The 11SIX24 Pegasus Jelly Bean is my top pick for beginners, and it's one of the most controllable paddles I've ever tested. This is the original Jelly Bean, a 16mm honeycomb widebody, not the Jelly Bean 2. It scored 95 out of 100 for control, and only three paddles I've tested score higher. Add a huge sweet spot and a light swing, and you get a paddle that keeps your dinks and resets low and still lands the balls you hit off center. What you give up is pace. It scored 36 out of 100 for power, so you make your own pace on drives and put-aways. 11SIX24 followed it with the Jelly Bean 2 in August 2026 but still sells the original, and I keep the original on my lists on purpose. For $70 less than the Jelly Bean 2, it gives you a little more control, a clearly lighter swing and USA Pickleball approval. It's $99.99, or $89.99 with the code STSPICKLEBALL. I earn a commission when you use my codes.
Pros and cons
Pros
- It scored 95 out of 100 for control, and only three paddles I've tested score higher.
- It scored 93 out of 100 for sweet spot, and only seven paddles I've tested have a bigger one.
- No other paddle I've tested at $99.99 or less scores 95 or better for control.
- It swings light, with a swing weight of 106.9, and only 26 paddles I've tested swing lighter, so it gets the face up fast at the kitchen.
- 11SIX24 lists it as USA Pickleball approved, and its 5.75 inch handle leaves room for a two-handed backhand.
Cons
- It scored 36 out of 100 for power, and only 26 paddles I've tested hit softer, so drives and put-aways take a full swing.
- Its pop score of 58 out of 100 is far below the average widebody's, so counters and speed-ups only go as fast as you swing.
- The face is raw carbon with no grit, and it spins about the same as the average widebody.
- UPA-A is the second approval list in pickleball, used at events like PPA qualifiers, and 11SIX24's page doesn't list the original on it.
Quick answers
Is the 11SIX24 Pegasus Jelly Bean good for beginners?
Yes, it's my No. 1 pick for beginners. Its control score of 95 out of 100 and sweet spot score of 93 out of 100 mean your soft shots stay down and your mishits still go over. The face gives back very little pace, so a hard ball you block doesn't fly off your paddle. It swings light, too, which makes it easy to get up in front of you at the kitchen. The one thing to know is that it won't add pace for you on drives.
Does the original Pegasus Jelly Bean have HexGrit?
No. 11SIX24's page for the original lists a three-layer face, two layers of raw Toray T700 carbon fiber with a layer of fiberglass between them, with no HexGrit and no grit of any kind. HexGrit is on the Jelly Bean 2. The original spun 2,250 RPM in my spin test, for a spin score of 64 out of 100, which is about the same as the average widebody.
Is the Pegasus Jelly Bean USA Pickleball approved?
Yes. USA Pickleball added the Pegasus Jelly Bean 16mm to its approved list on January 27, 2025, and 11SIX24's page still says "USA Pickleball Approved" as of October 21, 2026, so you can use it in USA Pickleball sanctioned events. The page doesn't list it as UPA-A approved, so it isn't a pick for UPA-A events. The Jelly Bean 2 is the reverse, since 11SIX24 lists it as UPA-A approved and not USA Pickleball approved.
Is the original Jelly Bean still worth buying now that the Jelly Bean 2 is out?
Yes, if you want the most control for the money, you're newer to the game or you play USA Pickleball events. The Jelly Bean 2 is the upgrade if you want far more spin and far more power, and you're fine paying $70 more for a paddle that's UPA-A approved but not USA Pickleball approved.
Dense, light and steady in your hand
The Pegasus Jelly Bean is a control paddle. It feels dense at contact, and the fiberglass layer between the face's two carbon layers keeps it from feeling mushy or dead, so you still get a clear sense of where the ball went.
It's also quick. Swing weight is how heavy a paddle feels when you swing it, and I measured this one at 106.9, about the same as the average widebody's 108.8, and only 26 paddles I've tested swing lighter. That's why it gets the face up so fast at the kitchen. The balance point sits at 23.3 cm against the average widebody's 23.65 cm, a small shift toward your hand.
