shaped cells. The white flush rim is a PVC material. All our paddles are made with the same two materials; the only difference is the thickness.

Yes, hand out free ear plugs!

That may not always work, so USA Pickleball is doing something about it. USA Pickleball, the national governing body for the sport of pickleball in the U.S., has recently announced a Quiet Category program. Its purpose is to reduce the sport’s sound output during recreational play. Several types of products are currently being looked at, and the paddle and the ball are just two of them.

DRIVE® Pickleball has developed a new paddle that is proving to be quieter based on real life testing where it counts: on the court. Except for the noticeably quieter sound, it looks and plays the same as our other paddles.

We appreciate USA Pickleball and their program aimed at “keeping the peace” with communities throughout the country. For that reason, we will not make our quieter paddle available until USA Pickleball has officially certified it.

We’re currently waiting to hear from them with the final details of the program. However, our available line has less of a “pop” sound than most paddles. We might ruffle the feathers of other paddle brands for making that claim, but it doesn’t take sophisticated sound testing equipment to make that determination. Our ears do just fine.

There are two thicknesses; they are 7/16” and 9/16” (plus or minus 3/64”). USA Pickleball has approved both.

Our paddles are made in the USA. Our name DRIVE is inspired by Americans love of the automobile. That’s why we use SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) measuring. We are the only paddle brand that we know of that does not use metric measurements.

 Here are the conversions:

7/16” = approximately 11mm.

9/16” = approximately 14mm.

IT’S WISCONSIN BARNWOOD!  IT’S OVER 125 YEARS OLD!  THE BOARD WAS NEARLY 20” WIDE!

Okay, we are well aware there are broken down barns all over Wisconsin, barnwood is not rare. However, in this case, it was obtained directly from the current farmer whose great grandfather built their home on the land in 1898. For the past 6 years, we have been going to buy pumpkins and gourds from them in October.

The owners are nearing retirement. They should do okay; there are 200 acres of prime land. (don’t ask; we are not telling its exact location)