Joola Ben Johns Perseus Review

what's up guys it is finally here this is probably one of the most anticipated paddle releases of 2023 and that is the Yola Perseus 16 millimeter and 14 millimeter Ben and the rest of the Yola crew have been teasing this paddle on and off for several months now and now we can finally talk about it I've actually had this paddle for about half a month because Yola flew me out to a private event they were doing where we got to learn all about the paddle and I got to take some home so that I could have a review ready for you guys on launch day and just so you guys know I actually got to hit with Ben and I hit a couple winners on him so who's really 3.5 at best okay if I show you the rest of the footage it didn't look so good [Music] all right so for the specs the price is now 250 dollars and if you use code PB Studio at checkout you can save 10 on your order which should bring it down to about 225. it comes in 16 millimeter and 14 millimeter variants has the same polymer core that it had in the original Hyperion it's an elongated paddle but it no longer has the rounded head at the top now it's more squared off like a lot of traditional paddles and if you hold up the original hyperion to it to be honest there really isn't much of a difference they're almost exactly the same the handle length is 5.5 inches the grip circumference is 4.25 inches the weight is between 7.8 ounces and 8.2 ounces and one of the most exciting things for most people is that the swing weight has been lowered drastically so the 16 millimeter variant is 116 which is down from 127 on the original Hyperion which we all know is very head heavy and then the 14 millimeter is 112. both of those are great numbers to see and the paddle should be much faster in the hand now and Yola still has a six month warranty on their paddles now here's what I know you guys all really want to know is the paddle thermoformed and yes it is indeed thermo-formed they're calling it a carbon wrapped technology and it's really funny because when I was at the YOLO launch event for this they said carbon frame technology and someone in the audience said hey do you just mean it's thermo-formed and they kind of went yes is thermal formed so that was kind of funny to see the whole paddle is encased in a carbon fiber wrap like the other thermoformed paddles and if I recall correctly from the event they did say that the face material runs all the way from the face through the handle now when asked at the event about delamination and core crushing they were highly confident that this would not happen considering the original Hyperion was using a form of thermoforming it didn't wrap the entire paddle that never had core crushing so if I had to guess Gill is already familiar with this and has ways to avoid the issue now yellow has also introduced what they're calling charged carbon surface and this just sounds like it's a stiffer face material because it talks about the paddle being more Poppy and more powerful other than that it still has the foamed Edge wall and is using their carbon friction surface which they are claiming is more durable than the last generation so we'll see how that holds up so really the only things that changed on paper from the hyperion to the Perseus is that it now has a new shape it's using the charged carbon surface and it's now now entirely thermal formed around the entire paddle which should help with the durability issues that the Hyperion had so let's go check it out [Music] all right so we just did a bunch of Hyperion versus Perseus 16 millimeter comparisons and some of the biggest differences I'm noticing is first of all the original Hyperion is still an amazing paddle I love how that thing feels resets are unbelievably easy on that paddle with the higher swing weight and so much weight in the head resets feel really nice and I think because of that that's part of the reason the Sweet Spot feels so good on the Hyperion because on the Perseus The Sweet Spot doesn't feel as good especially when I was doing resets I found it just a little bit harder and if I was off the ball kind of died a little bit more whereas the Hyperion it kind of just plowed right through it just hitting drives like you could plow through the ball so well with the Hyperion versus this the face is really stiff so the ball comes off fast whereas on the Hyperion it sits a little longer but just gets plowed through this doesn't plow through as well and we added lead tape to the paddle and that actually made a huge difference the plow through went up a ton I felt like I could go through the ball easier drives felt better blocks felt more solid the high purine is diff definitely softer than the Perseus but I think some of the power is made up in the fact that the swing weight is so much higher being around 127 versus 116 on the Perseus but yeah I would say blocks better on the Hyperion if you want to attack and better hand speed the Perseus is better at the moment thank you [Applause] [Music] I have four of these I have a Perseus 14 and 16 and then I have a Scorpius 14 and 16 and the grit feels very different on all of them is that in the center you know where you're hitting the ball the most there was not as much grit but then as soon as you go to the edges of the paddle like here it becomes extremely rough I just hate to see that inconsistency and it's also still using the same peel ply texture that older paddles have been using that we've become accustomed to and not what you know 6-0 and some of those guys have been doing and again I can't prove that that is definitively better for spin but what I do know through my tests is that every single paddle that has had that texture gets phenomenal spin it always ranks very highly in my charts and two other important things are that one across the entire paddle phase it feels extremely even there's not a single area where I go oh that's more rough right here but then right here it's not it just feels like a quality control roll issue or you feel like you're gambling like am I gonna get a gritty one or am I not going to get a gritty one it's disappointing for me to see Yola not using that and to have these inconsistent areas where it's more rough now you're still getting great spin 1700s and the high 1700s are certainly not a bad result but it's not a top tier result and it was something that I could notice while hitting the ball for most of you it's probably not going to matter but if you are looking for a paddle that has the highest spin possible these are not it foreign 16 millimeter and honestly this paddle is great once you add the lead tape I really feel like you can just drive through the ball so much more confidently and the depth you get on this is fantastic the spin could still be a little bit better there are other paddles where I feel like on my drives I can make them dip a little bit harder but it wasn't enough to make me go I wouldn't play with this