USA Pickleball Quietly Places Several Paddle Models Under Review

Surface grit is at the heart of the recent investigations – one of which has led to a full delisting from the Approved Paddle List.

New pickleball paddles receive USA Pickleball certification all the time: So far in 2026, roughly 250 new models have hit the Approved Paddle List from brands big and small.

And that's actually a sizable dip from years prior that saw significantly more than that get the stamp of approval.

What we hear far less about are the paddles that don't pass to begin with, or those that made the list but are subsequently placed under investigation or removed for being out of spec.

Until this week, that is. Three new paddles have quietly popped up on USAP's Compliance List:

1. March 24, 2026: Facolos Pro Series Elite X
2. May 27: Speedup Tide 14S
3. May 28: Proton Series Three Peacock

Facolos' status is listed as "Removed from USAP Approved List" (the Elite X is Gabe Tardio's current gamer, for anyone keeping track at home, though UPA-A enforces different grit standards than USAP) while Speedup and Proton are both "Under Investigation."

Both of those investigations have been ongoing since late May.

In March, USAP also listed a brand called R.A.W. Reign and Win for several models reportedly using an "Unauthorized use of the USAP logo." That issue has since been rectified (the status is now marked as "Compliance Issue Resolved") and those models are reportedly back in good standing with USAP.

It's unclear exactly what USAP's compliance process is these days, but historically one component of their protocol entailed randomly purchasing select paddle models from third-party retailers in order to test production models against the benchmarks established from their Approved Paddle List.

In the age of more durable surface grit textures, it's perhaps not surprising to see a renewed outward interest in looking more closely at paddles through this specific lens.

In a statement on its website published May 28, USAP said the following about the Facolos Elite X:

Following additional review and testing, the Facolos Pro Series Elite X paddle was found to exceed USA Pickleball’s allowable surface roughness standards. During the review process, Facolos acknowledged that the production version of the paddle differed from the version originally submitted for certification testing.

Based on these findings, the Facolos Pro Series Elite X paddle has been removed from the USA Pickleball approved paddle list. USA Pickleball has been in communication with the manufacturer regarding the status of the paddle and potential next steps related to the marketplace.

Excessive surface grit seems to be at the heart of all of these recent investigations. We'll update this article accordingly as we learn more.

For more on all things paddles, we've got you covered.

Justin from Pickleball Pursuit discussed USAP Compliance List on a recent episode:

Chris and Aizec from Pickleball Studio also dug into Facolos' delisting: