It's finally time for our Joola Ben Johns CFS Review.
The Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Pickleball Paddle may be the paddle of the year for 2022.
If you're reading this in 2023 (or anytime after June 6, 2023) that means that Joola already has their new line of Ben Johns Perseus and even partnered with Colin Johns and Anna Bright for their Scorpeus variations - but the Hyperion is still holding extremely strong.
When I first started playing pickleball I played with some inexpensive paddles for a while but then it was time to upgrade my paddle and do some research on the best paddles for my specific gameplay (and the style I liked, of course).
I knew I preferred the elongated paddle with a slightly longer handle and I began researching what the pros were using and I'm not kidding when I say that this thought came into my head: "If this is good enough for Ben Johns than it's probably good enough for me."
So part of the purchase was luck, but the other part was knowing what type of paddle was going to be best for me.
That said, this is my preferred paddle right now, and the first thing I grab (after my Monster Ultra) when reaching into my pickleball bag.
I've played with this paddle for a long while now and finally getting a chance to hop on and officially get an article up for our Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Review.
Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Review -
Full Paddle Technical Specifications
PRICE: $180-220
Amazon: Yes - Click Here
MATERIALS: Carbon Friction Surface + Reactive Polymer Honeycomb Core
THERMOFORMED: No
SHAPE: Elongated
THICKNESS: 14MM or 16mm
WEIGHT: 7.9-8.4 oz
LENGTH: 16.5 in
WIDTH: 7.5 in
GRIP LENGTH: 5.5 in
GRIP CIRCUMFERENCE: 4.25 in
WARRANTY: 120 DAY
Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Review -
Brief Introduction and Discussion (Plus Pros and Cons)
The Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS is an elongated paddle that is a bit heavy (right out of the box) and comes in 14mm and 16mm with the 16mm usually being the preferred option (including Ben Johns).
The Hyperion comes in with a bit more of a rounded head to the paddle, where-as the new Perseus has a bit less of a curve to it, but outside of that the aesthetic and overall feel of the two paddles are not that far off from each other in terms of specs.
The grip length is a bit longer at the 5.5 inch length, but this has been great for me coming in from originally starting with a shorter handle (and even having dabbled with the Selkirk Vanguard Power Air prior).
The Pros
Incredible Sweet Spot
Awesome Control and Feel
Great Spin
5.5" Handle is great for two handed backhand
Exceptional Power
The best combo of power, control and spin that I have personally played with
The Cons
Comes heavy right out of the box and it tends to be top heavy (not good for tennis elbow)
Higher Price Point
Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Review -
Control and Feel Review: 9.5/10
The structure of my reviews is a bit different being that I also like to fit stories into the articles about my own gameplay and pickleball life as well, which hopefully will help to not make this one too boring for you guys.
And the reason I say that is because this one nearly gets 10/10 scores across the board, starting with the control and feel of the paddle.
The best way to describe the control of the Hyperion is soft and easy.
On top of that you will learn that this one is also extremely powerful, which makes the 10/10 score on the control that much more impressive. Pair that with the fact that it feels super forgiving with an incredible sweet spot on an elongated paddle and this score was pretty easy to give.
Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Review -
Power Review: 8/10
Next up for the Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Review is the power, which is also coming in at a 9/10 score.
I wasn't kidding when I said it has one of the best pairings of control and power that I have ever played with.
The power on this one doesn't pop and fly off at the kitchen (in a good way), but still allows you to have your control during a soft game while giving you the ample power needed for speedups at the kitchen and drives from the baseline.
This may not be the most powerful paddle on the market, so I guess if we were basing it on overall power rankings among paddles the score would come down a bit, but in terms of power needed to be an insanely good paddle, the score stands.
Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Review -
Spin Potential Review: 7.5/10
Similar to the power rating I will say that this one isn't the greatest paddle for spin on the market, but the spin is still good, with a spin rating coming in at 1500+ RPMS.
In terms of well roundedness and being able to say it is as versatile as it is, the scoring may come a little bias, but at the same time it's based on the a score that is as good as it can get until we start discussing very minuscule improvement.
The carbon friction service makes for some incredible spin, and while some paddles on the market can generate even more spin, that isn't necessarily the basis of the scoring. The basis of the scoring is on a competitive to pro level, this one stands at a level needed to be extremely competitive.
Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Review -
Aesthetic and Personal Opinion: 9.5/10
Next up on our Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Review we have the aesthetic and my overall personal opinion of the paddle.
For this one you guys probably already know my opinion so I don't really have to cover it all that much considering it is one of my go-to paddles that I play with basically every single day, but I will discuss the overall aesthetic of the paddle as well.
I personally prefer paddles that look almost completely black, but this one has the logo pop out a bit and the white lines going across so I don't give it the 10/10 it has gotten across the board so far, but it's very close.
Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Review -
Everything Else: 8/10
This section for the review is going to be covering anything I haven't already covered within the other sections to make a very fair and honest overall review without just having any highlight reel paddles go through without full comments.
The Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS is incredible, but there can be some downsides to the paddle depending on the type of player you are.
Here are some things you may not like about the paddle:
- If you prefer a shorter handle, this one won't be for you (5.5" length).
- If you prefer a lighter paddle, this one likely won't be for you (typically a heavier paddle out of the box).
- If you struggle with tennis elbow this one might not be for you (this is a top heavy paddle, so you'd have to add weight to even it out or potentially even make it heavier in the opposite direction).
- If you don't like elongated paddles, this one might not be for you.
Outside of that, I don't really have any negatives to say about this paddle, and if you're not someone who prefers a lighter paddle with short handle, then you probably won't find many negatives as well (unless you aren't someone who likes the elongated style).
I also do want to make mention to the price of the paddle, which at the time of writing this is ranging from $180-220 and while this may seem a bit high with some of the other paddles coming out under the $200 marker, this one competes with all of them and I wouldn't necessarily mark the price point as a negative.
Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Review -
Closing Thoughts: 42.5/50
My closing thoughts for our Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS Review are pretty basic considering I feel like I've covered most of what we needed to discuss here.
I don't like making the price point of the paddle a main factor within the review being that the prices of paddles are always changing with deals and newer paddles coming out, but I will draw attention to a paddle that is far under or over the price it should be (for it's caliber), and this one is not one of those.
I definitely think this one is priced fairly and I am extremely happy with the price I got it for (at the time that was around $200).
Even with the Joola Perseus and Scorpeus out the Hyperion is still my go-to paddle, though I do a ton of testing with other paddles, but that should tell you something about just how awesome this one is.
