A few weeks ago I got back on the court with the fellas and decided to give the Boomstik another try. It had been a while since I used it because I’ve mostly been playing with other paddles like the Volair Shift, but I figured why not bring it back into rotation.
When I first used the Boomstik, I liked it, but I didn’t stick with it long enough. Coming back to it now, the first thing I noticed again was the pop and power. I know a lot of people say it’s too poppy or too powerful, and I thought I might feel the same, but honestly it works pretty well for my game.
We played about 7 games over 2 hours, which is usually how we run it. We rotate partners every couple of games and just keep it going. I recorded all the games like I normally do now and shared them with the group. Watching them back, I felt like I played better than I thought I did while I was on the court.
One thing that really stood out was my drops, especially from the baseline. They felt really smooth. I wasn’t trying to do too much—just keeping the paddle out in front, slowing my swing down, and letting the paddle do the work. The ball was getting over the net clean more often than not.
I’ve also been trying to get better at mid-court transitions, and that’s still one of the harder parts of pickleball for me. It’s easy to hit the ball too hard, pop it up, or dump it into the net. But in these games, I felt a little more comfortable there, especially adding some topspin on balls in the air.
As for the Boomstik itself, it played really solid. Drives had good power, and quick hands at the kitchen felt nice. The paddle feels stable overall, even on shots that aren’t hit perfectly. One thing I did notice is that the ball comes off the paddle pretty quick, so you have to be ready for fast returns.
The handle is something I wasn’t sure about at first, mainly because of the shape and the bigger end cap, but it’s actually grown on me. It feels comfortable now, and I don’t notice any vibration. Two-handed shots feel good too, even though I didn’t get a ton of chances to use them.
With the power, you do have to stay under control. There were a couple of shots where I could tell if my angle was off, the ball was either going long or straight into the net. So it’s not a forgiving paddle if your mechanics aren’t there, but when you’re dialed in, it feels really good.
If I had to point out anything negative, it would be on some serve returns. There were a few times where I sent the ball deeper than I wanted, especially on slice or shorter serves where I had to move forward. It didn’t happen a lot, but I noticed it enough.
Durability is still something I’m not sure about yet. I already saw a small ding on the edge guard, but overall the paddle still feels good and the surface is holding up so far. I just haven’t used it enough to really judge that yet.
At the end of the day, I came away from that session really liking the Boomstik more than I expected. It’s powerful, poppy, and stable, and for my style of play, it fits pretty well. Right now, it’s up there with my Bread & Butter Loco as one of my go-to paddles.
I’m looking forward to getting back out there again soon, hopefully outdoors once the weather gets better. If not, we’ll keep it going indoors.
If you’ve been thinking about trying the Boomstik, I’d just say make sure it fits your game. It’s not for everyone, but if you can control the power, it can be a really fun paddle to play with.
