Adidas Metalbone CTRL 3.4 Padel Racket

There is a small group of rackets that genuinely play differently when you swing them, and the Metalbone CTRL 3.4 is one of them. The 18K carbon weave on the face is denser and stiffer than the 12K and 3K options Adidas sell underneath it, which translates into a colder, harder ball-strike. You feel the contact in the handle rather than seeing the ball flex into the surface, and that is exactly the point.

In play, the diamond head and high balance push almost all the weight into the top third. Bandejas come down heavy, and a clean smash with the 38mm hard EVA core flies off the strings with very little dwell time. Defensively though, this is not a forgiving racket. Off-centre at the throat and the ball dies on you, or sprays wide.

The ideal owner is the 5.0 or 6.0 player who already wins points by stepping in on the third and finishing with pace. If you are a 3.5 club player who reaches for power because your timing is inconsistent, this will punish every late hit and you will play worse than with a £140 hybrid.

UK stockists are limited. Padel Nuestro UK and PDH Sports usually carry it within £270-£330 depending on the colourway, and Decathlon do not stock the CTRL line at all.

• Hard EVA Performance core, no give for placement-first players
• Tapia, Lebron and Galan all use Metalbone variants on tour
• Smart Holes pattern shifts air flow on the swing, you do feel the head accelerate cleaner