The Spartus Spitfire is the paddle American reviewers have spent 2026 arguing about, and the argument is not whether it is good. It is how a US $109.99 paddle ended up beating frames at three times the price. Pickleball Pursuit named it their 2026 Paddle of the Year. Now it is on pre-order in Australia and New Zealand at Pickld for $170 AUD, with the first shipment landing in Sydney in mid September. If you want elongated power and durable spin without spending flagship money, this is the paddle to pre-order, and the first four are already spoken for.
What the Spartus Spitfire is, and why the US is talking about it
Spartus is an American brand that built its reputation on one unglamorous thing: grit that does not wear out. Pickleball Effect rated Spartus’s PermaGrit surface the number one Tier 1 durable grit, which matters more than any spec sheet suggests, because a face that goes slick after six weeks of club play is a paddle you end up buying twice.
The Spitfire takes that surface, puts it over a fourth-generation Turbo Foam core and a four-layer carbon face, and sells it at a price this category has never seen. The reaction across the American review circuit has been about as unanimous as pickleball gets:
- Pickleball Pursuit named it their 2026 Paddle of the Year.
- Tickle My Pickleball called it the best $100 paddle, and the best value paddle, on the market.
- PaddleReviewHub measured around 2,350 RPM of spin and a serve speed near 61 mph in third-party testing, and scored spin at 9.5 out of 10.
- Pickleball Effect reviewed it as a $100 power paddle with durable grit, which is the whole pitch in seven words.
- John Kew folded it into his ranking of every Tier 1 spin paddle, which is not a list a paddle at this price normally makes.
On Reddit the thread title says it plainly: is durable grit for $99 the new normal? We think it might be, and we wanted Australia and New Zealand to be able to buy it without importing.
Spartus Spitfire specs
| Spec | Spartus Spitfire Elongated 16mm |
|---|---|
| Core | Generation 4 Turbo Foam (EPP), 16mm |
| Face | QuadFiber four-layer carbon with PermaGritNano surface |
| Spin (Spartus claim) | 2,100+ RPM |
| Shape | Elongated, 41.9 × 19.1 cm (16.5 × 7.5 in) |
| Weight | 223 g (7.85 oz, +/- 0.2 oz) |
| Swingweight | 116 |
| Twistweight | 6.2 |
| Handle | 5.5 in length, 4.125 in circumference |
| Approval | USA Pickleball approved, PBCoR .43 |
| Warranty | 180-day Spartus limited warranty, handled by Pickld |
| Price at Pickld | $170 AUD (US RRP $109.99) |
Two numbers on that table do the heavy lifting. The 16mm Turbo Foam core is what gives a foam paddle the pop of a thermoformed one, with a big trampoline off the middle and none of the dead feel at the tip that early foam paddles had. And the 116 swingweight is the surprise: elongated paddles usually feel sluggish in a hands battle at the kitchen, and by every account this one does not. You get the reach and leverage of a 16.5 inch frame with a swing closer to a hybrid. If you are new to the vocabulary, our plain-English guide to paddle jargon explains what Gen 4, EPP and thermoformed actually mean on court.
How it plays, according to the people who have hit it
Honesty first: our shipment has not landed yet, so we have not put one through a Sydney club night. We will update this post once we have. What follows is the consensus from the reviewers above, and it is unusually consistent.
Spin is the headline. PermaGritNano is the newest version of the surface Pickleball Effect rated top of the durable-grit tier, and the measured numbers back it: a bit over 2,300 RPM in independent testing against Spartus’s own claim of 2,100 plus. The bigger story is what happens after ten weeks. Most gritty faces go smooth and stop biting the ball. This one is built specifically not to.
Power is real but not silly. Reviewers describe midrange-plus power with a controllable pop, and a face that holds the ball a fraction longer than a thin thermoformed paddle, so drops and dinks land where you aimed them rather than springing off short. It is a power frame you can still play soft with, which is a rare combination under $200.
The catch, per the reviewers: it is head-heavy in balance, so it favours drives over a feathery soft game, and it does not hit as hard as a Selkirk Boomstik or an RPM Q2 without adding lead tape. It also comes in one shape. If you want a widebody or hybrid Spitfire, there is not one yet.
Who the Spitfire is for, and who should skip it
Buy it if you are an intermediate or advanced player who wants elongated reach, heavy topspin and honest power, and you are tired of replacing paddles because the grit died. It is also a smart first serious paddle for a strong beginner moving up from a starter frame, because the foam core is forgiving on off-centre hits.
Skip it if you like a head-light paddle you can flick, if your game is built on resets and touch first, or if you simply prefer a widebody sweet spot. In that case look at the Aireo Cyclone X Hybrid or run the paddle finder and let it point you somewhere else.