paddle I thought it was great for singles has really nice pop off the face it's it's very firm or stiff compared to the Hyperion just all around it was great I don't really have any complaints for singles I think this is probably a definitive upgrade when it comes to singles after you add the lead tape without the lead tape I just feel like I lacked a little bit of stability and plow through and it was a little harder to get the power I wanted on my drives but after a lot of tape it was great hey real quick guys if you're enjoying this video make sure to click the link down in the description to sign up for my newsletter it's a Weekly Newsletter where I give you early thoughts on paddles that I'm testing as well as discount codes on your favorite paddle brands you'll even get a free lead tape cheat sheet guide when you sign up for the newsletter all right so I had the chance to go out and play with the 14 millimeter the 16 millimeter as well as my 6-0 Double Black Diamond to kind of compare it to one of the other thermal formed paddles on the market and honestly I wasn't as impressed with the Perseus after hitting my 6-0 Double Black Diamond again it's not that the Perseus isn't a good paddle but the thing that was most standout to me was The Sweet Spot so specifically when I would go to block a ball or reset a ball as we all know on the new thermo-forming paddles the sweet spots have been excellent you get so much better near the edges of the paddle than gen 1 raw carbon fiber paddles and the Perseus kind of reminded me of about a gen 1 raw carbon fiber in terms of The Sweet Spot it's not that it's bad it's just that on certain shots that I'm used to the ball having more energy going back I didn't have that anymore so I was a little bit disappointed in that both the 16 millimeter and the 14 millimeter felt that way to me now again that's not not to say that the sweet spot is bad on the Perseus it's just that it's better on the 6-0 double black diamond which also means that it should be better on any of the other thermal formed paddles that I have reviewed lately carbon Legacy vatic any of those should all feel better as far as the performance of the 14 millimeter goes it's honestly pretty good it hits about as hard as the other thermoformed paddles I didn't notice a giant difference between it and my 6-0 Double Black Diamond 16 millimeter so if you are wanting power that's closer to some of the thermo-formed paddles that we've had on the market you probably want the 14 millimeter the 16 millimeter is a little bit more plush and doesn't hit quite as hard it's just a little bit more subdued in my opinion but the main things that you're gaining with the 14 millimeter is that it's an even lower swing weight at 112 so your hands are going to feel very fast which also means you could add more lead tape to it without making the swing weight go too high the difference between the 16 and 14 is probably about what you would expect with most paddles where it's just a difference in thickness change it's just going to hit a little bit harder and the sweet spot's going to feel just a little bit worse foreign so honestly I'm a little bit torn on the Perseus I think this is Yola's best paddle to date but there are things I really wish they had fixed or changed from their previous paddles some of the nicer updates that they made were obviously thermo-forming the whole entire paddle so hopefully there will be no more snapping at the neck that was the biggest problem with the Hyperion and they lowered the swing weights on both models so now they're much faster in the hand and more people should be able to use them they're also more Poppy and come off the paddle faster than the original Hyperion which I think a lot of people are going to love especially since everyone's been going to all these other thermoformed paddles recently now here are the problems I have with it one 250 dollars I don't think it's any surprise that the paddle got more expensive but honestly I just think there are better value paddles on the market you have six zero out of 180 and you have vatic pro at 140 and on top of that the sweet spots are better on both of those paddles and the spin is higher one of the biggest advantages that Yola might have this time around and we're gonna have to wait and see is if there's no core crushing and no delamination obviously with the other thermal formed companies we have seen those issues play out and it does seem that they have gotten better so far on the market it seems like vatic Pro and 6-0 are the most reliable at least anecdotally I have been watching all of her social media and the different groups online and I hardly hear of any issues with those anymore with Legacy and carbon I'm still hearing quite a few delamination stories but if Yola has zero of those issues then maybe the 250 dollar price tag is more worth it right what is your time worth I have one friend who has delaminated six different carbons if you have to constantly send paddles back and forth well was the slightly cheaper price worth it to you I would say probably not so here's who I think the Perseus is for if you're someone who liked the Hyperion but didn't enjoy the handle breaking well the Perseus may be better the Perseus now also hits harder and is more popular than the Hyperion so if the Hyperion being too soft was something you didn't enjoy then the Perseus may also be a good upgrade if the swing weight or balance of the paddle was an issue the Perseus has also improved on that I think the Perseus is great if you have a more aggressive play style if you're someone who likes to drive the ball poach or get into hands battles I think you're gonna love the Perseus because you have a little bit more pop off that face that's going to allow you to put the ball away quicker than the Hyperion I also think if money is No Object then yeah the Perseus is fine but if money is of any concern to you then I would push you towards a vatic pro or a 6-0 double black diamond I think those paddles are just as good and in a lot of cases they're better and cheaper it's ultimately going to come down to what you like as a player I think thousands of people are going to go and buy the Perseus and they're going to absolutely love it and I think there's going to be a lot of people who prefer it to the other thermo-formed paddles on the market but in my experience playing with them the Perseus wouldn't be my first recommendation I think it's a good paddle but it's not a great cattle for 250 dollars there you guys go those are my thoughts on the Perseus hope you enjoyed it and I'll catch you in the next one

Channel: Pickleball Studio

Views: 48,604

Keywords: Pickleball, The Pickleball Studio, Pickleball tips, Joola, Ben Johns, Perseus, Scorpeus, Hyperion CFS, Anna Bright, Collin Johns, thermoformed, spin, grit, raw carbon fiber

Id: xY-jBaoPlqU

Length: 13min 15sec (795 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 06 2023