A rough face gives the ball something to grip when you brush across it, so it adds bite to slices, víboras and kick serves. It's the smaller part of spin: the stroke does most of the work, and a flat hit gets nothing from texture. Moulded 3D textures last; sprayed-on sand is grippier at first and wears faster. The rules allow both.
What the rules allow
The FIP's Rules of Padel say both sides of a racket must be flat but may be smooth or rough. The rules set no limit on how rough, which is why texture has become a selling point.
How texture makes spin
Spin comes from brushing across the ball rather than hitting straight through it. During that brief contact a textured face grips the ball better than a smooth one, which tends to slide, so the same swing produces more rotation. Hit flat and there's nothing for the texture to do.
Sand, 3D, or both
- Sand or sandblasted finish: grit applied to the face. Very grippy when new, but Padel.FYI notes it wears away fairly quickly.
- Moulded 3D texture: relief built into the face during manufacture. It costs more to make and lasts much longer.
- Both: NOX's 2027 Dual Spin rackets combine a 3D texture with silica sand, and Hirostar's 2027 Blackstone IV and Redstone IV have a sandblasted face.
Most rackets above beginner level now have some texture. Many entry-level rackets are smooth, and that's fine: while you're learning, clean contact matters far more than spin.
Same racket, rough and smooth
NOX sell Miguel Lamperti's round ML10 Pro Cup both ways for 2027: the Rough has textured faces and the Coorp has smooth ones, on the same mould and core. In Padelful's reviews of the 2025 versions, the Rough scored 9.1 for control and 8.9 for sweet spot, against the Coorp's 9.0 and 8.8. That's a fractional difference. Texture is a refinement, not a transformation.
Who benefits
- Players who slice their bandejas and víboras, chip their returns or use a kick serve.
- Experienced players who want more control of the ball off the glass.
- Not beginners chasing spin before they can find the middle of the racket.
Check it yourself, and know that it wears
Drag a fingernail across the face. Padel Browser's test is simple: if you can feel the grit catch, it will bite the ball. The same site warns that a painted-on rough coat can go slick within a month, while moulded texture lasts. Worn texture alone isn't a reason to replace a racket that still plays well; the foam core decides that, as our guide to when to replace a racket explains.
Textured faces
Smooth faces
Sources
We checked every rating and source on this page on 30 October 2026. Each one links to the page it comes from.
- Padelful (one reviewer; five scores out of 10, built from the specification, professional reviews and player feedback): NOX ML10 Pro Cup Rough Surface Edition 2025, ML10 Pro Cup Coorp (listed as ML10 Pro Cup 2025).
- FIP: the Rules of Padel in force from 1 January 2026, item 7 of the racket rules.
- Padel.FYI: its glossary entry on roughness.
- Padel Browser: its guide to the best padel rackets for spin in 2026.
- Specifications: each maker's published figures, as listed on every racket's product page.
Written by the Australian Padel Shop team and last reviewed on 20 October 2026. Prices on this page are pulled live from our catalogue. Review scores are Padelful's, for the 2025 versions, as quoted on our NOX product pages; we have not court-tested these frames ourselves.