What Kind of Brand Is JOOLA? An Honest Look at Its Strengths and the "Certification Controversy"

"So what kind of brand is JOOLA, really? It's the one all the pros use, right?"—running a shop, I get asked this all the time.

I'm Coach Yoshi. I've played tennis for 15 years, fell hard for pickleball in 2026, and have been trying paddles from every brand I can get my hands on ever since. JOOLA is a name you simply can't leave out of any conversation about pickleball today. But it wouldn't be fair to show you only the glittering side. I'm going to write about both: the bright side, with the strongest player in the world on its roster, and the dark side, the "certification controversy" that rocked the industry. And I'll give you my own answer to the question I get most in the shop: "So is this thing actually a buy?"

JOOLA Started Out as a Table Tennis Institution

This surprises a lot of people, but JOOLA began life as a table tennis brand born in Germany in 1952. The name is a coined word stitched together from the Jooss department store and the town of Landau. With more than 70 years of history, it is blue-blood royalty in the table tennis world. (Incidentally, an American company acquired the rights in 2019, and today's "JOOLA Pickleball" is run by that U.S. team.)

The turning point came in 2020. While table tennis clubs were closed during the pandemic, someone connected with the company happened to spot Ben Johns, the future world number one, and his brother playing on a court near the office—that was the spark, and in 2022 "JOOLA Pickleball" launched in earnest. The know-how built up in table tennis, from surface grit to core materials to edge shape, was carried straight over into paddles.

💡 Coach Yoshi's Tip The strongest pickleball brands are full of career changers from other industries: table tennis (JOOLA), racquetball (Gearbox), even baseball gloves (Franklin). Once you know that JOOLA's strength comes out of table tennis, that crisp, snappy feel at contact makes a lot more sense.

Where It Stands: Straight to the Top with Ben Johns

Sum up where JOOLA sits today in a single phrase and you get "the byword for pro-level, competition-minded play".

The biggest factor by far is the "lifetime contract" it signed with world number one Ben Johns, a rarity even in the history of sport. It then picked up one top player after another — Collin Johns, Anna Bright, Tyson McGuffin (who used to be the face of Selkirk) — until much of the upper reaches of men's doubles was on JOOLA. It also runs a partnership line with tennis legend Andre Agassi.

Market data puts it among the leading brands in North America (Selkirk, JOOLA, Engage and so on), holding second place alongside Selkirk as one of the two dominant names. It's no exaggeration to say that on momentum alone, it's number one in the industry. I covered the overall picture in detail in the 2025 brand ranking.

Product Philosophy: Chasing Power Above All Else

JOOLA's approach to building paddles is unmistakable. This is a brand that has raised the pop, and with it the power, generation after generation.

• Charged Carbon Surface: JOOLA's version of a raw carbon face. The aim is to deliver strength, that crisp snap off the face, and spin all at once.
• Propulsion Core: a horseshoe-shaped channel of foam runs around the outside of the honeycomb core so that the center can float and move, storing and returning energy the way a strung tennis face does. It's the technology behind the explosive power, via what's known as the trampoline effect.

The models that define the brand are the Elongated Perseus, Ben Johns' signature paddle, the early classic Hyperion, and the slightly more forgiving Scorpeus. That power-first mindset is exactly what makes JOOLA appealing, and it's also, as we'll see, the cause of the shadow side.

Who Does This Brand Land With?

Pulling all of that together, here is who JOOLA suits.

• Players who want to put real power behind their drives and speed-ups
• Competition-minded intermediate to advanced players who want the real thing the pros actually use
• Anyone who wants to generate serious spin from a raw carbon face

Conversely, if you're a beginner just getting started, or someone whose priority is a soft touch and control above all else, it may honestly be a bit more paddle than you can use. The feel is firm and substantial, so opinions split there. I've laid out the difference between the two camps in control paddles vs. power paddles, so have a read if you're torn.

The "Certification Controversy" We Can't Skip Over

Now for the part that matters most. You can't talk about JOOLA without covering the 2024 "certification controversy". It's an inconvenient subject for a shop to raise, but hiding it would be the dishonest thing to do, so I'll write it straight.

