Paddle: Selkirk OMNI
Price: $300
Discount Code: INF-JOHNKEW for a $30 digital gift card through the Selkirk store

Selkirk OMNI Purchase Link

Overview

The Boomstik was one of the biggest paddle releases of the past year. Some of you loved the firepower. Others thought it was simply too much. So Selkirk's answer was the OMNI, a paddle built to keep the same DNA while dialing the power back down.

The question is whether Selkirk found the right balance. To answer it, I ran both shapes through complete lab testing: KewCOR firepower, spin durability, weight and balance, X-ray imaging, and the removable MOI weights. I also logged about eight hours of court time, so we'll talk through how it all comes together when you actually play.

Quick disclaimer: these paddles were sent to me for review, but I'm not being paid to make this. If you decide to pick one up, my code INF-JOHNKEW gets you a $30 digital gift card through the Selkirk store, and I get a commission.

SPECS & SHAPES

Here are the full weight and balance numbers. These are measured with the MOI weights attached in the stock locations Selkirk provides.

The OMNI comes in two shapes, elongated and widebody, and retails for $300.

Shape	Static	Swing	Twist	Balance
Elongated	8.2	121.5	7.1	24.5
Widebody	8.0	117.6	8.0	24.0

What stands out:

Both shapes carry above-average swing weights, twist weights, and balance points. Compared to the Boomstik, they feel slightly more substantial in hand, and the measurements back that up.

CONSTRUCTION & BUILD

At first glance, the OMNI looks like a Boomstik with removable weights and new colorways. And honestly, that's not far from the truth.

What is the same:

Same elongated and widebody shapes
Selkirk's Infinigrit texture
Gen 4 style full-foam construction
MOI weighting system

But there are a few important changes, and all of them point toward the same goal: reducing firepower and making the paddle more approachable for a wider range of players.

What’s different:

Removable MOI weights: they snap on and off easily, they fit securely, and they open up some genuinely interesting customization
The design of the MOI weights: the inside of each weight has a tacky rubber material that grabs the edge guard, so once they're installed, they fit snugly and don't slide around.

I measured the weights on my two paddles and they ranged from 7.38 grams to 7.53 grams each, so basically right around 7.5 grams per pod.

That 0.15-gram variance is nothing. You'll never notice it in play.

A lot of people asked Selkirk for the ability to move and remove the weights on the Boomstik, and they delivered that here. That's an especially useful addition.

The one thing I'd add: I'd love to see Selkirk offer lighter versions as accessories. Seven and a half grams is a good amount of weight, and lighter options would give players more flexibility. (We'll dig into how the different weight positions actually play later on.)

DURABILITY CONCERNS

My main concern with these paddles, and with the removable weights in particular, is durability around the edge guard.

The biggest issue with the Boomstik has been edge guards coming loose. I was really hoping Selkirk had fully solved that with the OMNI.

Unfortunately, the edge guard on my widebody OMNI came loose while I was experimenting with placing one of the MOI weights higher up on the paddle. It's a bummer.

Now, Selkirk has one of the best customer service and warranty systems in pickleball, so from a support standpoint, they're excellent.

But at the same time, why is this still a problem? Of all the paddle issues out there, like core crushing and disbonding, loose edge guards feel like one of the things that should have been solved years ago.

I don't want to overstate this based on a single sample. But I can't ignore it either, especially given that loose edge guards have been one of the recurring issues with the Boomstik. It's something I'll keep watching as more of these paddles get out into the wild.

X-RAY ANALYSIS

Looking at the X-ray, the OMNI reveals a very similar build to the Boomstik, but with one additional band of surrounding foam.

What’s different:

The Boomstik had a central EPP core surrounded by a single band of EVA foam. The OMNI also appears to use EPP in the center, but it's surrounded by two bands. The first surrounding band looks like EPP as well, perhaps a different density than the center core. Around that sits the EVA band.

Illustrated X-Ray of the Selkirk OMNI Widebody

Compared to the Boomstik, that EVA band appears thinner on the OMNI, because Selkirk added the extra band of EPP.

What is EPP Foam?

EPP, or expanded polypropylene, is generally a stiffer and denser foam than EVA.

So if you replace some of that softer EVA with additional EPP, it makes sense that the paddle would feel a little different, rebound a little differently, and possibly have a slightly different sweet spot profile.

That's going to come up again when we talk about on-court impressions, because to me the OMNI doesn't quite have that same edge-to-edge rebound I feel with the Boomstik.

PERFORMANCE METRICS

A quick note on z-scores: they show where a paddle's metric lands compared to all the other paddles I've tested, measured in standard deviations from the average.

The further from the middle, the more extreme that trait. The OMNI is less powerful than the Boomstik, but both shapes still land in the power category.

OMNI Elongated:

Power: Lower end of high
Pop: Lower end of high
Spin: Excellent
Stability: Strong
Swing weight and balance point: Toward the top of the medium

This is not a featherweight elongated paddle. You feel some mass in the head, especially with the stock weight placement, but it's still manageable. The identity is clear: high spin, solid stability, and power-category firepower, just in a more controlled package than the Boomstik.

Widebody:

Power: Lower end of high
Pop: Lower end of high, a touch more pronounced than the elongated
Spin: Elite tier when new
Twist weight: Massive, nearly off the chart
Swing weight and balance point: More moderate, closer to the center of medium

That twist weight is the standout. It means a lot of resistance to twisting on off-center hits, which translates to a more stable, more forgiving feel side to side. And you get that enormous twist weight without an absurdly high swing weight, which is a really nice combination

KewCOR

KewCOR is my controlled firepower metric. It measures the efficiency of the paddle-ball collision and gives me a way to compare firepower across paddles in a controlled setup.

Here's where the OMNI landed:

Elongated: 0.41
Widebody: 0.39

Both sit at the low end of the power category. For context, those scores are in the same neighborhood as the Honolulu NF series and the CRBN TruFoam Barrage.

So the OMNI is clearly lower powered than the Boomstik, but it is not a low-powered paddle. It's still a power paddle. Just one that's been toned down.

ON-COURT IMPRESSIONS

A Slightly Deflated Boomstik

The OMNI has a similar stiff, hollow feel and deep sound profile as the Boomstik. Still unmistakably a Selkirk. But it plays softer overall. On my feel map, I'd put it somewhere between:

The Boomstik
The JOOLA Pro IV
The Bread & Butter Loco

I played them side by side, which helped. I've mained the Boomstik for about six months, so I know that paddle well. Back to back, the reduction in firepower is real.

What you give up:

Drives, serves, and putaways don't come off the face with the same pace
On flicks, counters, and speed-ups, that instant pop just isn't there

What you get:

You can swing more aggressively without the paddle doing the work
Resets are easier because the ball doesn't come off as hot

Dinks were solid. Enough touch to stay patient at the kitchen, enough pop to put away pop-ups. Most players won't miss what the Boomstik had. But if you've been playing the Boomstik and you love that pop, you'll notice what's gone.

The Sweet Spot

This part doesn't get talked about enough.

In my opinion OMNI's sweet spot is smaller than the Boomstik's.

That doesn't mean it's bad. It's actually quite good. But the Boomstik has an S-tier sweet spot — one of the most forgiving paddles I've played. Here's how the two compare:

Boomstik:

Feels pressurized across almost the entire face
Strong, consistent rebound velocity wherever you hit

OMNI:

Slightly deflated by comparison
More drop-off from center to edge
Especially noticeable on the elongated shape

Here's why that matters: control isn't just about lower power and less pop. It also comes from consistency across the face. More drop-off on off-center hits affects your control too. So while the OMNI is lower-powered and less poppy, I'm not convinced it's a massive net gain in control for everyone.

For some players, absolutely. If the Boomstik was too hot, the OMNI will feel easier. But for me, it gives up some of that Boomstik firepower without handing me as much extra control as I expected. That's actually why I prefer the widebody OMNI, even though I normally play the elongated Boomstik. The widebody's higher twist weight compensates for what I lose in the sweet spot and gives me a more stable, predictable response.

