PROLITE Sports has been making high quality pickleball paddles for thirty years, longer than just about anyone. When pickleball was first invented, the first pickleball paddles were actually heavy wooden paddles modeled after table tennis paddles. PROLITE Sports changed that forever when in 1984 its founder, Arlen Paranto, a Boeing industrial engineer, noticed the large lightweight panels that Boeing was using to make airplanes and had the idea to use these panels to make pickleball paddles. Arlen purchased panels from the Boeing Surplus Store in Kent, Washington and the rest is history! Most pickleball paddle are made out of similar panels of graphite or fiberglass faced honeycomb sheets originally created for the aerospace industry. Today PROLITE Sports continues to be an industry leader with innovative new paddle designs and technology. Elite pickleball players recognize PROLITE paddles as extraordinary products. You'll find PROLITE paddles in the hands of many tournament champions. With the perfect blend of touch and power, PROLITE paddles are like no other.
Pro level paddle from Prolite features the same size characteristics as the original Rebel, but with a carbon fiber face and polymer core. Vibration dampening alleviates elbow and wrist problems.
True to its name, PROLITE Sports makes no super heavy pickleball paddles. (We categorize a paddle as super heavy if it's over 9.6 ounces.) Because wood paddles are always super heavy, this company doesn't make wood paddles.
Mark Friedenberg acquired PROLITE from Arlen Paranto and took pickleball paddle design to the next level with innovative technologies and design variations. Mark Friedenberg knew what he was doing in crafting the world's best pickleball paddles. A sponsor of many clinics, tournaments, and other events, PROLITE Sports continues to contribute to the great sport of pickleball today as they have since their founding. PROLITE's current line of pickleball paddles includes:
Covert Paddle – The giant sweet spot and SPINtac surface make this paddle a sure winner. Add this one to your paddle arsenal!
Titan Pro – Sound-absorbing polymer and strong carbon fiber face create the ultimate blend of control and top performance.
CRUSH PowerSpin – This paddle offers light head weight for quick response. The edgy graphics combined with PROLITE's Spintac surface are an unbeatable combination!
Chrome N-R-G – For power hitters or single's players, elongated teardrop shape will generate extreme power due to the loaded head weight.
Magnum Graphite Stealth – A very popular paddle that is often referred to as the MGS. This paddle is one of the more colorful paddles on the market. This lightweight graphite paddle has a terrific shape and balance making it a gold medal winning paddle.
Rebel PowerSpin Composite - The "James Dean" of pickleball, this paddle is for non-traditional players. Features bold graphics and a long face for increased spin capability.
An Interview with PROLITE Owner, Neil Friedenberg
Here's a transcript of Neil's interview:
I'm here with Neil Friedenberg of PROLITE Sports and big news recently came out that you purchased Dink Sports. What was the motivation behind that?
Well the motivation was, they had a ton of innovative and great ideas, they're a Wisconsin-based company, we actually all play pickleball together and we wanted to share our information with each other and really build on the PROLITE and still have the attitude.
And I had an opportunity to watch you play a little out there! I want to know how being a pickleball player influence you as a paddle manufacturer?
Well it's pretty influential, you know. I get the time to play and obviously that's great, I like being competitive and I like playing pickleball. But you meet a lot of good people; you need all those players and a wide variety of paddles out there, shapes, weights, everything and you have the chance to talk to them and what they enjoy, what they're looking for in a paddle and that's important to make sure we're covering everyone's preference out there, that's really important to us. It also lets us talk with other manufacturers. We're all friends out here and motivated to make great paddles for everyone... you meet a lot of good people, good friendships.
And in talking, there's some hints that there's some new stuff coming from PROLITE!
We have a lot of great ideas and we are very antsy about it, very excited. I can't give away too much here but just watch out for PROLITE... we have a lot of new items coming out that I think are going to be outstanding for pickleball, very innovative things.
