Softee Valhalla

Pros

• ✓EVA Soft S9 paired with the diamond shape gives instant ball exit: flat smashes carry weight even without a perfect swing, which is rare for such a head-heavy racket The hybrid Innegra Mix Carbon face soaks up vibration from off-centre hits, so smashes that miss the sweet spot don't punish your elbow the way a rigid 100% carbon face would The 38mm frame piles mass into the upper hoop and turns that extra acceleration into real pop: crosscourt vibora and remate por 3 both pick up extra metres compared to a round shape of the same weight The mid-high balance helps on low attacking volleys: the head drops onto the ball on its own, letting you close out the point without overswinging

Cons

• ✗At 355-375g with a mid-high balance, long defensive exchanges take a hit: get caught late on a ball tight to the side wall and your escape lob comes up short The smooth finish limits pure cut/slice: the bandeja comes out flatter with less bite than off a rough surface, so you need to open the face more to compensate The diamond's sweet spot is narrow by design: blocked returns and off-centre defensive volleys lose direction EVA Soft S9 adds comfort but costs some consistency when the pace ramps up: blocking a heavy smash sinks more than some power players will want

The Softee Valhalla targets advanced players with consolidated technique who want more performance without yet moving to a pure competition racket. Its diamond shape moves the sweet spot to the top of the face, giving more leverage and power at the cost of some tolerance. The high balance adds weight to the swing and pushes the racket toward an offensive profile. Its 355-375g weight range places it in the medium-weight group, the most common among amateur players.

Softee Valhalla review: the diamond racket that forgives your ball exit

The Softee Valhalla is a diamond-shaped padel racket with a 38mm frame, an Innegra Mix Carbon face and an EVA Soft S9 core, weighing in at 355 to 375 grams with a mid-high balance. It's a declared power racket built for advanced players chasing serious hitting force.

What's interesting isn't that it hits hard — any diamond does that — it's how it does it: a soft rubber that cushions ball entry inside a chassis that, by geometry alone, should feel far harsher.

What does Innegra Mix Carbon bring to the Valhalla's face?

Innegra is a fibre blended with carbon to absorb vibration without giving up structural stiffness. On this padel racket, the result is a face that snaps back with bite through the centre but doesn't send that sharp carbon-fibre jolt up your arm on off-centre contact.

That detail matters on a diamond. The sweet spot on this shape is narrow and sits high, and in a real match you'll miss it far more often than you'd like to admit. The Innegra blend turns those mishits into tolerable contact instead of elbow warnings.

The finish is smooth and glossy. That buys cleaner ball contact and a more durable surface, but it trades away the extra bite a rough surface gives you on cut shots.

EVA Soft S9: why the ball exit feels so easy

The EVA Soft S9 core is a low-density rubber. It compresses more on impact and returns that energy without demanding as much racket-head speed, which explains the model's signature trait: ball exit is where this racket really shines.

On court that shows up in three concrete ways:

1. **The flat smash doesn't need a perfect swing.** With decent timing alone the ball already leaves with weight — something a diamond with a hard rubber simply won't give you.
2. **Wall exits are more forgiving.** The soft rubber buys a few extra milliseconds of contact to reset the face when the ball crowds you.
3. **Your arm tires less** over long matches, since you're not muscling through a hard core to get pace.

The trade-off is textbook: at very high pace, blocking a rival's smash sinks more and sends back a softer, less tense ball than a firmer EVA would.

Softee Valhalla specs

How does it play, shot by shot?

Remate por 3 and flat smash. This is home turf. The 38mm frame stacks mass in the upper part of the hoop and the mid-high balance does the rest: the head accelerates on its own through the downswing and the ball leaves with real weight. With EVA Soft, your timing margin for error is bigger than on a comparably hard diamond.

Vibora. Strong crosscourt response, largely thanks to that easy ball exit. The smooth finish trims a bit of side spin compared to a rough surface, so you'll need to generate that spin more through arm path than through texture.

Bandeja. This is where honesty matters. It comes out flatter than many players will like: the smooth face cuts down on cut-shot bite and the head-heavy weight demands earlier preparation. It's a workable shot, but it wants established technique behind it.

Volley. The attacking volley is excellent: the head drops onto the ball and closes points without forcing anything. The defensive volley is trickier, since any off-centre contact sends the ball off-line.

Defence and lob. This is the structural weak point. With 375g up top and a mid-high balance, maneuverability suffers on fast balls at your feet or tight to the side wall, and the escape lob loses depth if you're rushed.

Who is this Softee racket built for?

For an advanced player with solid technique who attacks from the net and looks to close points with the smash. The diamond shape plus mid-high balance combo isn't negotiable: if your game runs on long defensive rallies and patient counterattacking, this racket will wear you down by the third set.

It's a particularly good match for:

• **Backhand-side players** finishing with the remate por 3 who need the racket to do some of the work.
• **Strong-wristed power players** coming off harder rackets who want to cut joint impact without giving up an aggressive shape.
• **Mismatched pairs** where one player builds the point and the other finishes: the Valhalla is clearly the finisher's racket.

I wouldn't recommend it to an intermediate player still dialling in their contact point. The diamond's sweet spot is unforgiving, and the soft rubber's help doesn't make up for technique that's still a work in progress.

Verdict: accessible power in a demanding shape

The Softee Valhalla solves a real problem: most competition diamonds demand arm strength, technique and stamina before they pay off. This model keeps the aggressive geometry — 38mm frame, head-heavy weight, high hitting plane — but lowers the entry barrier with a soft EVA core and an absorbent face.

The cost of that decision is consistency: you lose some crisp response on quick blocks and some bite on cut shots because of the smooth finish. If your priority is squeezing extra metres out of your smash without wrecking your elbow, that trade-off pays off. If you're after a racket that gives you control in defence and precision on off-centre balls, the diamond shape isn't your answer — and neither is this Softee racket.

This is an attacker's racket, with all the strengths and trade-offs that label implies.