And it's steady. Its twist weight came in at 7.04, a touch above the average widebody's 6.92. Twist weight is how much the face resists twisting when you miss the center, so a block off the edge doesn't turn the face and spray wide.
Built for the kitchen, and you supply the pace
How its spin stacks up against other widebodies you can buy
About average spin for a widebody, 23 RPM below the average
The top three for spin
- 1Honolulu J3CR Crystal Blue2,436
- 211SIX24 Pegasus Jelly Bean 22,37561 RPM behind
- 3RPM Q2 Widebody2,36967 RPM behind
- 2911SIX24 Pegasus Jelly Bean2,250186 RPM behind
Dinks, drops and resets
This is the reason to buy it. Control and sweet spot are my scores from the same ball-machine dink, drop and reset drills every paddle gets. The Pegasus Jelly Bean's control score of 95 out of 100 is clearly higher than the average widebody's 76. The honeycomb core soaks up the pace of a hard ball, so a reset you block comes off slow and drops short instead of floating up for the other team. Dinks stay consistent from one to the next, which is what lets you stay in a long dink rally without giving one away.
Since the face adds so little pace, your third-shot drops need a smooth, full lift. A drop you only poke at can land short in the net.
Blocks and hands battles
On defense, it's great. When the other team speeds the ball up at you, the face takes the pace off, and your block lands soft. The light swing helps you get the paddle in front of you in time.
On offense, it's a different story. Pop is the pace you get off short swings at the net, and the Pegasus Jelly Bean scored 58 out of 100 for pop, far less than the average widebody's pop score of about 79. So the ball doesn't jump off the face on a counter or a speed-up, and in a fast exchange the pace has to come from your own swing.
Drives, serves and put-aways
Pace is the trade-off. The Pegasus Jelly Bean scored 36 out of 100 for power, far less than the average widebody's power score of about 65, and only 26 paddles I've tested hit softer. You can still hit a solid drive or serve, but only with a full swing, and put-aways take real work.
Spin is about average. It spun 2,250 RPM in my spin test, about the same as the average widebody, so topspin drives and serves dip the way you'd expect, without anything extra from the face.
Mishits
It's very forgiving. It scored 93 out of 100 for sweet spot, clearly bigger than the average widebody's 83, and only seven paddles I've tested have a bigger sweet spot. That big sweet spot plus a slightly higher twist weight than the average widebody, 7.04 against 6.92, is why your off-center hits still go over with close to the pace you meant.
How it feels in your hand next to other widebodies you can buy
Quick in your hands, about average when you miss the middle
How heavy the paddle feels when you swing it. A lower number swings quicker.
Swings lighter than most widebodies.
How much the paddle fights twisting when you miss the middle. A higher number is steadier.
About average twist weight for a widebody.
How its sweet spot stacks up against other widebodies you can buy
Only four widebodies you can buy have a bigger sweet spot
Both rings are sized to their score.
Why the original is still my pick for beginners
11SIX24 released the Jelly Bean 2 on August 21, 2026, and the Jelly Bean 2 is the successor to this paddle. I still keep the original on my lists, and here's why. Newer players lose a lot of points to pop-ups and balls that fly long, not to a lack of power, and the original is built to fix exactly that. It's one of only seven paddles I've tested with 90 or better for both control and sweet spot. It costs $89.99 with the code, it's USA Pickleball approved, and its light swing is easy to handle while you learn.
11SIX24 aims it at players rated 4.5 and under. Once you want to win points with drives and put-aways, that's when the Jelly Bean 2 or a paddle with more power starts to make sense.
A honeycomb core with fiberglass between two carbon layers
Inside is a 16mm polypropylene honeycomb core with foam injected around the perimeter, which 11SIX24 calls "foam reinforced walls." The face is what 11SIX24 calls its CFC surface, two layers of raw Toray T700 carbon fiber with a layer of fiberglass between them, finished with a raw peel-ply texture and no grit on top.
