CRBN Trufoam Waves Review: CRBN's Top Power Paddle?

Power paddles are dominating the market, and the CRBN Trufoam Waves is CRBN's top power paddle out.

The Waves is a gen 4 paddle that is right at the legal limit of PBCor, the standard USA Pickleball measures paddle firepower.

How does it compare to the Joolas and Boomstiks of the world? Let's find out.

Image via CRBN

Caveats & Disclosures

Thanks CRBN for sending these over. Use code PICKLELI on anything CRBN.

I'll be rating this paddle on my website MyPickleList at the end.

So long story short, I was on a 2 week Asia trip right when I got these paddles, and when I first played with them when I got back, I did not really like them.

I couldn't tell if it was me taking a long break, the paddle, or both, so that delayed my review.

Plus spoiler alert, it took me longer than normal to find a setup I liked, so that also is a reason.

Quick Specs Overview

The CRBN Waves comes in 4 shapes:

• The 1 is elongated
• The 2 is standard
• The 3 is elongated with less handle and more paddle face
• The 4 is a hybrid shape

For the Genesis series, I liked the 2 and the 4 the best, so those are the ones I tried so far.

So the first day I played with them, I did not get used to them.

In stock form I liked the 4 better. Maybe it was because I mained the Genesis 4 beforehand, but that was the paddle I preferred.

The following day I tried my normal setup on the 4 and it was better, just still not as good as I would have hoped.

Then I had a 2 week trip and came back to the paddle. Due to a long break, I didn't really have a good grasp at the time whether it was the paddle or me being rusty.

Eventually I did realize that the CRBN Waves sweetspot is a bit on the smaller side, and that my normal setup wouldn't work on it.

So the setup I ended up doing was my normal setup with additional weight on top, which I rarely do.

My normal setup is 3-4gs at 4 and 8 o'clock, so right above the curve, an Ethos undergrip, and a 7g flickweight.

The reason for this was that it felt dead towards the top, so I added weight specifically to counter that.

So obviously my setup is a bit heavier, even though a lot of the weight is on the handle. The total weight is 9.2oz.

The rest of my review will be based on my current setup for the Waves 4.

Image via CRBN

On-Court First Impressions

Pop

The pop is probably a slight touch below a Pro IV or paddles like that.

Compared to the Trufoam Genesis, Engage Alpha's, J2NF, and the more controllable power paddles, this is a step up.

I think it's near that point where you can flick a ball at someone and they will have trouble.

Control & Feel

Control is much improved with the setup and actually very consistent. I could get everything back pretty easily and the resets weren't too high.

I think one reason is that they got rid of the fiberglass patch in the original Trufoam Genesis and now the whole face layer is fiberglass, which I do prefer due to consistency.

This paddle has more dwell time than the Genesis and most paddles, which I do enjoy a lot.

I'll describe the feel as the paddle having a softer feel that rebounds, which is my preferred feel.

I can easily shape the ball where I want it on all my topspin shots. I do think it has a bit more bite on the more aggressive shots.

Image via CRBN

Power

The power on this paddle is probably a slight step down from a Pro IV or RPM.

More than your other more controllable power paddles. I think certain shots like rolls and flicks can go out if you aren't as careful.

Serves and returns are the same way. Not completely effortless, but with decent effort, you can get them deep.

Image via CRBN

Early Verdict

Now let me rate this on MyPickleList.

MPL is a website I built that does community driven paddle ratings.

The purpose is to be a quick and easy way to see how good a paddle is without having to watch YouTube videos like this one.

We currently have 85+ users and 445+ ratings, and it's only going to get better with more ratings so please join!

If you're in the Atlanta area, you're in luck since we are currently giving $20 gift cards to Premier Racquet Sports if you rate and comment on 5 paddles.

Anyways, after finding out my current setup, the Waves is my main and I do enjoy it.

Despite its weight, it doesn't feel too heavy, although I would say I'm on the stronger side in terms of using heavier paddles.

For pure performance, I would probably rate this an 8-9, but I will have to take points off for the sweet spot without the amount of weight I have on.

So for that reason, I gave it an 8/10.

I think it is ok for a paddle to need weight to perform its best, so I normally wouldn't knock it for that reason.

I just think the amount of weight I added is a lot for most people so I will round my score down.

That being said, there may be a more optimal setup that could be lighter, but yeah I did not experiment with a bunch of drastically different setups.

Overall, great power, yet still controllable. I love the feel of the Trufoams especially this one when weighted up. I can reset well and consistently yet get the more dwelly feel lets me add nice intuitive aggressiveness on more topspin heavy shots.

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