THE PADDLE REGISTER · COMPANY FILE
Proton
A hard year: banned from the PPA for three weeks over debts, under USAP grit investigation, settled with JOOLA and stopped production, lost Ge and Daescu. Coyote is the restart.
- Based
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Founded
- 2021
- Ownership
- Founder Charles Darling
- Lines
- Project Coyote · Series Three (Peacock, Roadrunner)
- Pros
- Jackie and Jade Kawamoto
- Patents
- Brand settled JOOLA's patent case
4 IN THE REGISTER · NEWEST FIRST
Aug 7, 2026 · $195 · Honeycomb + foam (Gen 3) Project Coyote Proton's most powerful paddle, connected feel. It arrived two months after Proton settled with JOOLA and stopped making the patent-hit models. USA Pickleball: approved · UPA-A: approved
Nov 2025 · $280 · Full foam (Gen 4) Series Three – Project Peacock Proton's full-foam follow-up to the Flamingo, less than a year later. The Kitchen classed it as an all-court paddle with high spin and dwell, strong at the kitchen line, with enough power to finish points and a need for added weight in the transition zone. It showed the January power leader moving to foam by year's end. USA Pickleball: not confirmed here · UPA-A: not confirmed here
Jan 2025 · $280 · Honeycomb + foam (Gen 3) Series Three – Project Flamingo An aggressive elongated power paddle sold exclusively through Pickleball Central that PPA pros adopted quickly. The Kitchen singled out its spin on third-shot drives; pickleball.com praised control relative to other power paddles and criticised the stock grip. It was the first widely used dual-certified paddle of the UPA-A era. USA Pickleball: approved · UPA-A: approved
Q2 2024 · $280 · Not stated Series One (Type A) Proton arrived in 2024 with a $280 paddle whose NanoTac surface Pickleheads rated among the best for spin and durability, docking half a star for high swingweight. It is on this list less for sales than for what came next: the same brand's Project Flamingo became one of 2025's most talked-about paddles. Launch date is not pinned. USA Pickleball: approved · UPA-A: not confirmed here
EVERYTHING DATED, NEWEST FIRST
- Aug 28, 2026 Project Coyote USA Pickleball lists Proton 'Series 3 - Project Coyote'. equipment.usapickleball.org ↗
- Aug 26, 2026 Project Coyote The Kitchen reviews the 'just released' Project Coyote. thekitchenpickle.com ↗
- Aug 7, 2026 Project Coyote Project Coyote listing published on protonsports.com at $195 (Shopify published_at; original URL slug was 'project-coyote-preorder'). protonsports.com ↗
- Nov 15, 2025 Series Three – Project Peacock Launch: November · reviewed Nov 19; exact date unverified. thekitchenpickle.com ↗
- Jan 15, 2025 Series Three – Project Flamingo Launch: January · exact date unverified. thekitchenpickle.com ↗
- May 15, 2024 Series One (Type A) Launch: Q2 · exact date unverified. pickleheads.com ↗
the whole register · the 2026 calendar · CC0
