The Popstar is the Ghost that refuses to be background. Bold, bright and unmistakable across the court, it carries the standard entry-tier AIXO build: a T700 carbon face on a 16mm cold-pressed core, priced around £30.
For tennis players, the appeal is the same reason coaches hand beginners a forgiving frame rather than a tour racket. The 16mm core is the thickest in the AIXO range, and thickness in a paddle works like head size and low string tension in a racket – a broad sweet spot, a soft landing for the ball, and the confidence to swing without fearing the frame. While your brain is busy converting tennis instincts into pickleball ones (shorter swing, earlier prep, far more patience), the paddle quietly covers your errors.
The T700 carbon face is what separates this from bargain-bin paddles. Carbon holds the ball a fraction longer and tells your hand what actually happened at contact – the difference between learning touch and merely poking at the ball. Dinks sit down, drops float where you aimed them, and when you do open the shoulders, there is enough response to keep the drive honest.
At this price it is an easy first paddle, an obvious second paddle, and the one your non-playing partner will borrow and then not return. Consider yourself warned, and consider the artwork – part album cover, part fan poster – fair compensation.
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Shop the AIXO Ghost Popstar at Central Tennis
In stock now at Central Tennis. Expert stringing and racket fitting available in store.
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