A Review of Sport Design's Pro Kadima Paddle and Ball Set

I was recently turned on to the addictive, low-cost outdoor game Pro Kadima. Pro Kadima is a game that is a mixture of beach tennis, badminton, and ping-pong. Anyway, Pro Kadima is a great deal of fun and I highly recommend it. In this article, I am going to review the standard Pro Kadima starter set as produced and sold by Sport Design.

The Pro Kadima set sold by Sport Design comes with two paddles and one ball. Everywhere I have seen this set, it has been sold for about eight dollars, which is reasonable. A Frisbee, for example, costs between ten and fourteen dollars. Keep this in mind going forward. The two Pro Kadima paddles that came in my set were painted green and purple, respectively, but there are also unpainted sets. The paddles are made of wood, with plastic plates on the front and back of the handle to make the paddle easier to grasp.

The handles of the paddles are one of my two major gripes with Sport Design's Pro Kadima set. There are corners on the handles that can cause blisters if left unaddressed. What I did to remedy this problem was to wrap the handles in heavy duty surgical tape. This fixed the problem, and cost around $5 because I bought the tape new. Many people own surgical tape already, and if not, it is easily obtained. I had plenty of excess tape, so that can be used in the future.

My other major criticism of Sport Design's Pro Kadima set is that the ball that comes with the set seems to be less dense than replacement Kadima balls. This is a problem because the ball seems to lose a lot of its "bounce" and does not fly as well. As Pro Kadima is a game about volleying, it's important that the ball can make it from one player to another. For this reason, I suggest purchasing replacement Kadima balls. Three balls can be purchased for two dollars. It's worth it.

Other than the problem of the blister-causing handles (remedied with surgical tape) and the low-quality ball (buy replacement balls), Sport Design's Pro Kadima set is pretty good. Out of the box, I'd give it a three out of five, but after taping the handles of the paddles and buying a set of replacement balls, I'd give the set four and a half out of five. Half a point is lost for the finish of the paddles, but they're better than could be expected for something whose production costs were less than eight dollars. I wish there were Pro Kadima paddles made of a high-density plastic, but this might raise costs considerably.

Even with modification, the Pro Kadima set from Sport Design costs less than twenty dollars and is more durable than many other outdoor games. A modified set costs about the same as a Frisbee and is just as fun, in my opinion. Have you used the Pro Kadima set from Sport Design? If so, what did you think? Feel free to share your thoughts in the form of a comment. Thank you for reading!

The Sport Design Pro Kadima set may be purchased here, and replacement balls may be purchased here. The same items may be found on Amazon for slightly more.