Best Pickleball Paddle for Beginners? Why the Aura Pro Could Be Better

Why the Friday Aura Pro Could Actually Be a Better Pickleball Paddle for Improving Beginners

When beginners start playing pickleball, one piece of advice comes up again and again:

“Buy a control paddle first. You don’t need power.”

But is that still the best advice?

As pickleball continues to grow in the UK, the way the game is being played is changing quickly. Faster hands, harder drives, aggressive returns, counters and attacking fourth shots are becoming increasingly common — even at amateur and club level.

That raises an interesting question:

Could a slightly more powerful paddle such as the Friday Aura Pro actually help an improving beginner develop a more modern pickleball game?

At PKBR Sports, we think there is a strong argument that it can.

Pickleball in the UK Is Getting Faster

Watch competitive pickleball today and it is very different from the slow, purely dink-based game many people first associate with the sport.

The modern game increasingly involves:

• Faster serves and returns
• Third-shot drives as well as drops
• Aggressive speed-ups
• Fast hands at the kitchen
• Counter-attacking
• Roll volleys and flicks
• Putting pressure on opponents earlier in the rally

That style is filtering down into UK club pickleball too.

Players are improving faster, coaching is becoming more advanced and more people are coming into pickleball from sports such as tennis, badminton, squash and padel.

So should every beginner automatically start with a very soft, low-powered paddle?

Not necessarily.

Beginners Don’t Always Need Less Power — Sometimes They Need Easier Power

There is an important distinction between having too much uncontrolled power and having easy access to power.

Many newer players do not yet generate the racket-head speed or efficient kinetic chain of an experienced player.

Give them an extremely control-focused paddle and they may have to swing harder just to achieve good depth on serves, returns and drives.

That can actually make their technique worse.

A paddle with some additional pop can potentially allow the player to use a shorter, smoother swing while still producing useful pace and depth.

The Friday Aura Pro is specifically designed as the higher-powered member of Friday’s Aura range, with a lively, explosive response aimed at drives, counters and finishing points. (Friday Pickleball⁠)

And that can be useful much earlier in a player’s development than people sometimes assume.

Why the Friday Aura Pro Can Help an Improving Amateur

The Aura Pro isn’t simply about smashing the ball harder.

Its Gen 4 full-foam construction and ElasTECH perimeter weighting are designed to create stability and a large sweet spot, while the T700 raw carbon face adds performance and spin potential. (Friday Pickleball⁠)

For an improving recreational player, those characteristics can matter for several reasons.

1. Easier Depth on Serves and Returns

Depth is one of the first tactical skills we teach players.

A short return immediately gives your opponent an opportunity to attack.

A paddle that generates easier pace means an amateur player doesn’t necessarily have to make a huge swing to send the ball deep.

That allows them to concentrate more on:

balance, contact point, placement and recovery.

Those fundamentals are far more important than simply swinging harder.

2. Faster Hands Without Having to Overswing

As players improve, some of the most important exchanges happen only a few metres away from the opponent.

There simply isn’t time for a huge backswing.

This is where paddle pop becomes extremely useful.

A more responsive paddle allows the player to use a compact volley or counter and let the paddle contribute some of the pace.

That is much closer to the technique required in the modern game.

The Aura Pro is intentionally designed around this type of fast, explosive response. Friday describes it as a paddle built to drive hard, counter quickly and finish points. (Friday Pickleball⁠)

3. It Encourages a Shorter Swing

This sounds counterintuitive, but additional paddle power doesn’t necessarily mean a player has to become wild.

It can mean exactly the opposite.

If your paddle provides some of the power, you can learn to produce a compact movement rather than trying to manufacture everything yourself.

At the kitchen especially, the modern game rewards:

short preparation, early contact and fast recovery.

Those are excellent habits for developing players.

4. You Can Grow Into the Paddle

Another reason we like the idea of an improving player choosing a higher-performance paddle is simple:

you don’t necessarily want to replace your paddle six months after buying it.

A beginner paddle might feel fantastic during your first few weeks.

But once you begin learning drives, topspin, aggressive returns, counters, flicks and speed-ups, you may quickly start wanting more performance.

The Aura Pro gives a player something they can continue developing with.

Friday officially categorises the Aura Pro toward intermediate and advanced players, so we wouldn’t describe it as the perfect paddle for every first-time player. (Friday Pickleball⁠)

But for an athletic beginner, somebody coming from another racket sport, or a rapidly improving club player, stepping into a performance paddle earlier can make a lot of sense.

5. Power Doesn’t Mean You Stop Learning the Soft Game

This is probably the biggest misconception.

Using a powerful pickleball paddle doesn’t mean every ball should be hit hard.

You still have to develop:

• Drops
• Resets
• Dinks
• Blocks
• Touch
• Placement
• Patience

In fact, learning to control a responsive paddle can help build better awareness of grip pressure and paddle-face control.

The goal shouldn’t be to remove power from your game.

The goal should be to learn when to use it.

That is modern pickleball.

Why We Particularly Like the Aura Pro Hybrid

For many amateur and improving UK players, we believe the Aura Pro Hybrid could be the sweet spot within the Aura Pro range.

The Hybrid sits between the traditional elongated and widebody shapes.

You still get good reach and leverage, but with additional manoeuvrability for doubles and quick exchanges around the kitchen.

Our existing comparison of the Aura Pro shapes found the Hybrid to be the safest and most versatile all-court option for players unsure which shape suits them. (Friday Pickleball UK⁠)

For someone developing a complete game rather than specialising in one particular style, that versatility matters.

What About Complete Beginners?

There is still absolutely a place for traditional beginner paddles.

Someone completely new to racket sports who simply wants maximum forgiveness at a lower price may be perfectly suited to something such as the Friday Original.

Friday itself positions the Original towards beginners, while the Aura Pro sits higher in its performance range. (Friday Pickleball⁠)

But we wouldn’t automatically tell every beginner that they need to start there.

If you:

• Already play tennis, badminton, squash or padel
• Are athletic and learning quickly
• Want to play competitive club pickleball
• Want to develop an aggressive modern game
• Don’t want to upgrade your paddle again shortly
• Prefer a paddle that gives you additional speed and pop

then going directly into something like the Friday Aura Pro could actually be the smarter long-term purchase.

The Modern Pickleball Paddle Debate

There has traditionally been a belief that beginner equals control paddle and advanced player equals power paddle.

We think that is too simplistic.

A player’s paddle should match their physical ability, sporting background, goals and style of play, not simply the number of months they’ve been playing pickleball.

For some players, control will absolutely be the priority.

For others, easier depth, quicker hands and accessible power can accelerate their development.

The important thing is learning how to control that power.

Is the Friday Aura Pro Right for You?

If you’re an improving pickleball player in the UK and you’re choosing your next paddle, don’t automatically rule out a performance paddle because you’re not yet an advanced player.

Modern pickleball is becoming quicker and more aggressive.

A paddle that gives you accessible speed, stability, spin and pop could potentially help you develop the skills you’ll eventually need anyway.

The Friday Aura Pro range is available in the UK through PKBR Sports, including Hybrid, Widebody and Elongated models. (Friday Pickleball UK⁠)

Shop the Friday Aura Pro in the UK

Explore the Friday Aura Pro Hybrid, Widebody and Elongated pickleball paddles at PKBR Sports.

UK stock. Fast delivery. Expert advice.

Play the modern game!