The Slyce Sports SpeedCap is a weighted cap that fits onto the end of a pickleball paddle handle. The company claims that the SpeedCap improves paddle balance and reduces its swing weight by shifting the paddle center of mass (cG) towards the handle, thereby making it feel lighter and improving maneuverability. How much of this is market hype and how much is fact? Is it better to use the SpeedCap on lighter or heavier paddles? Are there other benefits for using the SpeedCap? Let’s look at the science to answer these questions.
How is it installed?
Virtually all pickleball paddles use plastic endcaps that weigh about ¼ ounce. The Slyce SpeedCap is made out of aluminum and weighs about one ounce. Prior to installing the SpeedCap, you must remove the factory grip and the plastic endcap from the handle. These endcaps may be press-fit, stapled, taped, or glued to the paddle, so extra effort may be required to remove any fasteners or adhesives and cut or pry the original endcap off the handle.
Once the factory endcap is removed, the SpeedCap can be installed. If it is a tight fit, you might need to lightly tap on it with a hammer to fully seat it onto the handle. If it is loose, you might need to use a tape or adhesive to secure it onto the handle. You should avoid using a “permanent” adhesive, such as epoxy or “super glue”, and opt for a temporary adhesive, such as a latex caulk in case you want to remove the SpeedCap in the future. Once the SpeedCap is installed, you can re-wrap the handle with your favorite grip.
SpeedCap Weight Analysis
We evaluated the SpeedCap on the CRBN 1X and ProKennex Black Ace Pro paddles. Both paddles are fairly well-balanced, with the CRBN 1X (at 8.4 oz) being slightly heavier than the average paddle (at 8.0 oz) and the Black Ace Pro (at 7.9 oz) being slightly lighter than average. Weight characteristics before and after installation of the SpeedCap are shown in Tables 1 and 2, and results are summarized below.
Table 1. CRBN 1X Weight Characteristics
Table 2. ProKennex Black Ace Pro Weight Characteristics
Interpretation
- Static Weight – Although the SpeedCap weighs about 1 oz, the “after” weight for each paddle was less than 1 oz since the existing endcaps weighed about 0.25 oz, and we took the opportunity to swap out the factory grips for each paddle. We installed the Gamma Honeycomb Grip on the CRBN 1X and the Hesacore Grip with an ADV Overwrap on the Black Ace. On one hand, the increased static weight of the paddles will increase paddle power by providing greater linear momentum that may be transferred to the ball. On the other hand, the increased static weight will also decrease the paddle swing speed. Since the paddle momentum is equal to the product of the mass multiplied by the velocity squared, the decrease in the paddle swing speed may outweigh the increase in paddle mass, resulting in lower momentum transferred to the ball.
- Swing Radius / Balance Weight – The Swing Radius describes the distance from the pivot point (2.0” from the butt of the handle) to the cG location. As indicated the cG shifts almost one inch towards the handle for both paddles. This results in a decrease of the Balance Weight of almost 2.0 oz-in for both paddles. The reduction in Balance Weight was noticeable on both paddles, but more pronounced with the Black Ace.
- Recoil Weight – The Recoil Weight is the paddle’s mass moment of inertia about its cG location and is a measure of the paddle’s stability about its lateral axis. Paddles with a higher recoil weight will be less prone to rotation when striking a ball during a serve or groundstroke or blocking a ball at the kitchen line. As indicated, the SpeedCap significantly increases Recoil Weight of both paddles by almost 50%, thereby increasing their stability.
- Sweet Spot – As we described in a previous article, the Sweet Spot or Center of Percussion (cP) is a point along the longitudinal axis of the paddle where striking the ball will result in no reaction force regardless of how hard the paddle contacts the ball. By contacting the ball at the cP, the ball will seem to jump off of your paddle almost effortlessly. As shown, the SpeedCap causes the cP to move farther away from the handle by almost 1.5” for both paddles. This is actually desirable since the paddle speed increases as contact is made farther from the pivot point.
- Sweet Spot Size – In a previous article we postulated that the sweet spot is an oval centered at the cP, with the major axis equal to twice the distance from the cP to the cG. Since the SpeedCap shifts the cG towards the handle and cP away from the handle, the size of the sweet spot major axis increases by about 1.4” for both paddles.
