Selkirk has put Boomstik ST on sale at $350, which is a serious number for a paddle sequel, and it has arrived in the same November window as USA Pickleball’s decision to pull the CPX Hyper+ off the certified list. Those two facts will get packaged together in every newsletter that needs a headline. They should not be confused with each other.
One is a product launch. The other is a governing body reminding manufacturers that the paddle you buy has to match the paddle that passed the test. Boomstik ST is asking to be judged on the first problem. CPX Hyper+ just failed the second.
What Selkirk is actually claiming
Project Boomstik already sold itself as a power paddle. The ST pitch is evolution, not reinvention, and Selkirk’s own product page is the claim sheet: elongated and widebody shapes; a 16mm PureFoam BoomCore with an EVA power ring; InfiniGrit Ultra, pitched as “4x more friction for spin” and “50x the texture hardness” versus the original InfiniGrit; Sharktooth Groove Technology around the perimeter; an adjustable MOI tuning system with removable weights; average weight 8.0–8.3 oz; limited lifetime warranty as part of the retail offer.
The Dink’s 6 November newsletter matched those numbers on the drop date it was working to — “the highly anticipated sequel drops November 10” — and summarised the same package. Treat every performance multiple as a manufacturer claim until somebody measures it. I have not hit a ball with this paddle. As of 10 November, no independent lab review with published spin, pop and dwell numbers has appeared. That is fine. It just means the brochure stays a brochure.
The list that matters is not one list
For sanctioned USA Pickleball play, the list is the list. As of 10 November, LegalPaddle still shows both Boomstik ST shapes added to USA Pickleball’s approved list on 1 October 2026. The elongated model is also listed as UPA-A legal. The widebody is USAP legal and not yet on the UPA-A list.
That split is the useful sentence in this piece. USA Pickleball’s certified list is not the UPA-A list that governs PPA Tour and MLP play. A paddle can sit on one and miss the other. Buyers who jump between recreational open play, USAP events and pro draws need to know which gate applies to the weekend they entered — and should re-check the live databases before walking on court, because list status moves.
Selkirk’s own navigation also points buyers toward a “UPA Paddles” lane for Boomstik, OMNI and ERA. That is marketing adjacency. It is not a substitute for the UPA-A stamp and model number on the specific SKU in your bag.
Why the CPX week is the frame, not the smear
On 2 November USA Pickleball stated that Courtside Testing, Market Sampling, Analysis and Notice of Escape had found “a significant difference in PBCoR and Deflection values” between CPX Hyper+ models submitted for certification and mass-production units sold to the market. Both the Hyper+ 14mm and Hyper+ 16mm came off the certified list. Recreational play was unaffected; sanctioned USA Pickleball competition was not. No fine appeared in that statement. CPX publicly acknowledged that some recent production units played hotter than the certified specification and said it was working on a renamed replacement. Our 6 November piece walked through what that does and does not prove.
So the paddle market’s November message is split. On one side, a $350 sequel already cleared onto the USAP list on 1 October, before the CPX statement. On the other, a governing body reminding the industry that retail units have to match the certified sample. Those are not contradictory stories. They are the same industry under two pressures: product escalation at the top end, and process discipline underneath.
None of that makes Boomstik ST guilty by calendar association. Selkirk is not CPX. A launch is not a delisting. An October approval is not a November escape finding. The expensive paddle is not the scandal. The mismatched paddle is.
Confirm the live list for the exact shape and model number. Read Selkirk’s claim sheet for the rest. Boomstik ST clears the USAP gate both shapes already passed on 1 October. The elongated clears UPA-A too. The widebody does not — yet. That is the purchase decision. The rest is brochure.
Chris Beaumont
Founder and Editor-in-ChiefChris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine, published by World Pickleball Media Ltd. He follows the global game closely, reporting on news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball…
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