JOOLA 3S Pickleball Paddles – Raw Carbon Fiber Surface – Ben Johns Perseus, Hyperion, Scorpeus & Magnus Shapes – Elongated, Wide Body & Aero Curve Designs – 14mm/16mm Paddles – UPA-A Certified

This is my second Scorpeus Series Paddle, and my first one was the Scorpeus 3.Before the Scorpeus 3, i had stayed away from these (and other shapes, such as Magnus' Series Elongated and Selkirks Inviktas) because i wanted to get better at the sport with the traditional shapes that would be "Standard/Regulated" Paddles, after 3 years i decided to try both Magnus and Scorpeus 3 and they both opened totally different approaches on my playstyle and technique.It is no secret why Joola released these Paddles before their 4th Series. USAP Disapproved The Joola Series 3 for Tournament play, the reason? They were too strong, and to be honest, they were. Joola did an outstanding job on designing a paddle that would give you the most advantage while keeping it light and close to regulations.When it comes to the paddle, compared to standard shaped paddles, when you adapt to the subtle differences of the wider shape, you'd feel how the side mass/weight of the paddle makes you want to approach the impact and spin in a slightly different way, you WANT to use the extra horizontal surface to create additional side spin, it is not something that happens consciously, it is hard to explain but you naturally approach swing and technique slightly different and the results are that you adjust your game to it to take advantage of the characteristics of the paddle.Pickleball Paddles are one of those things that might work for you and not for me, but if i had to describe paddles that felt differently after years of the same, this is one that has felt different (alongside the Magnus 3/3S, which is another AMAZING Paddle that feels different) but not only different, but also capable of performing a competitive game with an approach that feels different for me.The surface grip was revised by Joola. Last time i did a review where i mentioned that the Surface was "Sometimes amazing, sometimes not so amazing", but since then i've tested many Joola Paddles from friends and they were all consistent and the grit was very good, produces insane amount of spin if you took advantage of the extra horizontal real estate the paddle offers.Power is slightly higher than the Hyperion, but the Spin is where this Paddle Shines, take into account that these 3S Series are slightly less powerful across the board than the Series 3, there is less "Pop" and less Power, to make them compliant, but still these are MONSTER Paddles that will give you a competitive advantage.The sweet spot is pretty much the whole block, this, along the Magnus 3 and 3s are just solid over all the surface, i don't know if it's related to what they called the "Propulsion Core" but it's solid everywhere.The grip, length and girth/diameter wise is similar to the traditional (Hyperion Series) format.The NFC Tag is a great addition to identify your racquet and probably streamline registration/warranty for Joola, but overall this all reflects in an astronomical $279 price tag.I have to compliment Joola's compromise on making their customers happy and offering refunds from their deregulated paddles, they refunded every Series 3 Owner who returned their paddles, hats off to Joola by biting the bullet on that.I usually complain last about the price tag on Joola's Paddles, and these are NOT getting cheaper, but at least these Scorpeus 3S and Magnus 3S bring something that feels fresh to the table, sure it's not unique, but Joola did it right, and for innovation and quality at least for these two series i can take the high price tag in exchange for the different experience/playstyle.

I own the 14mm Scorpeus 3, the one which was banned by USAP, and while I only consider this review to be a first impressions, I can already tell a difference between the two.. and long story short, I prefer this new version. The big drama was the power and there is less power here. Not a huge drop in power but you can see the difference. It also has less pop, and it's slightly more significant of a drop compared to the power drop, but I find that to be fine for me as it just gives me more control.As previously mentioned, there was some drama with the previous gen 3 paddles. They were banned (and still are) by USAP. Joola created these paddles, and these are not USAP approved by they are UPA-A approved. If you're interested in the details on this, feel free to read into that, plenty have written up on it, but the long and short of it is this- USAP are the long-standing governing body for paddles and UPA-A is a new governing body. This paddles will only be allowed in competitions that allow UPA-A approved paddles. This doesn't necessarily mean they won't be allowed in other events that require USAP approval, that's still up in the air. If you don't play tournaments, none of this matters to you.Power is still the name of the game with these 3S paddles. Like I said, it's been tempered but it's still a power heavy paddle. Pop, too. It's definitely on the pop heavy side.The control is better here. The pop was brought down and that has made it noticeably easier to control. Control has been improved but this is still a power paddle, don't make any mistakes about that.Spin, again, is good. I get more spin with this paddle than most other paddles I own.The paddle is pretty forgiving with it's sweet spot.. Compared to Gen 3? I'm not sure I can tell much of a difference.I'm not sure what difference is creating this but this is a LOUD paddle. I own 14mm and 16mm paddles, JOOLA and others, and for whatever reason, this 14mm Scorpeus 3S is very loud.Overall, I am very happy with it and I consider this an improvement over the previous Gen 3 paddles. As I mentioned, I think this is more of a first impression review and I'll be playing more over the coming weeks and months. I'll be back at some point soon to review this in more depth.

The 3S series was made with a lot of different players in mind, and this one was made for Collin Johns who is a amazing doubles player. It sacrifices the typical shape of a paddle to make hand responses easier at the net and better spins side to side. Most pickleball players are double players so I would definitely consider this. It comes with an extra grip and allows you to register it using NFC. I don't know if that's necessary because why not just a QR code? But the price tag is pretty high, but these things are not getting cheaper. This is a top tier paddle, if you have a different play style consider the Ben Johns or the other 3s generation models.Let's get one more thing straight, Joola has a legal fight with the USAPickle Ball who removed their original 3 models from certification. The 3S was made to address these concerns. They allowed anyone who bought an older model a refund. The original 3 was way too powerful. This generation 3S is approved by UPA ( a competitor of USAPickle Ball). UPA declares that they are different (and better) because they take into account the sound of the paddle as it is hit and other factors that USA Pickleball doesn't. It gives me pause that both certification facilities haven't approved the 3S yet, but it is at least approved at the highest level of competition (UPA). I'm not sure if Joola is even submitting these to USAPickleball out of spite. Joola is a juggernaut in the pickleball business, you can't ignore their presence, I wouldn't be surprised if they were approved as well since they addressed concerns of USAPickleball in the 3S model but also if they propel UPA to be more important than USA Pickleball to approved paddles and balls process. Regardless if you are a recreational player it shouldn't matter, and they are at least approved at high level competition.