Guide · 3 min read
Soft vs hard padel rackets: what core feel changes
What a soft or hard core changes in a padel racket, why brands' hardness labels don't match, and what EVA, foam, fiberglass and carbon mean for feel.
Published
Under the face of every padel racket is a foam core, and makers describe how it feels, from soft to hard. A softer core feels more comfortable and is more forgiving. A harder core feels firmer. What the core changes much less is power: that comes mostly from weight and balance.
| Core feel | Feels | In Palafit's scores |
|---|---|---|
| Soft | More comfortable, more forgiving | Comfort and forgiveness go up |
| Medium | In between | In the middle |
| Hard | Firmer | Comfort and forgiveness go down |
What core feel changes
In Palafit's scores, the core's feel makes up 45% of comfort and 25% of forgiveness, and nothing else. It isn't part of the power score, because lab tests found that a racket's mass and balance matter about ten times more for power than its stiffness. See weight and balance explained.
Hardness labels are each brand's own
Makers describe feel in words, often in Spanish, such as "tacto: intermedio" (medium feel) or "dureza: dura" (hard). Each brand uses its labels to compare rackets within its own range, and there's no shared scale, so "medium" at one brand can feel different from "medium" at another. Compare feel within one brand's range when you can.
Palafit records the maker's stated feel on a five-step scale: soft, medium-soft, medium, medium-hard and hard. It never guesses feel from a foam's product name: "EVA Soft Performance" is a name, not a hardness.
In Palafit's catalog in October 2026, 117 of the 154 rackets have a published feel: 39 soft, 37 medium and 41 firm. For the other 37, about one in four, the maker doesn't say. Their comfort and forgiveness scores are estimates, and the racket pages say so.
EVA and foam cores
Most cores are EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) or a polyethylene foam. Foam cores are softer and livelier on slow balls than EVA, and some rackets mix both. Palafit shows the core material but doesn't score it: the maker's stated feel already covers it, and the material alone is too broad a group to tell rackets apart.
Fiberglass vs carbon faces
The face over the core is carbon, fiberglass or a mix. Makers and guides agree that fiberglass is more flexible and forgiving than carbon. We found no lab data that confirms it, so the face makes up only a small part of Palafit's scores: 25% of comfort and 15% of forgiveness.
Carbon is often sold by its "K" number: 3K, 12K, 18K. That number is how many fibres make up each bundle in the weave, not a stiffness grade, and lab tests found it has little direct effect on how a racket plays.
Which feel for you
- Comfort first, or you feel it in your arm: a softer core and a low balance, which feel easier on the arm. A fiberglass face may add a little.
- You like a firmer feel: a medium or hard core gives it, though it adds little power on its own.
- Not sure: medium is the middle ground.
If you tell the quiz you often feel it in your arm, it leaves out firm cores, head-heavy rackets, and any racket whose maker doesn't publish its feel or balance. Or browse soft rackets and firm rackets yourself.
Sources
- Tennis Warehouse University: what makes a padel racket powerful
- Tennis Warehouse University: carbon layup and the K-count
- padelbrowser: EVA vs foam cores
- Catalog figures: Palafit's catalog on 6 October 2026, which includes the PadelTrue dataset (CC BY 4.0)