Luzz Tornazo Review: The Underrated Gen 4 Paddle

Luzz has been a super popular brand as of recent.

The Luzz Cannon was a very budget friendly gen 3 power paddle that rivaled the Joola Pro IV's.

And the Inferno was a gen 4 power paddle that I personally really enjoyed.

Their 3rd model that came of recently is the Tornazo, and it's a lot less popular for whatever reason.

Let's see how it actually plays.

My name is Pickle Li. I'm a 5.0 pickleball player and reviewed over 40 paddles on this channel. I created MyPickleList, which does community driven paddle ratings, and there are currently over 700 ratings.

Caveats & Disclosures

Reminder: This is a first impressions review, not a full review. I played with this for a week straight but can't speak to long-term durability.

I'll be rating this paddle on my website MyPickleList at the end so stay tuned for that.

If you are interested in buying this or any Luzz paddle, use code PICKLELI for 15% off.

Shout out to Luzz for sending this paddle over for the review.

Quick Specs Overview

The Luzz Tornazo only comes in one shape, that being elongated.

It is actually the same exact shape and design as the Inferno.

The Tornazo features a 16mm full foam core.

For those who don't know, gen 4 paddles are paddles with full foam core.

Core crushing was a huge issue for the past 2 years, and the introduction of full foam cores seemed to have fixed that.

My paddle weighed in at 7.87 oz which is on the lighter side.

On-Court First Impressions

Pop

Before trying it, some people told me the Tornazo was less powerful than the Inferno, but more poppy.

And that's typically not the paddle profile that I like, so I didn't have high hopes on the Tornazo.

I decided to try out the Tornazo literally right after a drill session with the Inferno and I actually found it less poppy.

I would say there is a slight drop off in pop and aggressiveness in the front. And I wouldn't define the paddle as poppy at least as the main defining characteristic.

Control & Feel

So when I switched to a brand new Tornazo, my first impression was that it wasn't as poppy feeling as people told me.

Rather it felt more plush than the Inferno.

You can even tell from just bouncing a ball on each side by side. The Inferno will have a higher more hollow sounding sound, while the Tornazo will have a more deeper, softer sound.

The Tornazo has more dwell time than the Inferno. You can feel the ball pocket more on basically every shot.

I don't think it necessarily has more spin than the Inferno, but I do enjoy the dwell time.

The sweetspot felt a bit smaller in my opinion.

I noticed it pretty instantly in my drill session but in game it's fine for the most part other than mainly resets.

It is elongated which is part of the reason for the smaller sweetspot, but it was smaller than the Inferno.

In the grand scheme of elongated paddles, I would say it has an average sweetspot.

I found myself edgehitting and it pretty much dying, which is partially a skill issue, but other paddles I played with I don't really have to think much and I can stick my paddle out and reset pretty well.

I didn't have that same effortless reset with the Tornazo.

Just to clarify, the resets I'm talking about are the ones where the ball is coming relatively fast at you and more so reactionary.

And not saying it's horrible, just a bit more mishits than I remember with recent paddles I reviewed.

More on the feel, it has a plush foam feel on drops. There is some dwell time and feels cushioned as you pocket the ball especially in comparison to the Inferno.

I would say even though it has a different feel, it's pretty intuitive as well.

I didn't have any issues placing my shots and I really enjoyed it, especially in the front.

The grit on it I would say is slightly above average. I don't put too much stock in grit alone since it is not the only determinant of good spin + it will wear out. But I know some of you do care about grittiness so I'll try to add it going forward.

Power

So power is a bit interesting.

The first day I played with it, I was ready to call it all court leaning power to a low tier power paddle.

Serves and returns were decent but definitely a drop off compared to the Inferno which is a mid to top tier power paddle.

Then the next full session I had, the power it provided surprised me at times.

On some overheads I was like dang that hit as hard as some mid tier power paddles.

I do think there is some break in, I originally did not think gen 4 paddles had break in, but I guess with all the new innovations, some gen 4's do which makes sense.

I think I will end on a low-mid tier power paddle, which is more enjoyable for me personally than what it was right out of the box.

It doesn't have that crazy power that you may feel with more powerful paddles like the Inferno, modded Quantas, and Boomstiks, but it definitely is enough in my opinion once it breaks in just a bit.

It's at that level where you can play good pickleball with it without thinking too much.

If you don't do anything dumb, your shots will stay in, yet there is enough power to put stuff away.

Just doesn't have that next level of power which may end points quicker against certain opponents.

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 over 150 members and over 740 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 giftcards to Premier Racquet Sports if you rate and comment on 5 paddles. We had 29 out of the 100 people redeem them so far.

Back to the review.

Given what I was told about the Tornazo beforehand, I ended up liking it more than I would have thought.

Once it breaks in slightly, it has a nice softer feel than the Inferno with decent power.

I felt like the sweetspot on the Inferno was better, the Tornazo just had a bit more difficulty with edgehitting more difficult resets.

Like I always say, I probably would've like a hybrid or widebody version, but since it's not available, if I were to main this paddle, I would experiment with some weight setups to see any work.

I'm going to give the Luzz Tornazo an 8/10.

For the Inferno, I'm not sure if mine broke in, but I liked the power level when I played with it relatively new.

On the contrary, I do think the break in on the Tornazo made it more enjoyable overall.

It was a nice intuitive paddle that played well and allowed me to play my game without thinking.

The only issue I had was the sweetspot which may or may not be shape related where I really would want improvement in.

It surprised me with the power towards the end and overall had a good time with it.

I think this paddle is for you if you want a low-mid tier power paddle and do care about durability.

Gen 4 paddles should last you longer than any gen 3 paddle out there.

Also if you want a gen 4 that's not as dense, this one is more soft than an Engage ProFoam or Diadem Edge Blucore where it feels more dense and sturdy.

Although I think I would lean towards the Inferno, at least compared in stock form, I think the Tornazo is an underrated paddle in Luzz's lineup and I do think it is better than the Cannon.

Excited to see what Luzz has in store this year, I am getting sent their Glider paddle as well so stay tuned for that!