- Natural Frequency – In a previous article we postulated that paddles with a lower natural frequency will have more power since the half-wavelength period of the trampoline and diving board effects will more closely coincide with the paddle/ball contact time. The SpeedCap increases the effective mass of both paddles, causing a reduction of their natural frequencies, and therefore an increase in power.
How Does the SpeedCap Affect Play?
Conventional wisdom suggests that the SpeedCap might be well-suited for a heavier paddle to make it feel lighter and to improve its maneuverability. Our analyses determined that regardless of whether the paddle is heavy or light, the SpeedCap makes the weight numbers move in a favorable direction. That is, the SpeedCap will improve paddle power and stability and increase the size of the sweet spot with only a modest increase in swing weight.
Readers should be cautioned that if your paddle feels heavy, the SpeedCap will not make your paddle lighter – it adds weight to the handle thereby re-distributing the total weight making it feel more balanced and maneuverable. You will still need strength to overcome the increased static weight and inertia of the paddle when you swing it, which may reduce your swing speed and cause arm fatigue. In our evaluation, we found only a modest increase in paddle power and stability for the CRBN 1X paddle. This could be due to the fact that we reached our limit of capability to properly utilize the heavier paddle.
So how does it work on a lighter paddle? Prior to installing the SpeedCap on the Black Ace Pro, we felt that the paddle was too light and had a “flimsy” feel when returning hard-hit balls. The paddle sweet spot felt small because hits off-center were felt as vibration in the handle, and off-center hits did not generate much power. After installation of the SpeedCap, we found a significant increase in paddle power, stability, and sweet spot. That is, hitting the ball hard emitted a loud distinct “booming” sound, resulting in a lot of pace on the ball with very little vibration at the handle. This phenomenon could not be explained by the change in weight characteristics alone, so we reasoned that the SpeedCap behaves somewhat like the pommel of a sword (Figure 1). As described in numerous on-line articles about sword dynamics, the pommel not only balances the sword, but it is also used to adjust the sword’s dynamic characteristics in a manner similar to that of a tuned mass damper.
In a previous article, we performed a dynamic analysis of a paddle and identified two vibration modes: a diving board mode and a trampoline mode, which are illustrated in Figures 2a and 2b, respectively. For the diving board mode, the handle remains stationary, and the face of the paddle vibrates like a cantilever beam. Points of zero dynamic deflection are termed “nodal points”, and will not transmit vibration energy.
For the trampoline mode, there are two nodal points, one that we postulate is slightly above the throat of the paddle and one that is near the tip of the paddle. It is likely that the SpeedCap shifts the lower nodal point from the paddle face to the handle on the Black Ace Pro paddle (Figure 2c). This causes a significant reduction in vibration energy that is transmitted to your hand and greater dynamic deflection at the center of the paddle.
Shifting of the lower nodal point of the trampoline mode of the lighter Black Ace Pro paddle to the handle will further contribute to increasing the size of the sweet spot and increasing the paddle’s “pop” or reactivity. This was verified through evaluation of the paddle performance with a ball machine and through actual play.
Although the CRBN 1X paddle (in general) performed better, we did not notice such a dramatic improvement in sweet spot or reactivity, however. We believe that since the CRBN 1X is heavier, the weight of the SpeedCap (1 oz) is not sufficient to shift the lower nodal point to the handle. A heavier SpeedCap might enable this, but this was not tested.
Figure 2. Paddle Diving Board & Trampoline Modes
Summary & Conclusions
The Slyce SpeedCap is a novel accessory that can improve paddle balance, maneuverability, and stability for a lightweight (Black Ace Pro) and heavy (CRBN 1X) paddle.
For the lightweight Black Ace Pro paddle, we found an added benefit in that it could greatly improve paddle power and increase the size of the sweet spot. We believe that this is enabled by shifting the lower nodal point of the paddle trampoline mode from the face of the paddle to the handle, thereby reducing vibration feedback at the handle while increasing vibration amplitude at the paddle sweet spot.
For heavier paddles in general, we believe that it is possible to shift the lower nodal point of the paddle trampoline mode by adding more weight than the 1 oz SpeedCap. Slyce offers a heavier 1.5 oz SpeedCap and additional weighted discs of 5, 10, and 15 g. The downside of the added weight is that it could make the paddle feel too heavy, which may require more arm strength and could potentially reduce swing velocity.
The Slyce SpeedCap retails for about $30.00, but our readers can get a 10% discount by entering code PSCIENCE10 for purchases on the Slyce website.
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