SPIN DURABILITY TESTING

Like the Boomstik, the OMNI uses Selkirk's Infinigrit texture. Running it through my accelerated wear protocol, the OMNI lost about 16% of its original spin. Here's how that stacks up across surfaces I've tested:

Infinigrit (3-paddle average): 13.8% spin loss
Raw carbon fiber (average): 22.3% spin loss

That makes Infinigrit roughly twice as durable as raw carbon fiber. The 16% on the OMNI is slightly worse than previous Infinigrit paddles I've tested, but still comfortably in that range.

I also measured surface texture before and after wear. RZ captures the average height difference between peaks and valleys on the surface in microns.

It dropped by 21% after wear. What that looks like visually:

Straight on: differences are subtle
At an oblique angle: fewer grit particles, and the ones that remain are noticeably smoother

That roughly 14% average spin loss lands Infinigrit in my tier-three durability category. It's a real step up from traditional raw carbon fiber, but it doesn't rank among the most durable modern textures. Several surfaces in my tier-one and tier-two categories have shown substantially better spin retention under the same protocol.

MOI WEIGHT MODIFICATIONS

One of the most interesting features of the OMNI is the ability to move the MOI weights around the paddle or take them off entirely.

Pull both weights off and the paddles get noticeably lighter:

Elongated drops to 7.7 oz
Widebody drops to 7.8 oz

Everything becomes faster and easier to maneuver. But there are real trade-offs. The widebody played fine without the weights, probably because it already gives you enough inherent stability. The elongated was a different story. Its twist weight dropped to 5.59, well below six, and I could feel that on off-center contact. For the elongated, the weights are not optional if you want the paddle to perform at its best.

I tested six configurations and logged the numbers for each. Swing weight and twist weight are the two that move the most as you reposition the pods.

A couple of things jump out:

Moving the pods toward 10 and 2 keeps pushing swing weight up without adding much twist weight past the 9 and 3 position
The Tophat setup (one pod at the very top) drops twist weight back down because you lose the side-to-side mass

My favorites:

Elongated: 8 and 4 o'clock. Best blend of stability and maneuverability.

Widebody: Stock 9 and 3 o'clock. Enough whip, enough plow-through, a massive 7.95 twist weight, and a manageable 117.5 swing weight.

The Tophat weight placement is an option if you want a more head-heavy feel. Personally, I wasn't a fan.

TAKEAWAYS & FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, the OMNI is a really good paddle. If you tried the Boomstik and thought, "I love everything about this except the power," the OMNI may be exactly what you've been waiting for. Spin, stability, feel, and overall performance all remain excellent.

That said, I still personally prefer the Boomstik. Part of that is familiarity. Part of it is that I'm not convinced the OMNI gains enough control to fully offset what it gives up in offense.

The value question. At $300, the OMNI enters a competitive price category. There are less expensive paddles with similar firepower, excellent durability, and in some cases longer-lasting spin. Where Selkirk pushes back is service. Their lifetime warranty and customer support remain among the best in the industry. That matters especially because one of my own test paddles has already developed a loose edge guard. The Boomstik had durability issues, and I'm not fully convinced those have been solved here.

Who this paddle is for:

Players who loved the Boomstik but found it too hot
Players who want power-category firepower with a little more restraint
Players who value Selkirk's warranty and customer service
Widebody players who want enormous twist weight and forgiveness

The trade-offs:

Sweet spot is slightly smaller than the Boomstik's, most noticeable on the elongated
You give up some of that instant pop and pressurized rebound
Spin durability is solid but only tier three
The loose edge guard issue hasn't been fully solved
$300 is a lot in a category full of strong cheaper options

The shape decision:

Elongated: Strong spin and a clear offensive identity, but the sweet spot drop-off is most noticeable here. Needs the weights to play its best.
Widebody: The huge twist weight makes it more forgiving and predictable. This is the one I'd grab, even coming from the elongated Boomstik.

Overall Takeaway

The OMNI successfully tones down the Boomstik without losing its identity. Whether that's a good thing depends entirely on what you wanted changed. If you wanted a more controlled Boomstik, you'll probably love it. But if you loved the Boomstik for that instant pop, the huge sweet spot, and that pressurized rebound across the face, the OMNI may feel like a slightly deflated version of that experience.

I'll keep testing and bring you updates on the podcast as more data comes in. As always, thanks for reading.