Accessories
Padel racket protectors
Two shapes, four finishes and nineteen colours. 65mm wide, R185 whichever you pick.
A padel racket protector is a self-adhesive strip along the top edge of the head, where the frame meets the glass and the court floor. Ours are 65mm wide against a 35mm mainstream, so they cover further up the head than protection tape does, and they come in two shapes: toothed for the widest coverage, round edge only for a cleaner look from the front. Fitting one takes about five minutes and needs no tools. Every shape, finish and colour is R185.
Choose your shape
FAQ
Protector questions
How long one lasts, how to fit it, what to do when it lifts at a corner, and what R185 actually buys you.
Most players change one once or twice a year. It depends entirely on how often your racket meets the glass: someone defending low balls off the wall twice a week will get through one faster than someone playing mostly in the middle of the court. A protector that has taken a season of hard shots has done its job.
Three signs. It has been cut through to the frame anywhere along its length, it has started lifting at a corner and will not press back down, or it has worn back far enough that it no longer covers the part of the head that actually makes contact. Any one of those and it is doing nothing.
Almost always because the frame was not completely clean and dry when it went on. Dust and residual grip oil stop the adhesive keying properly, and the corners are where it shows first because that is where the strip is under the most tension. Over-stretching it round the curve has the same effect. Peel it back, wipe the frame dry, and press it down again from the centre outwards.
Some people do. The problem is shape: a tennis frame is a different curve and a different depth, so tennis tape tends to either run out before the contact zone or sit proud of the edge. A padel-specific protector is cut for a padel head, which is why it sits flat.
Setups vary and plenty do not, usually because they are not paying for their rackets. That is not a useful guide for a club player who is. Decide it on cost, on how often you play off the glass and on whether you mind the look.
Yes, sooner than a dark one. Cat Eye White, Glitter Baby Pink, Glitter Baby Blue and Glitter Silver Grey will all show court dust before Carbon Fibre Black does. They clean with a damp cloth. If that is going to bother you, the darker finishes are the easier life.
It is a fraction of what you paid for the racket, which is the only comparison that matters. A protector takes the scrape that would otherwise land on the frame, and frame damage is what ends a racket rather than what marks it. Every combination we make is R185, whichever shape, finish or colour you pick.
They are three names for the same job done at different widths and thicknesses. Protection tape is the narrowest, usually around 35mm. A bumper is the moulded version that comes fitted to some rackets. Ours is 65mm, which is wider than the tape standard and covers further up the head, where a narrow strip runs out.
Yes, and it is worth doing. It will not repair what is there, but it stops the existing marks getting deeper and keeps the frame from being opened up. Clean the frame thoroughly first, because grit sitting in a scratch will stop the adhesive keying.
Not the sweet spot. It sits on the outside of the frame rather than on the face, so it does not touch the hitting surface. Some players say a protector slightly dulls the sound off the frame itself. Nobody has reported a difference off the face.
Do it yourself. It takes about five minutes and the only thing you can really get wrong is starting with a dirty frame. Work from the centre of the head outwards to each side, pressing as you go rather than stretching, and leave it an hour before you play.
Glitter if you want the racket to look like yours from across the court, and it comes in ten colours. Cat Eye if you want depth that shifts as the racket moves, in three. Carbon Fibre if you want it to look like part of the frame, in five. Transparent if the racket already looks exactly how you want it.
Yes. It is trimmed to length on fitting rather than moulded to a fixed shape, so it works across all three head shapes. If you have length spare, cut it at the throat.
There is only one side that needs it. The protector runs along the outer edge of the head, which is the surface that meets the glass and the court. Fitting a second strip anywhere else adds weight for nothing.