THE PADDLE REGISTER · 2026 · CURRENT
RPM Friction Pro V2
Pickleheads: the spinniest paddle they have tested. RPM is one of the two brands still fighting JOOLA's patent case.
- List price
- $249.99
- Launched
- Feb 3 preorder, 2026date known to the day
- Build
- Honeycomb + foam (Gen 3)
- Thickness
- 16mm
- Shapes
- Elongated
- Made in
- China
- Warranty
- 1-year warranty against manufacturing defects, up to two claims
photos and colorways at rpmpb.com ↗ its row on the 2026 calendar
Certification note. USAP passed Dec 18, 2025. UPA-A lists only a 14mm widebody (Apr 1).
Status checked Sep 21, 2026. Lists change; confirm on the USAP and UPA-A lists before a tournament.
TIMELINE
- Dec 18, 2025 APPROVAL Friction Pro V2 passed USA Pickleball approval. pickletip.com ↗
- Feb 3, 2026 PREORDER V2 pre-orders opened at $250 alongside a 50%-off V2 offer for V1 owners (no return required), with the request window closing March 15. pickletip.com ↗
- Mar 15, 2026 PRICE The V1-owner half-price V2 request window closed. pickletip.com ↗
- Apr 1, 2026 APPROVAL Friction Pro V2 widebody 14mm appeared on the UPA-A certified list; the elongated models were not found there. pickletip.com ↗
- Apr 2, 2026 LAUNCH The Kitchen reviewed the released V2 in 16mm (Ignatowich) and 14mm (Ryan Fu) signatures at $249.99. thekitchenpickle.com ↗
HOW IT IS BUILT
Tri-density polymer honeycomb core on a Gen 3 design, with an EVA foam ring and extra edge foam. Axial carbon layup aimed at maximum spin.
- 1Tri-Density polymer honeycomb core (Gen 3 design) with DwellZone sweet-spot construction
- 2enhanced EVA foam ring
- 3additional edge foam and a carbon-reinforced throat (per reviewers)
- Face
- CarbonBite raw carbon fiber surface over the new Axial Carbon Layup
- Edge
- edge guard overlapping the face by 1/8 inch
Construction per pickleballcentral.com ↗
V2 tests at PBCoR .43 versus the V1's .44 (V1 16mm was USAP-approved 2025-08-19); PickleTip ties the refresh to USA Pickleball sunsetting .44 paddles for tournament play from May 2026. Founder James Ignatowich called the V2 a '5-10% improvement'. A widebody V2 is sold by at least one overseas retailer but was not found on RPM's own elongated product page.
VARIANTS · PUBLISHED AND MEASURED NUMBERS
| Variant | Shape | Length × width | Handle | Core | Weight | Swingweight | Twistweight | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friction Pro V2 16mm Elongated (James Ignatowich) | elongated | 16.5 × 7.5 in | 5.5 in | 16 mm | 7.7-8.1 oz | 117 | 6.5 | rpmpb.com ↗ |
| Friction Pro V2 14mm Elongated (Ryan Fu) | elongated | 16.5 × 7.5 in | 5.5 in | 14 mm | 7.6-8.0 oz | 113 | 6.3 | pickleballcentral.com ↗ |
Swingweight and twistweight are each lab's own measurement of its own sample. Unit-to-unit variance is normal.
MEASURED BY THE LABS
The register does not re-measure paddles or copy a lab's numbers wholesale. Power, pop and spin belong to the people with the radar guns; go read them.
FIELD REPORTS · AFTER YOU BUY IT
Reviewers measure a paddle new. Nobody measures it at hour sixty.
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Keep a bag on Rally: log the hours you put on this paddle, when the grit fades, and when it goes dead. It stays on your device until you press "send a wear report", and the report carries no name.
Open the bag on Rally ↗ Compare with…NEARBY IN THE REGISTER
the whole register · everything from RPM · the 2026 calendar · CC0