11SIX24 lists the weight at 8.0 to 8.3 oz, the swing weight at 109 to 111 and the twist weight at 7.2. I measured a swing weight of 106.9 and a twist weight of 7.04, so both came in under the listed numbers, with the swing weight a little under the low end of the listed range. The paddle is 15.82 inches long and 8.04 inches wide, with a 4.125 inch grip circumference. The 5.75 inch handle is long for a widebody, and only six other widebodies I've tested have a handle this long or longer.
The warranty is one year, and it comes with a free neoprene cover.
As of October 21, 2026, 11SIX24 sells it at $99.99 in 16mm only, in Teal, Cornflower Blue and Vanilla. The page shows the Teal as in stock and ready to ship, and all three colors can be added to the cart.
Owners rate it 4.71 out of 5, and I found no repeat defect
On 11SIX24's own store, the Pegasus Jelly Bean has 276 owner reviews averaging 4.71 out of 5 stars as of October 21, 2026. The page shows five of those reviews, without dates. Three of the five call it light, two come from beginners who say it's easy to learn on, and two say it's a good paddle for the price. One owner says it doesn't hurt their wrists.
I searched for cracks, dead spots and other defects, and as of October 21, 2026, I haven't found a defect that three or more owners report.
Should you pay $70 more for the Jelly Bean 2?
The Pegasus Jelly Bean 2 is $169.99, or $159.99 with the code STSPICKLEBALL, so it costs $70 more than the original either way. It keeps the Pegasus widebody shape with a new build, a full foam EMA core and 11SIX24's HexGrit surface, and 11SIX24 says the new core is softer and denser than the original's.
The Jelly Bean 2 is the paddle with more offense. It has far more power, 63 against 36, and clearly more pop, 72 against 58. It spins far more, at 2,375 RPM against 2,250 RPM, and HexGrit is doing that work, since the original has a raw face with no grit. In my wear test, HexGrit lost about 1% of its spin over 75 games, so that extra spin holds up as you play it.
The original is the paddle with more control. Sweet spot is about the same, 93 on the original against 91 on the Jelly Bean 2. The original has a little more control, 95 against 88, and it swings clearly lighter, with a swing weight of 106.9 against 112.5. Its handle is longer too, 5.75 inches against 5.5.
Then there's approval. 11SIX24 lists the original as USA Pickleball approved and the Jelly Bean 2 as UPA-A only.
So get the Jelly Bean 2 if you already have a soft game and want spin and pace to go with it, and you don't play USA Pickleball sanctioned events. Get the original if you're still building your soft game, want a clearly lighter swing, or play USA Pickleball events.
Pegasus Jelly Bean or Volair Mach 2 Forza?
The Volair Mach 2 Forza 16mm is the other control widebody that gets lined up next to the Pegasus Jelly Bean. It's $119.99, or $107.99 with the code STSPICKLEBALL, so the Pegasus Jelly Bean is $18 less with the codes.
The Pegasus Jelly Bean does nearly everything the Mach 2 Forza does for less money. Power, spin and sweet spot come out about the same, with power scores of 36 on the Pegasus Jelly Bean and 34 on the Mach 2 Forza. The Mach 2 Forza has a little more control, 100 against 95, and a little more pop, 64 against 58. The Pegasus Jelly Bean swings a little lighter, with a swing weight of 106.9 against 110.1, and its 5.75 inch handle is longer than the Mach 2 Forza's 5.5 inch handle.
Both are honeycomb widebodies with a raw peel-ply carbon face, both are USA Pickleball approved, and both have a one-year warranty.
Get the Mach 2 Forza if you want the top control score of any paddle I've tested and a little more pop on your counters. Otherwise, the Pegasus Jelly Bean gets you almost the same paddle with a little quicker swing and keeps $18 in your pocket.
