Planet-Friendly Pickleball Paddles

When Hugh Davis began playing pickleball as a sophomore in high school, it didn’t take long for him to get hooked on the sport – and frustrated by so-called premium paddles that broke within a few months. He was already repairing lacrosse sticks for friends in his garage, and he added paddles to the mix.

“I became the paddle fixer, and I would modify them to make them more powerful, more spinny,” he says.

After high school, Davis attended the University of Michigan to study material science and industrial engineering.

“I was learning about the best materials used in rocket ships, skis, Porsches and Teslas,” he says. “I realized there were new materials that could make better pickleball paddles, so I decided to build prototypes with scrap material.”

That experience sparked Davis to co-found Revolin Sports in 2019 with his sister, Greta Davis, and girlfriend (now wife), Sophie Vanden Bosch. The company’s mission is to build high-performance products inspired by nature.

“We started with the idea to make products that were better for the player and better for the planet,” says Davis. “We used pickleball as our beachhead market to prove out the materials and create economies of scale.”

Revolin Sports has two main material technologies for its pickleball paddle lines: BioFLX, made with flax fibers, and LavaFLX, produced with basalt fibers.

Davis began working with bio-based materials as a member of the University of Michigan Supermileage Team, which creates high-efficiency, single-occupant vehicles to race in the annual Shell Eco-Marathon Americas event. He researched and received samples of many sustainable raw materials, including hemp, flax and bamboo.

“The materials had all the things we love about fiberglass, with even more stiffness and way more vibration dampening,” says Davis. “That’s perfect for pickleball.”

He continued optimizing sustainable materials after launching Revolin Sports, experimenting with numerous processing methods, resin and core materials, and fiber layers, angles and orientation.

“We invented new combinations of materials that ultimately became BioFLX,” says Davis.

Paddles made with BioFLX include three layers of vertical flax fiber, which Davis says dampens vibrations up to five times better than synthetic materials, and one layer of horizontal flax fiber for added durability. LavaFLX paddles feature one layer of basalt fiber for pop and power, followed by a tightly woven layer of fiberglass and second layer of basalt fiber to extend the sweet spot.

Revolin Sports also researched various resins to find the best fit for natural fibers. They use a rubber-toughened, low-temperature cure epoxy resin. “It’s more energy efficient, more robust against impact and helps offset challenges with natural fibers,” says Davis.

The paddles are made with standard core materials, such as honeycomb, balsa wood and foam. The company has tried a few production methods and recently moved to single paddle molding to optimize the core structure. Both BioFLX and LavaFLX are patent pending.

“The combination of cores and layers – and how you bond them to the cores – is in the patent,” says Davis. “We have a specialized scrim and bonding adhesive that allows for a good bond, even between thermoset and thermoplastic, which can be challenging.”

Most pickleball paddles are made of CFRP, GFRP or a combination of both, with a foam or honeycomb core. According to Davis, Revolin Sports' bio-based paddle composites reduce the carbon footprint by up to 95% compared to conventional composites used in other paddles. In addition, the vibration dampening properties contribute to a quieter paddle on impact, which appeals to the growing number of communities adopting pickleball noise ordinances. Players have also shared stories of decreased wrist and elbow injuries or conditions because of the elasticity of natural fibers.

As the sport of pickleball grows – with approximately 36.5 million Americans having played at least once and more than 10,700 dedicated courts in the U.S., according to 2025 pickleball statistics released by PickleRage – Revolin Sports continues to develop new products. Its BioFLX+ materials add a layer of basalt to flax fiber layers for additional power. The company is also investigating thermoplastic composites, mostly polypropylene, because of their recyclability. It is beta testing a Rev Cycle Upgrade program, where it will take back a recyclable version of its paddle at end of life, grind it up, turn it into new products and pass the savings on to customers.

Revolin Sports hopes to sell 10,000 pickleball paddles in 2026.

“We are a smaller brand, but we are growing steadily,” says Davis. “Pickleball paddles will be our only direct-to-consumer brand.” Revolin Sports plans to partner with manufacturers in other paddle and board sports, marine and office furniture that could benefit from its innovative materials.

Revolin Sports designs high-performance pickleball paddles made with bio-based composite materials. Photo Credit: Revolin Sports

Susan Keen Flynn is managing editor of Composites Manufacturing magazine. Email comments to sflynn@keenconcepts.net.