POWER FRAMES BUILT AROUND ALE GALÁN
Every Adidas padel racket,
and who each one is really for
Adidas is the brand most new players recognise, and the one most often bought for the wrong reason. The Metalbone is the racket Ale Galán uses to hit the hardest smash in the professional game, and it is built for exactly that. Most club players are better served by the Adipower or the Drive further down the range.
- 128 models
- 106 from 2023 on
- €60 to €450
- 11 sponsored pros
THE RANGE
The Adidas lines,
and what each is for
Adidas has 128 models in the catalogue. Almost all of them belong to one of these families, so knowing the families is most of the work.
| Line | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Metalbone | The pro power line. Diamond shape, high balance, stiff. Ale Galán's frame, and genuinely hard to control below about 5.0. |
| Adipower | The all-round flagship. Still attacking, but with a bigger sweet spot and a more forgiving core than the Metalbone. |
| Cross | The comfort line. Round shapes, softer cores, aimed at players who play often and want to protect the arm. |
| Drive | The entry range. Round, light and cheap, and the right first Adidas for most people. |
| RX | Mid-range control frames that sit between Drive and Adipower. |
| Match | Club-level rackets sold mostly through sports chains rather than padel specialists. |
WHAT MAKES ADIDAS DIFFERENT
A pro brand
with a beginner catalogue
Adidas padel rackets are not made by the sportswear giant itself. They are designed and built under licence by All for Padel, a Barcelona company that has run the Adidas padel line since the brand entered the sport, which is why the range moves with the Spanish market rather than with Adidas tennis. The headline frame is the Metalbone, Ale Galán's racket, with its adjustable weight system: small screws around the frame that let you move the balance a few millimetres without buying another racket.
The catalogue tells a quieter story than the marketing. Of the 128 Adidas rackets we track, 50% are round and only 38% are diamond, and the most common face material is fiberglass, not carbon. Adidas sells more entry and comfort frames than any other big brand, and the Drive, Cross and RX lines are where most of that volume goes. The median price across the range is €210, with the cheapest current models near €60 and the Metalbone signature editions up at €450.
Almost every Adidas frame uses a soft or medium EVA core (EVA Soft Performance is the most common), so the brand's reputation for hard, demanding rackets really belongs to the Metalbone HRD editions alone. If you play twice a week at a UK club and are not on the left side finishing points, an Adipower or a Drive will serve you better than the racket in the adverts.
CURRENT MODELS
Adidas rackets
compared on specs
The most recent Adidas models, newest first: shape, weight, balance, core, face material, price band and the level each one is built for. The name under a model is the professional who plays with it.
| Model | Shape | Weight | Balance | Core | Surface | Price band | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adidas Metalbone 2026 - Ale GalanAle Galán | Diamond | 345 to 360 g | High | EVA Soft Performance | 16K aluminised carbon | Pro€390 | Advanced |
| Adidas Metalbone HRD+ 2026 - Ale Galan | Diamond | 345 to 360 g | High | High Memory EVA (medium-hard) | 16K aluminised carbon | Pro€390 | Advanced |
| Adidas Arrow Hit CTRL 2026 | Round | 360 to 375 g | Medium | EVA Soft Performance | Carbon | Pro€400 | Intermediate |
| Adidas Cross IT CTRL 2026 | Round | 360 to 375 g | Medium | High Memory EVA (medium-hard) | 15K aluminised carbon | Pro€350 | Intermediate to advanced |
| Adidas Metalbone Carbon CTRL 2026 | Round | 360 to 375 g | Medium | EVA Soft Performance | 6K carbon | Premium€260 | Beginner to intermediate |
| Adidas Arrow Hit 2026 | Diamond | 360 to 375 g | High | EVA Soft Performance | Carbon | Pro€400 | Advanced |
| Adidas Cross IT Light 2026 - Martita OrtegaMartita Ortega | Round | 345 to 360 g | Medium | EVA Soft Energy | 24K aluminised carbon | Pro€300 | Intermediate |
| Adidas Metalbone CTRL 2026 | Round | 345 to 360 g | Medium | EVA Soft Performance | 16K aluminised carbon | Pro€390 | Intermediate |
| Adidas Metalbone Carbon 2026 | Diamond | 360 to 375 g | High | EVA Soft Performance | 6K carbon | Premium€260 | Advanced |
| Adidas Cross IT Carbon 2026 | Diamond | 360 to 375 g | High | EVA Soft Performance | 6K carbon | Premium€280 | Advanced |
| Adidas Arrow Hit Carbon CTRL 2026 | Diamond | 360 to 375 g | Medium | EVA Soft Performance | Carbon | Premium€270 | Intermediate to advanced |
| Adidas Cross IT Carbon CTRL 2026 | Round | 360 to 375 g | Medium | EVA Soft Performance | 6K carbon | Premium€280 | Intermediate |
Weight is the manufacturer's stated range. Balance is where the mass sits: low means towards the handle, high means towards the head. Price band is the recommended retail price in euros (entry under 120, mid 120 to 200, premium 200 to 300, pro over 300); UK street prices are usually lower. Level is our reading of the shape, balance and core, not a rule.
