Why Gearbox?
Here is an interesting response that I copy/pasted from a forum that I am on, somebody asked for recommendation on the best value cheapie beginner pickleball paddle on the market today?
Even the more expensive paddles are low tech. Cheap plastic core sandwiched between fiberglass sheets with a foam handle and a plastic edge guard. The plastic is the same polypropylene used in yard signs. Basically plastic cardboard with instead hexagon cells in the vertical direction. A 4' x 8' sheet can be bought for $60 and make 25 paddles. I'm thinking of making my own paddles as a hobby and try wood veneers for a unique look.
This is not only spot on accurate, it is also creative and innovative. This is precisely why Gearbox developed the SST technology, they wanted to make something high tech, something unique, something special, and that would endure through the millennium :) Learn more about SST on my TECHNOLOGY page on this site.
Here's a plug for Gearbox, I was at the the Newport Beach PPA Doubles Shootout tournament April 2021, in the merchandise tent buying a Tournament shirt, they had this indoor/outdoor carpeted area with the little practice stubby nets for people to demo/try-out any demo paddle they had available (about 20-25 to choose from). My son and I were trying out some of the paddles we've seen the Pros play with when this guy asked us to vacate the area so that he could make this very video. He picked up two Gearbox paddles, and said under his breath, "I hate Gearbox paddles" and then proceeded to do the carpeted-area takes that you see in the video. Despite the fact that he doesn't know firsthand the brilliance of these paddles, the marketing blurb that he regurgitated is all true. He's a Selkirk guy, and that's OK, but I left Selkirk for something better. Oh yeah and, DON'T buy from the Dink.Store, buy from a true Gearbox loyalist, come see me at Here To Win :)
