Power Pickleball Paddles: Can Weighted Tape Add More Power?

Can Weighted Tape Make the JOOLA Scorpeus Pro IV More Powerful?

If you want a more powerful pickleball paddle, do you necessarily need to buy a different paddle—or can strategically placed weighted tape produce a meaningful increase in ball speed?

We put that question to the test using the JOOLA Scorpeus Pro IV 16mm. Using a radar gun, we measured paddle Power and Pop with the paddle in three different configurations:

• Stock: no additional weight
• +8 g: one 4-inch, 8-gram strip centered at 12 o'clock
• +16 g: the same 8-gram strip at 12 o'clock plus one 2-inch, 4-gram strip at 10 o'clock and another at 2 o'clock

All testing was performed using Franklin X-40 pickleballs, with speeds recorded in miles per hour.

The result was clear: adding weight high on this paddle increased both average drive speed and average pop speed. The 16-gram configuration produced the highest average speed in both tests.

Scorpeus Pro IV - Power Test Results

The first test measured ball speed on drives.

 

The first 8 grams produced a measurable improvement. Average drive speed increased from 41.75 mph to 43.25 mph, a gain of approximately 3.6%.

When we increased the total added weight to 16 grams, average drive speed climbed to 45.88 mph.That is approximately 4.1 mph faster than the stock paddle, representing a 9.9% increase in average drive speed.

The progression was straightforward. Speed increased from 41.75 → 43.25 → 45.88 mph In this test, increasing the amount of weight high on the paddle resulted in progressively higher drive speed.

Scorpeus Pro IV - Pop Test Results

Power on a full drive is only part of the story. We also wanted to measure pop—how much ball speed the paddle could generate from a shorter, more compact stroke. This simulates what you might get at a kitchen line battle. 

The results were more questionable here because adding weight can work in two competing directions. More weight can potentially send the ball away faster. But a higher swingweight also makes the paddle harder to accelerate quickly.

Here is what happened:

 

Again, the result followed the same pattern. The 8-gram setup increased average pop speed approximately 6.9%. The 16-gram setup increased it approximately 10.9%, reaching an average of 48.0 mph compared with 43.29 mph for the stock paddle.

The result is interesting because the extra swingweight did not cause pop speed to fall. For this paddle and this test, the benefit of the additional mass outweighed any reduction in the ability to accelerate the paddle during the shorter stroke.

What Did the Weight Do to Swingweight?

Adding 8 grams to a paddle does not have the same effect everywhere. Eight grams placed close to the handle produces relatively little change in swingweight. Put those same 8 grams at the very top of the paddle, and the effect is much larger. That's because the contribution of added mass to rotational inertia increases approximately with the square of its distance from the rotation axis. 

Our stock Scorpeus had a swingweight of 114.15.  Based on the Scorpeus dimensions and the location of the tape, we estimate the three configurations at approximately:

 

These modified numbers are calculated estimates rather than direct machine measurements. But the magnitude of the change is the important part.

The 8 grams at 12 o'clock moved the Scorpeus from roughly 114 to 124 swingweight. Adding the two additional 4-gram strips at 10 and 2 pushed estimated swingweight to approximately 132. That is a substantial change in how the paddle should swing.

How Swingweight Related to the Power Results

Now compare those estimated swingweights with the measured drive speeds:

 

As estimated swingweight increased from approximately 114 → 124 → 132, average drive speed increased:

41.75 → 43.25 → 45.88 mph

This does not mean higher swingweight will always create higher ball speed. Eventually, that relationship should reverse. At some point a paddle can become sufficiently difficult to accelerate that adding more mass stops producing additional ball speed.

We simply did not reach that point with the Scorpeus in this test.

The 16-Gram Setup Also Changed Twistweight

The difference between our 8-gram and 16-gram configurations wasn't just the amount of weight. It was also where the additional weight was placed. The 8-gram strip was centered around 12 o'clock.

That position is excellent for increasing swingweight because it is far from the hand. But it remains relatively close to the paddle's vertical centerline, so it has a comparatively small effect on twistweight.

The additional strips in the 16-gram configuration were different. We placed:

• 4 grams at 10 o'clock
• 4 grams at 2 o'clock

Those strips were farther from the vertical centerline. That matters because twistweight is determined by how far mass is positioned laterally from that centerline. The farther outward the mass sits, the greater its contribution to resistance against twisting. 

Estimated Twistweight Changes

Our stock Scorpeus measured: 7.35 twistweight.

The estimated changes look approximately like this:

 

Again, the modified numbers are estimates rather than direct measurements. But notice how differently swingweight and twistweight respond.

The top strip increases swingweight substantially:

114.15 → approximately 124

Yet twistweight barely changes:

7.35 → approximately 7.4

Once we add weight at 10 and 2, however, twistweight increases much more significantly, approaching approximately 7.9–8.0.

That is exactly why placement matters as much as total weight.

Why Higher Twistweight Could Help Preserve Ball Speed

Twistweight measures a paddle's resistance to twisting when the ball is struck away from its centerline. On a perfectly centered strike, this isn't particularly important. But real pickleball isn't a series of perfectly centered strikes.

When contact occurs farther toward one side of the face, a paddle with lower twistweight can rotate more at impact. Some of the available energy is then absorbed by that rotational movement rather than being transferred efficiently to the ball Increasing twistweight makes the paddle more resistant to that movement.

That can produce:

• greater stability
• less paddle deflection on off-center hits
• more consistent ball response
• a larger effective sweet spot
• better retention of ball speed on imperfect contact

So the 16-gram configuration had two potential advantages. It had substantially more swingweight, increasing effective mass and momentum.It also had more twistweight, potentially preserving more of that energy when contact wasn't perfectly centered. This may help explain why the 16-gram configuration produced the highest average ball speeds of the test.

Where You Put the Weight Matters

Our test illustrates why simply saying “add weighted tape for more power” is incomplete advice.

Different locations emphasize different paddle characteristics.

 

This is also why copying another player's weighted-tape setup doesn't necessarily produce the result you want.

So, Can Weighted Tape Make the Scorpeus Pro IV More Powerful?

In our radar-gun testing, yes—and by a meaningful amount. The largest gains came from the 16-gram configuration:

Drive speed:
41.75 → 45.88 mph
+9.9%

Pop speed:
43.29 → 48.00 mph
+10.9%

At the same time, we estimate that paddle swingweight increased from approximately: 114 → 132, while twistweight increased from:7.35 → approximately 7.9–8.0

Find the Right Weight Placement for Your Paddle

Weighted tape can change power, stability, effective sweet spot, balance and maneuverability, but the outcome depends heavily on where the weight is placed and the paddle you're starting with.

Our Pickleball Weighted Tape Guide explains what happens when weight is placed at different positions around the paddle.

You can also use our Paddle Optimizer Tool to identify a weight-placement strategy based on your paddle and whether your priority is more power, stability, control, spin or hand speed.