BY SHAPE
Which shape
do you need?
Round: Adidas Arrow Hit CTRL 2026
Adidas has 64 round models. This shape suits the right side, players who build points, anyone still developing their timing, and anyone protecting an arm. Our current pick from the range is the Adidas Arrow Hit CTRL 2026, at around €400.
Teardrop: Adidas Metalbone Superlight 2026
Adidas has 15 teardrop models. This shape suits the largest number of club players, because it gives some power without shrinking the sweet spot. Our current pick from the range is the Adidas Metalbone Superlight 2026, at around €150.
Diamond: Adidas Metalbone 2026 - Ale Galan
Adidas has 49 diamond models. This shape suits advanced attacking players who finish points with the smash and hit the middle of the strings consistently. Our current pick from the range is the Adidas Metalbone 2026 - Ale Galan, at around €390.
HOW TO CHOOSE
Buying a Adidas
without buying the wrong one
Brand is the last thing that should decide a padel racket, and the first thing most people decide. Once you are inside a range, three specs settle the question.
Shape decides forgiveness
Round puts the sweet spot in the middle of the face where you actually hit the ball. Diamond moves it up towards the tip, which buys power and costs you every off-centre shot. Teardrop sits between the two and is the right answer for most club players. Adidas covers round, teardrop, diamond, so you do not need to leave the brand to change shape.
Core decides comfort
Soft cores hold the ball longer, forgive a slow swing and transmit less shock to the elbow. Hard EVA cores are more powerful and more precise but punish poor timing. If you have ever had tennis elbow, this single spec matters more than shape, weight and brand combined.
Your side matters more than your level
The left side finishes points and usually wants a higher balance. The right side builds points and covers the middle, so it usually wants a larger sweet spot. Two players of the same level on opposite sides should not buy the same racket.
Then let the data narrow it
The table above is the fastest filter: read down the shape, balance and core columns before you look at a single price, and the level column tells you who each frame was built for. Our racket finder does this across all 1,418 rackets in seven questions, and if you have run a match analysis it uses your real technique scores instead of your own estimate of your level. If you are still choosing between brands, start with our guide to the best padel rackets or, for a first racket, the beginner picks.
FAQ
Questions about
Adidas rackets
Which Adidas padel racket should a beginner buy?
A Drive or an RX, not a Metalbone. Beginners need a round shape with a low balance and a soft core, which is what the Drive line is built around. The Metalbone is a stiff diamond frame designed for a professional smash and it punishes off-centre contact, which is most contact when you are starting.
What is the difference between the Adidas Metalbone and the Adipower?
Both are attacking rackets, but the Metalbone is the more extreme of the two: higher balance, stiffer, and built to generate maximum power on the smash. The Adipower keeps most of the power while giving you a larger sweet spot and a more forgiving feel, which makes it the better choice for almost everyone who is not a professional.
What racket does Ale Galán use?
A signature version of the Adidas Metalbone. The retail Metalbone shares the shape and the construction, though pro frames are usually customised for weight and balance. Buying it does not buy the smash.
Are Adidas padel rackets good?
The top of the range is genuinely competitive with anything from Bullpadel or Nox, and the entry range is decent value. The common complaint is that Adidas markets its pro frames so heavily that a lot of intermediate players end up on a racket two levels above their game.
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