Accelerated Break-In
Most paddle reviews tell you how a paddle performs out of the box.
But how a paddle performs when new is not all that relevant because all paddles change over use.
The paddle you buy on Tuesday is not the same paddle you’re playing Wednesday. With each hit, cores break in. Power profiles shift. The paddle that passed certification on day one might be playing very differently by the time it shows up across from you in a tournament.
This is the problem Accelerated Break-In testing (ABI) was built to solve.
The premise is simple. Before UPA-A certifies a paddle, we put it through a controlled break-in process designed to simulate the wear that comes from play. Then we test it again. We’re not measuring the paddle the manufacturer wants you to see. We’re measuring the paddle you’re actually going to see on the court.
After breaking in and testing over 500 paddles, we have seen some trends.
Some paddles are remarkably stable. The numbers on day one are close to the numbers after break-in. Those are the paddles built on materials and surface technologies that hold up.
Other paddles change significantly. Cores break in, foam edges become more flexible, and power increases. In over 33% of the paddles UPA-A tests, the post-break-in paddle does not pass the certification, paddles that would pass if UPA-A only tested paddles when they were new.
No other governing body or testing program is doing this and we understand why. ABI is expensive. It’s time-consuming. It takes real engineering and research and slows down the certification pipeline. From a pure throughput standpoint, if maximizing our revenues were the goal, it’s the wrong business decision.
But certification shouldn’t be about maximizing or even optimizing revenues. It’s about protecting the game and ensuring this sport remains fun, fair, and competitive.
If we certify a paddle that plays one way in the lab and a different way in a tournament, we’ve failed the players, the tournament directors, and the integrity of the sport. ABI is the most important test we perform and not something anyone else has invested in doing properly.