Engage ProFoam Review: Engage's Best Paddle Yet?

Engage came out with 3 paddles recently that drastically differed from their normal offerings.

Their latest release consisted of 2 gen 3 paddles and a gen 4 paddle.

I tried out the Engage ProFoam this past week.

I already reviewed their Engage Alpha, which is the cheapest of the 3 models, so let's see how the ProFoam competes.

Image via Engage

Caveats & Disclosures

Reminder: This is a first impressions review, not a full review.

I've only played with it for a few days, so I can't speak to long-term durability.

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

Shout out to Premier Racquet Sports for letting me borrow this paddle. Check them out if you're in the Atlanta area.

Quick Specs Overview

So like I mentioned, of the 3 new Engage paddles, the ProFoam is the gen 4 version.

For those who don't know, Gen 4 paddle features full foam cores, which supposedly makes them more durable and immune to core crush.

They range from the original Diadem Blucore, which was very control oriented, to the Selkirk Boomstik, which is probably the most powerful paddle on the market.

So as you can see, there isn't really a consistent performance characteristics other than little to no break in time and core crush durability.

The ProFoam only comes in an elongated shape.

My first impression regarding the shape was that this paddle looks very elongated.

I'm not the biggest elongated fan, so it concerned me a bit but we will see how it plays.

My paddle weighed 8.11oz for context.

Image via Engage

On-Court First Impressions

Pop

The pop of this paddle is probably slightly above average.

Counters were solid, not an issue of being too weak. Just nothing crazy like a Boomstik or Joola.

It is a good amount of pop for control, didn't get unexpected pop ups.

Control & Feel

Speaking on control, I liked the control on this thing.

I would say it feels kind of in the same realm as the Diadem Edge Blucore and J2NF, just less blocky than the Edge. That could be difference in the thicknesses as this is 14mm.

The ProFoam is very consistent and played well without weight which is always a good sign.

And even though it wasn't new when I got it, the spin was good and I could dip my shots where I wanted.

The one point I didn't like was just the elongated shape.

I really wish they had a different shape, just felt myself edgehitting a bit more than normal due to the sweetspot being a bit thinner and me edgehitting towards the top on my out of the air dinks.

The sweetspot wasn't bad or anything, I just felt like if it was a different shape, it would've been better.

Power

The power is probably a low tier power paddle.

Similar to a CRBN Trufoam Genesis, maybe slightly more.

Serves are not effortlessly deep everytime like a top tier power paddle, but gets the job done if you put some effort in.

Drives were good, not blowing people away from pure velocity, but I was able to get good drives that dipped + set up my 5th shot drop.

Overhead and putaways were good, didn't feel like it was lacking enough power to put stuff away.

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 60+ users and 300+ 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, I think this is a good paddle, honestly a bit better than I expected. I think it is very similar to the Diadem Edge Blucore. The feel I enjoyed more, a little less blocky feeling. Maybe I like 14mm paddles.

But I did enjoy the Edge Blucore's shape better, as I didn't have any of the edgehit issues.

I have the Edge Blucore a high 7 so rounded up to an 8 and I think that's what I would give the ProFoam. If it was a hybrid or widebody I think I would give it a low 8.

Definitely Engage's best paddle I've tried. I think the Alpha is a close second.

The Alpha I tried was brand new so the grit was better, but this one I just liked the feel more overall.

The Engage ProFoam is a good elongated Gen 4 paddle that fits in the controllable power paddle category!

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