Pickleball Paddle

Abstract

A pickleball paddle provides a narrow neck portion offering a finger notch for registering the paddle position in the hand. The notch may include a material having high specific stiffness (stiffness to weight) accommodating this notch and providing desired resilience.

What we claim is: 
     
         1 . A pickleball paddle comprising:
 a planar paddle face extending along a plane between lateral edges to present a front and rear surface for striking a pickleball during play;   a grip extending along an axis parallel to the plane and sized to receive a user's fingers around opposed lateral surfaces for holding the pickleball paddle; and   a neck joining the face to the grip and providing a finger recess displaced inwardly from a lateral extent of the grip over an axial length of at least ½ inch and less than 1½ inches and reaching a depth of at least one-half inch inside the lateral extent of the grip and adapted to allow a player's index finger to rest within the finger recess during play.   
     
     
         2 . The pickleball paddle of  claim 1  wherein the neck provides opposed lateral finger recesses each displaced inwardly from a lateral extent of the grip over an axial length of at least ½ inch and less than 1½ inches and reaching a depth of at least one half inch inside the lateral extent of the grip and adapted to allow a player's index finger to rest within the finger recess during play. 
     
     
         3 . The pickleball paddle of  claim 1  wherein the neck is formed of a material having a specific stiffness of greater than 20 and a modulus of elasticity of greater than 60. 
     
     
         4 . The pickleball paddle of  claim 1  wherein the material of the neck is selected from the group consisting of fiber reinforced polymers and aluminum. 
     
     
         5 . The pickleball paddle of  claim 1  wherein the neck comprises at least one axially extending tubular shaft joining the handle in the face. 
     
     
         6 . The pickleball paddle of  claim 1  wherein the neck comprises at least two axially extending tubular shafts separated within the plane joining the handle to the face. 
     
     
         7 . The pickleball paddle of  claim 1  wherein the face is a high pressure laminate. 
     
     
         8 . The pickleball paddle of  claim 1  wherein the lateral edges of the high pressure laminate are rimmed by a protecting frame having greater resilience than the high pressure laminate. 
     
     
         9 . The pickleball paddle of  claim 1  wherein the pickleball paddle conforms to the equipment standards of 2021 promulgated by the International Federation of Pickleball and is greater than 5 ounces in weight.