CRBN TruFoam Genesis

The CRBN TruFoam Genesis was teased for months before it was finally released earlier this year, and it was worth the wait. The Genesis is unlike anything we’ve ever seen in pickleball because of its unique core construction. Most premium pickleball paddles have polypropylene honeycomb cores—some cores supplement that honeycomb with other materials—but honeycomb is the basis for most paddles.

Not the Genesis.

The Trufoam Genesis 1 & 3 (we’re still waiting on our shipment of the 2s) have a full foam core. While we may have called paddles like the Gen 3 Joolas and the Gearbox Pros foam paddles in the past, these Trufoam paddles are the first real foam paddles in that their cores are made 100% of foam and nothing else.

Trufoam is also very different from the foams we’ve seen in other paddles. Most paddles, like the Propulsion-cored Joolas, are made from an EVA foam that’s quite soft and malleable; Trufoam is much firmer. It’s more like a styrofoam or, as CRBN describes it, “the same foam you would find in a surfboard.” This is important because one of the major marketing claims CRBN has made with this new Trufoam is a massive boost in durability.

Pickleball paddles lack durability for many reasons, but Gen 3 foam paddles, in particular, break down because of core crushing and because their foam softens up after a break-in period. Because Trufoam is so much firmer, it’s much more resilient to the constant force imparted by a pickleball. Theoretically, it should maintain its shape for much longer than softer foams, and while it will naturally break down over time, players shouldn't notice as stark a contrast between a broken-in paddle and a new paddle.

The other important durability benefit of the Trufoam core has to do with core crushing. Because there’s no honeycomb in the core, there’s no extra material to separate from, say, the perimeter foam, the propulsion foam, or whatever other materials might be used inside the core. Trufoam simplifies the design, and in doing so, it eliminates potential manufacturing defects for a cleaner experience overall. It’s also important to note that these Trufoam paddles aren’t thermoformed. There’s no heat involved in the manufacturing process, which will also help eliminate delamination issues.

Of course, it’s not just in the name of durability that CRBN developed Trufoam—they are also claiming plenty of performance improvements.

Trufoam is perhaps a little bit stiffer than EVA foam, but it’s still foam, and as we all know, foam helps to extend dwell time on a pickleball paddle. Not only does this improve touch and control, but it also amplifies spin. A long dwell time combined with a carbon top sheet provides a ton of purchase over the ball to shape it more than a paddle with a short dwell time.

In CRBN’s marketing, it’s obvious that they’re very confident regarding Trufoam’s control and spin potential, but they’re not making too many big power claims. Obviously, power paddles have been well received by most of the community, but they’ve also been very controversial, with delisting issues throughout 2024. It seems like CRBN wants no drama with these Trufoam paddles because they boldly claim them to be less powerful than most other foam competitors. While that does mean they’ll lack the insane point-ending potential of paddles like the Ronbus Ripple or the Gen 3 Joolas, it also means you’ll be allowed to use them for more than three weeks.

The bottom line is: on paper, Trufoam is game-changing.

The question is, do all those claims actually stack up on the court? Well, after a long review period, I think I’ve gotten to the bottom of exactly what you should expect with these extremely unique paddles. It’s not all positive; in fact, they’re so different from everything else that I’ve tested that it certainly took me some time to adapt, but they are watershed paddles in a constantly evolving market. Instead of repeating everything I’ve already said in our full review on YouTube, I’ll let you skip to minute 05:20 in the video linked below.

Joola Pro IV

Joola has also come out with a new series of paddles this year, and when Joola releases a paddle, the pickleball world perks up. Their Gen 3s shook up the market with their insane power, feel, and spin, and before they got delisted, they were incredibly popular. In an attempt to maintain market presence after the Gen 3s were delisted, Joola developed the MOD TAs and the 3S series. While technically legal (at least in some circles), those paddles were eerily similar to the Gen 3s, so it was obvious that this was a temporary fix rather than a permanent solution.

Sure enough, Joola was told that those paddles would be delisted or “sunset” on July 1, 2025. The good news is, Joola had clearly been working on a more permanent solution and promptly released the Pro IV series, which is noticeably different from those three twin paddles (the MODs, Gen 3s, and 3S). The Pro IV series is made from a Gen 4 construction, which is admittedly very similar to the Gen 3 core but with the important addition of a new TFP foam in the shoulders of the paddle.

TFP, or Tech Flex Power Foam, is denser than Propulsion foam but softer than sidewall foam, and it’s not there to add a spring effect but rather to increase stability, softness, and sweet spot size. Reading the marketing, it sounds like this foam should tone down the Pro IV’s power, and as soon as I stepped onto the court with these paddles, that much was very obvious.

The Pro IVs are significantly less powerful than their Gen 3 siblings, and while they do maintain a lot of the other positive characteristics (feel, dwell time, spin), I don’t foresee any delisting issues going forward. Of course, they are still very powerful, and if you’d never played with a Gen 3, you’d think I’m crazy for saying they’re significantly less powerful than anything else—so high power without going over the top is obviously a very good thing.

Like CRBN, Joola is also making some serious durability claims with the Pro IVs, although I am less inclined to believe them. Trufoam paddles employ a completely new construction; the Pro IVs are simply a minor tweak to a Gen 3 paddle that was notoriously not durable at all. At least Joola is backing their claims with some tests; they brought out pre-worn Pro IVs at a launch event that apparently played similarly to their fresh paddles. Of course, no paddle is going to play the same when it’s new compared to six months down the road, but if these can be significantly better than the Gen 3s, then that’s a big step in the right direction. We’ve brought in the Perseus Pro IV 14mm and 16mm (currently sold out), and we are waiting for a shipment with the rest of their lineup.

Joola has also collaborated with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf to release the Agassi Pro and Graf Pro. These paddles have the same Pro IV core as the rest of their lineup but feature a unique shape that looks quite quirky but actually has some great playability to it.

Once again, I’m not going to repeat everything that I said in our YouTube review; you can just skip to minute 05:42 of the video linked below if you want to skip everything I’ve just been through.

Please subscribe to our YouTube channel—we release a new video every week—and if you do want to demo either the new Trufoam paddles or the Pro IVs, you can visit us in-store, or you can buy them online.