Three paddles with more pace, and one that costs less
Two paddles you might pick instead
How it stacks up against the Pegasus Power and the MPP Turbo ArmorGrit Widebody
A paddle only wins a score when it leads by 5 points or more.
Pegasus Jelly BeanWidebody · $89.99
Pegasus PowerWidebody · $89.99The Pegasus Jelly Bean is more controllable. The Pegasus Power hits harder, has more pop and spins more. Sweet spot is about the same. Same price.
Pegasus Jelly BeanWidebody · $89.99
MPP Turbo ArmorGrit WidebodyWidebody · $99.99The Pegasus Jelly Bean is more controllable. The MPP Turbo ArmorGrit hits harder, has more pop and spins more. Sweet spot is about the same. The MPP Turbo ArmorGrit costs about $10 more.
11SIX24 Pegasus Power, $99.99, or $89.99 with code STSPICKLEBALL. Same price, same Pegasus shape, and it's the one to get if you want more pace without giving up much control. It has far more power, 64 against 36, clearly more pop and more spin, with about the same sweet spot. You give up a little control, 88 against 95, and it swings a little heavier, with a swing weight of 111.8. It's USA Pickleball approved, but the warranty is only six months, and its handle is shorter, at 5.5 inches.
Enhance MPP Turbo ArmorGrit Widebody, $119.99, or $99.99 with code STSPICKLEBALL. It's $10 more with the codes, and it's for players who are ready to trade control for a lot more pace. It has far more power and far more pop, more spin from its grit face, and the same sweet spot score of 93, with about the same swing weight at 105.6. It's far less controllable, though, with a control score of 74. It's USA Pickleball approved, and Enhance's one-year warranty covers the core.
11SIX24 Vapor Jelly Bean, $99.99, or $89.99 with code STSPICKLEBALL. This is the hybrid-shape version of the Jelly Bean, for players who want more reach at the same price. It has far more power, 61 against 36, with about the same pop and spin. You give up a clearly smaller sweet spot, 74 against 93, and clearly less control, 85 against 95, and it swings clearly heavier, with a swing weight of 114.5. It keeps the 5.75 inch handle and USA Pickleball approval.
Pickleball Apes Harmony V, $79.99, or $71.99 with code STSPICKLEBALL. It's $18 less with the codes, and it's the pick if every dollar counts. It scored 92 out of 100 for control, about the same as the Pegasus Jelly Bean's 95, with about the same sweet spot and spin, and the swing weight is about the same at 106.0. It has clearly more power, 52 against 36, but clearly less pop, 44 against 58. It's a 16.5mm paddle with a 5.5 inch handle, USA Pickleball approved, with a one-year warranty.
Get it if your soft game is still coming, and skip it if you win with power
If you're new to the game, if your resets keep floating up, or if you want the most control you can get for under $100, the Pegasus Jelly Bean is my pick. It keeps your soft shots down, forgives your mishits, swings light and costs $89.99 with the code.
Skip it if you win your points with drives and put-aways, because you'll be swinging hard for every bit of pace. Players who want spin and pace and play UPA-A events should look at the Jelly Bean 2. Players who want more pace in a USA Pickleball approved paddle at this price should get the Pegasus Power.
Testing details
- Tested
- June 11, 2026
- Power and pop
- 20 full serves for power and 20 punch volleys for pop, every ball speed read on a Stalker radar gun.
- Spin
- 20 more serves on the radar. I drop the outliers and average the rest, which gave this paddle 2,250 RPM.
- Swing and twist weight
- Measured on a Briffidi SW1 swing weight machine.
- Sweet spot and control
- The same dinks, drops, resets and drives off a Titan ONE ball machine, for every paddle.
- The scores
- Out of 100, with the same tests for every paddle. The top paddles I've tested score 100.
- Published
- Scores from
- My database, updated October 21, 2026. How I test
No. 3
No. 4
No. 1
No. 2
No. 4
