Kuikma PR500

Decathlon, the French sporting goods retailer, launched Kuikma, a padel products brand, in 2019. Since then, they have collaborated with Horacio Álvarez Clementi, a legendary former padel professional, to launch the brand.

Kuikma’s PR 500 is one of Decathlon’s beginner racquets with a soft EVA form, which will allow for easy power generation and a forgiving response when the sweet spot is missed. This racquet is conservatively weighted, which will be easy on your joints.

Don’t be fooled by the Decathlon website’s claim that this racquet is designed for intermediate players. This is marketing. All of the specifications indicate that this is a great beginner racquet. The racquets they refer to as beginner are too light, soft, and cheap for adults playing padel once per month.

Alternatively, you can choose the Kuikma PR510 if you’re feeling like an “old beginner”. This racquet has the same exact specifications as the PR500, but with slightly harder foam in the core. This will be less forgiving if you miss the sweet spot, but allow for more power generation when you slam and a longer lifetime for the racquet.

A note on Kuikma: Do not be fooled, there are top professionals, e.g. Maxi Sanchez and Lucía Sainz, using the Kuikma racquets without modification. Decathlon leverages the most advanced technology to bring great racquets to the market. Decathlon are able to offer lower prices than their competitors due to their massive scale. If you would like to be seen with a “cool” brand, by all means, support another brand, but there are no reasons a player will ever *need* to leave the Kuikma line.

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• Soft foam core is comfortable and forgiving
• Large sweet spot

• Conservative power and touch