Swing weight
How heavy a paddle feels when you swing it, measured about the handle rather than on a scale.
Swing weight is the paddle's moment of inertia about the hand: how much effort it takes to get the paddle moving and to stop it. Two paddles can weigh the same on a scale and feel very different in the hand if one carries more of its mass toward the tip.
A higher swing weight gives more plow-through and stability on drives and blocks, and a lower swing weight gives quicker hands at the kitchen and less strain on the arm. Lead tape added toward the tip raises swing weight quickly; tape near the throat barely changes it.
What the numbers look like
Across all 812 paddles in our database.
- Lowest
- 89
- 10th pct
- 105
- Median
- 114
- Average
- 114
- 90th pct
- 122
- Highest
- 137
89Each bar is one tenth of the range; the tallest holds 262 paddles137
Average swing weight by core thickness
| 16mm and thicker | 368 paddles | 115 |
| 14mm and thinner | 239 paddles | 112 |
| 15mm | 45 paddles | 115 |
Highest swing weight
Rankings that use this spec
Related terms
Let the numbers pick for you
The quiz weighs every spec on this page against your play style and ranks all 812 paddles.