ProXR Jolt Review: Best Budget Paddle Out Right Now?

This is the ProXR's latest paddle, the Jolt.

It is used by many of their top pros, and only costs $120.

I personally have never seen anyone using it despite it being out for a while.

Is this a budget paddle we are all sleeping on, or does it deserve the lack of recognition? Let's find out.

Image via ProXR

Caveats & Disclosures

As a 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 new website MyPickleList at the end, so stay tuned!

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

ProXR Jolt Specs & Price

The Jolt comes in only one shape and thickness.

It is an elongated paddle with a 13mm gen 3 core. There is foam around the top edges of the paddle.

The handle is 6 inches for those of you who like longer handles.

It comes in at $120, which is very budget friendly.

My paddle came in at 8.22 oz. A little heavier for a paddle, but let's see how it actually played!

Image via ProXR

ProXR Jolt Performance: Power, Control & Feel

Pop

This paddle has above average pop in my opinion. If you counter well, it gets the job done. It just doesn't have that top tier pop that can win some points bagging the opponents.

Control & Feel

The feel was interesting on this paddle.

At first, it felt very stiff and I did not think I liked it. Coming from the RPM Friction Pro before this, it felt just weaker and more stiff.

But throughout playing with it more, I realized it reset a lot better than I expected. I didn't have much trouble resetting for the most part and it was consistent. I would say it feels on the softer side now, which I do like. Not sure if it is just me, or if it does have some break in.

Regarding dwell time/spin. Many of you may know I play with more topspin in general, and I felt like this paddle was decent, but could have more. My shots didn't have that bite that I really like, but it could be a personal playstyle thing.

Overall felt like the control of this was good. I didn't add on any weight the whole time, felt like it could've potentially improved a bit with weight, but was already solid in stock.

Power

Regarding power, I would say it is a lower tier power paddle, probably similar to the Trufoam Genesis, maybe slightly more if anything.

Serves and returns were harder to get in, and would require swinging faster on those shots. Definitely a noticeable difference coming from the RPM. I felt like I never really missed drives long too much either. Putaways were good, gets the job done for the most part.

I would say this is a good power level if you like full swinging but still want the ball to be close.

Image via ProXR

ProXR Jolt Rating & Verdict

Now let me rate this on MyPickleList.

MyPickleList is the website I built where you can keep track of all your paddles and in the meantime help others determine which paddles to get.

This ideally makes it really easy to see if a paddle is good or not without having to watch a bunch of YouTube videos or blogs like this one!

Overall, I think the Jolt is a very solid paddle. It doesn't have anything in my opinion that makes it super unique to give it a higher score. I just think it's one of those paddles that plays well and will allow you to play well, especially given that I didn't add weight on it the whole time.

The Selkirk Boomstik for example, I think is a more exciting paddle, but in terms of allowing you to play well, I think it potentially may cause players at lower levels to create more mistakes than benefits from its pure pop and power. Undeniably fun to hit the ball really hard though, so understandable.

I am stuck between a 7 and 8, but think I will have to lean towards 7/10. I just think with all the new paddles out recently, there are probably some that will be similar in control but maybe more power/spin/etc.

That being said, from a value perspective, $120 is a great price for a paddle, so definitely something to consider if you like cheaper priced paddles.

Ready to Rate Your Paddle?

View the ProXR Jolt on MyPickleList →

Join the MyPickleList community and share your honest ratings. We need more info to make our data more accurate!

Browse more paddle reviews → | View all paddle ratings →

This is a first impressions review based on a few days of play testing. Long-term durability and performance may vary. Shout out to Premier Racquet Sports for providing the demo paddle.