Spartus Spitfire price in Australia: $170 versus importing it
The US RRP is $109.99. Convert that, add international freight from the States, wait on a parcel, and then carry any warranty claim yourself through an overseas contact form. That is the maths most Australians have been doing since the reviews landed, and it is why we brought the Spitfire in.
At Pickld the Spitfire is $170 AUD, which clears our free-shipping threshold, so it ships free anywhere in Australia. It goes out from Sydney, it is covered by Spartus’s 180-day warranty with us as your first call rather than a US inbox, and our normal 30-day returns apply. It is also under $200, which puts it in the same band as the Luzz Cannon and the Enhance Turbo EPP, two paddles we already rate as the best value on the site. More on how they compare below.
Release date in Australia, and how the pre-order works
The first Spitfire shipment lands with us in mid September 2026. Pre-orders are dispatched in the order they were placed, as soon as the stock clears into the Sydney warehouse. A $100 deposit holds your paddle today and the balance is charged on 30 September 2026. Four are already claimed at the time of writing, and this is a first allocation rather than a container load, so if you want one from the first drop the pre-order page is where to be.
New Zealand: yes, we ship there
Pickld ships to New Zealand at standard rates. For an order over $150 AUD, which the Spitfire is, NZ shipping is a flat $10 AUD, which shows as roughly NZ$13 at checkout. Prices display in New Zealand dollars on the site, the pre-order terms are the same, and the warranty is handled by us in Sydney rather than by a US contact form. We only offer Standard shipping across the Tasman for now, because we will not sell an express service we cannot actually buy at a sensible price.
Spitfire versus the other paddles under $200 we stock
We do not sell one paddle in this price band, we sell several, and they are genuinely different. Here is how the Spitfire lines up.
- Luzz Cannon, $155. Thermoformed T700 carbon over a honeycomb core, so it is crisper and a touch harder-hitting than the Spitfire, with a smaller sweet spot. In stock now. Our Luzz Cannon review calls it the $155 paddle that punches up, and that still stands. Pick the Cannon if you want a thermoformed feel today; pick the Spitfire if you want a foam core and grit that lasts.
- Enhance Turbo EPP, $180. The closest thing to a direct rival: thermoformed T700 face around an EPP foam core, and it comes in elongated, widebody and hybrid. If the Spitfire’s single shape is the sticking point, this is the answer. Our Turbo EPP review covers the three shapes.
- Luzz Cannon2 M1, $185. The second-generation Cannon with Luzz’s Aero-9966 coating aimed at exactly the same problem Spartus is solving: grit that wears out. Elongated 16mm, in stock now.
- Friday Fever 102 Gen 3, $175. The softer, more forgiving option in this band and the one we point improving players to. We asked whether it was the best paddle under $200 in Australia back in June. The Spitfire is the first paddle to make that a real contest.
- Aireo Cyclone, $312. The step up. Same elongated 16mm foam-core recipe with a raw carbon NanoGraph face, more refined feel, and a bigger price tag. If the Spitfire reviews have you curious about foam power but you want the premium version, this is the one we import direct.
If your budget stops nearer $100, the Six Zero Quartz at $99 gets a new player onto real carbon, and it is the paddle we put in our starter sets. For the bigger picture on whether the jump from this band to pro-tier is worth it, read mid-tier versus pro-tier paddles.
Spartus Spitfire: quick answers
When is the Spartus Spitfire available in Australia? Pre-orders are open now at Pickld. The first shipment lands in Sydney in mid September 2026 and pre-orders ship in the order they were placed.
Is there a Spitfire widebody or hybrid? Not at the moment. The Spitfire is elongated only. Spartus’s P1 line covers other shapes, and we will look at it once we see how the Spitfire plays here.
Is the Spitfire USA Pickleball approved? Yes, stamped approved at PBCoR .43. Approval lists change, so check the current list for your model before sanctioned play.
Is it good for beginners? It suits a confident beginner moving up, but it is built for intermediate and advanced players. A true first paddle is better served by the Quartz or a Friday Aura.
Can I buy the Spartus Spitfire in New Zealand? Yes. Order from Pickld and it ships to NZ at standard rates, with a flat $10 AUD charge on orders over $150 AUD.
The short version
The Spitfire is the first paddle to bring a Tier 1 durable grit surface and a Gen 4 foam core in under $200 in Australia, and the American review circuit has spent the year telling everyone so. We have it on pre-order at $170, shipping free within Australia from Sydney in mid September, with the warranty handled here. Pre-order it, or hit reply on any of our emails and tell us how you play, and we will tell you straight whether it is the right paddle for you.
Shop the Spartus Spitfire → Pre-order the Spitfire Elongated 16mm
Browse the brand → Spartus pickleball paddles
Compare the band → Power pickleball paddles
Read next → The best pickleball paddles in Australia, 2026