1. The Gen3 decertification (2024) JOOLA launched Gen3, its most powerful generation yet, but in May 2024 JOOLA itself reported that the paddles were not the same as the ones submitted for certification, and USA Pickleball (USAP) removed them from its approved list. JOOLA put out a refund program for buyers while also refusing to accept USAP's ruling, and the dispute ended up fought in court.

2. The MOD TA-15 and a second ban The workaround model that followed was banned in 2025 as well, for being too lively under PBCoR, the coefficient-of-restitution test USAP had newly introduced. Two certification problems in a little over a year shook confidence in the brand badly.

3. The litigation is still going on The consumer class action is heading toward a settlement of roughly $790,000, but USAP has filed a countersuit against JOOLA, and as of 2026 the dispute continues over the claim that JOOLA submitted a detuned version for certification while selling a hotter version at retail.

💡 Coach Yoshi's Tip That said, it would be unfair to look at only one side and leave it there. This whole episode is also what prompted the industry to tighten its power standard (PBCoR). And the Pro IV / Pro V generations on sale now comply properly with both the USAP and the UPA-A standards. Pushed too hard, ran into the rules, and then got itself back in line—that's where JOOLA sits today. I explain how certification itself works in the difference between USAP and UPA-A certification.

There are other weak points. First, the prices sit at the very top of the industry, and the complaint that they're expensive never really goes away. One view holds that the cost of the big sponsorship deals with Ben Johns and many other top pros is baked into the product price (the manufacturer has never said as much, so treat that as one interpretation and nothing more). Overseas reviews do bring up plenty of dissatisfaction with the balance between price and quality: "it doesn't feel worth the price," "if the feel is similar, a more affordable paddle will do the job," "the durability doesn't justify the price." Beyond that, there are reports of unit-to-unit variation in surface grit and feel, worries about the dead spots and delamination peculiar to the Propulsion Core, and the criticism that the lineup leans on Ben Johns and has so many models that choosing is hard. These strike me as points to take on the chin honestly.

The Situation in Japan

Japan has an official local subsidiary, JOOLA Japan Co., Ltd. (established June 2024). Its first Japanese ambassador was Yuta Funemizu, who came out of soft tennis, but he signed an ambassador agreement with DIADEM in January 2026 and is no longer a JOOLA ambassador (he was the first Japanese player in the U.S. major league, MLP, and now plays with a DIADEM signature model). Even so, because the table tennis name carries so much recognition here, JOOLA is a brand you can find Japanese-language information about relatively easily.

One thing to watch when you buy. This isn't limited to JOOLA, but parallel imports of overseas brands sometimes can't be covered by the manufacturer's warranty. JOOLA in particular has churned through certified models, so it's safer to check which generation a paddle is and where it stands on certification before you buy.

Summary: My Own Take

JOOLA is the hottest brand out there right now, on power and on sheer noise. Ben Johns as the ultimate headline act, engineering that comes from table tennis—the strength is real. But behind it sit the homework items: a certification controversy caused by pushing too hard against the rules, prices at the very top of the market, and variation in feel from paddle to paddle. What I tell people in the shop is this: jump in just because it's the paddle most pros use, and the price and the firm feel can easily leave you thinking it wasn't what you expected.

Which is exactly why I'd like you to choose on whether it fits your own playing style, rather than on star players or rankings. For the groundwork on choosing, see the complete guide to choosing a paddle, and to compare brands side by side, see the major brand comparison.

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Related Articles

• Pickleball Major Brand Comparison — 7 brands side by side in one go
• [2025 Edition] Pickleball Major Brand Ranking — Where JOOLA lands on sales and pro usage
• What Kind of Brand Is Selkirk? — The established leader that stands alongside JOOLA
• Control Paddles vs. Power Paddles — What the power JOOLA is known for really means
• The Difference Between USAP and UPA-A Certification — The grounding you need to understand the controversy
• Trends in Paddles Used by Top International Pros — How the stars make their choices
• The Complete Guide to Choosing a Paddle — 5 criteria that keep you from going wrong

References

1. JOOLA Official — About Us
2. JOOLA Official — Official Gen3 Update (2024-06-05)
3. Pickleball.com — USA Pickleball files countersuit against JOOLA
4. The Dink — The JOOLA MOD rides off into the sunset
5. JOOLA Japan official website
6. DIADEM Japan Official — Yuta Funemizu ambassador agreement (2026-01-01)
7. USA Pickleball — Equipment Standards Overview