Edge 18K Power

Second 18K. Finding them on sale was great. Thank you!!

Si used it only once So far so good. Wish the handle was a bit thinner.

A lot of folks where I play, use Diadem paddles. I was always curious about the popularity, so when the price recently dropped to $104.00 a few weeks ago, I could not resist finding out for myself.

The paddle plays surprisingly well right out of the box. The talk about the spin is true. High marks for spin, playability, and feels like an extension of my arm/hand. Only one slightly negative, not about the paddle, but about the shipping 'container'. Paddle was shipped in a plastic pouch which was ripped all the way through to the paddle. Even though the paddle was not harmed, it could have been. I would recommend a stronger container.

Edge 18k Standard: I've been playing with it for a year. I ride the spin/control train, define my shots in terms of target, trajectory, and spin. When I go for power I'm topping it. This paddle really rotates the ball well, more than 90% of the paddles out there, and also more than the other 18k varieties. So more than just the surface. Core response, dwell time got it going on.
The Edge 18k profile is basically super high spin, mid power, mid pop. It's a nice package; more people should embrace it. I get easier access to spin, but also more varieties of spin (and therefore a bigger shot menu) with the Edge 18k than with my CRBN3 TFG, also generally highly regarded for spin. The CRBN will hit harder, no doubt, but often flatter.
As a converted tennis player I've been challenged to learn the technique for topspin volleys and dinks (tennis using more backspin around the net) and this paddle really gives great feedback. If you top a dink right, that baby's gonna bite down hard! If you slice it, it's a mud ball.
With more control, I feel like I can still opt to take a bigger swing, as appropriate. So the powerful paddle doesn't necessarily equate to the more powerful game. There's also some big upside in aggressive shot selection (angles, locations) with the spin/control paradigm.
Time to make a foam core paddle with this profile!

Looks great. However it's aChristmas gift so it hasn't been used