Beach Tennis Racket Thickness and Core: 20, 22 or 24 mm and EVA

The thickness and core of a beach tennis racket decide how much the ball sinks into the face and how fast it comes back. As a rule, a thick profile (22 to 24 mm) and soft EVA give stability, easy ball exit and comfort; a thin profile (20 mm) and denser EVA give hand speed, touch and precision, but demand a clean stroke. The matrix below shows the combinations, and the rest of the guide explains why they work that way.

Matrix: thickness vs. core on a beach tennis racket

What the catalog shows about the real combinations:

• 22 mm is the standard, with 126 models. Then come 20 mm (61), 21 mm (32) and only 3 rackets above 22 mm.
• Soft EVA dominates. Of the 165 rackets that list the core density, 140 are soft, 13 medium and 12 hard.
• The firm core is concentrated in thin profiles. Among 20 mm rackets with a listed density, about a third have medium or hard EVA. Among 22 mm ones, fewer than one in nine.

That last count makes sense: brands use the thin profile for those who play fast at the net and pair it with a firmer core for those who already have technique. There is no 23 or 24 mm racket with a firm core in the catalog: the combination would add stability and stiffness in a package few people would make use of.

Before continuing: the guide to how to choose a beach tennis racket already compares the Head 2025 line (same weight, different cores) and three Shark rackets of 20, 22 and 24 mm. Here the focus is different: the mechanism, the commercial names and the pairs that isolate each variable.

What happens inside the racket at impact

A beach tennis racket is a sandwich: two thin faces (carbon, fiberglass or Kevlar) glued to a core of EVA foam. When the ball hits, three things happen almost at the same time:

1. The face gives at the point of contact and the ball flattens.
2. The foam compresses beneath the face. The softer it is, the more it sinks.
3. Everything springs back. The foam and the face recover their shape and push the ball out.

The core controls step 2. A soft EVA compresses more, the ball stays a moment longer on the face and the racket returns part of the energy like a spring. On a slow or off-center stroke, that helps: the ball comes off with little effort. On a very hard stroke, the soft core can sink too much and the ball comes off with less direction. A hard EVA compresses little, the ball comes off almost immediately and the energy comes almost entirely from your arm. Precision and speed for those who hit it right; vibration and a dead ball for those who do not.

Thickness changes the whole racket. In sandwich panels, bending stiffness grows quickly with the distance between the two faces. A 24 mm racket is not just "more foam": it is a much stiffer structure than a 20 mm one, which twists less when the ball hits off-center. The price is more material, more mass in the construction and less sensitivity on a short touch.

That is why the two variables offset each other. A thin profile with a soft core is an agile racket that still forgives. A thick profile with a soft core is the most forgiving of all. A thin profile with a hard core is the quickest and the most demanding.

Thickness isolated: Mormaii Flexxa 3K vs. Flexxa Slim 3K

The best way to feel thickness is to compare two rackets that change little besides it. Mormaii has this pair:

Both have a 3K carbon face, a Soft EVA core and 32 holes. Thickness changes and, slightly, weight:

• Flexxa 3K, 23 mm, about 330 g. Mormaii describes the thicker profile as a source of stability and ball exit and recommends the racket from beginner to advanced.
• Flexxa Slim 3K, 20 mm, 310 to 330 g. The brand says the thin profile speeds up offensive strokes and exchanges at the net and recommends the racket for advanced players and competitors.

Note the change in audience. With the same carbon and the same core, thickness alone took the Slim out of a beginner's reach. It is proof that a thin profile demands more of the player, even with soft foam.

Core isolated: NOX Fly10 3K vs. Varadero 3K

For the core, NOX offers a nearly perfect pair: two rackets with a 3K face, 20 mm, 40 holes, 325 to 335 g and a 250 mm balance.

• Fly10 3K 2026: HR3 Color EVA core, which the spec sheet describes as low density with a softer touch. It also has the Pulse System against vibration.
• Varadero 3K 2025: high-density HR3 Black EVA core, which NOX associates with control.

With everything else equal, the general rule applies: the Fly10 tends to be more comfortable and give easier ball exit; the 2025 Varadero tends to be firmer and more direct, calling for a cleaner stroke.

Drop Shot has a similar pair at 22 mm: the Legacy Soft 3.0 (Soft EVA) and the Premium 5.0 (EVA Pro), both with a 12K face, 310 to 330 g and 3D texture. The comparison is less clean because the Premium's face is a bidirectional 12K that the brand describes as more flexible, but it shows how the same brand separates comfort and firmness through the core.

The commercial name is misleading: an EVA dictionary by brand

Each brand gives its own name to its foam, and "Pro," "Black" or "Tech" do not mean the same thing from one brand to another. This table translates the catalog's names into the density the spec sheet itself indicates:

A warning that NOX itself illustrates: the name HR3 Black EVA appears on the V10 12K 2025 spec sheet described as a "softer" core, and on the V10 2026 and Varadero 3K 2025 as high density. Same label, different propositions. The lesson is to read the model's spec sheet and the year, not the foam's name.

Layered and dual-density cores

Some rackets do not use a single foam:

• Shark's three-layer EVA Soft Pro (Eva Triple Layer), in 2026 models such as the Elite 3K, the Black 22 mm and the Epic. Shark says the combination unites power and control.
• Sandever EVA DualFoam, on the BTR Ultra, described as a dual-density EVA.
• Sexy SXY MicroFoam, on the SXY Blade, a case apart: the impact surface is just over 1 mm, far from the usual 20 to 22 mm.

The logic of layers is to give the player the ball exit of a soft foam with the firmness of a denser layer. There is no public measurement comparing these constructions with each other, so treat it as the brand's proposal and test if you can.

Holes: where thickness and core meet

Each hole goes through the whole racket: face, foam and face. More holes mean less material, less weight and less air resistance, but also less foam working at impact. That is why the hole count changes the feel of the core:

• A thin profile with many holes is the quickest combination through the air. The 20 mm NOX rackets use 40 holes.
• A thin profile with few holes gives solidity back. The Heroe's Rebel 2024 has 20 mm and only 14 holes, with high-density EVA.
• A standard profile with few holes and a hard core is the most "solid" racket. The Drop Shot Explorer Tech 2024 has 22 mm, EVA Tech, 330 to 350 g and only 10 holes; the brand describes it as solid and stable.
• A soft core with many holes is fast and comfortable. The Drop Shot Legacy Soft 3.0 has Soft EVA and 42 holes.

The ITF rules limit the size and position of the large holes, not the quantity. Thickness also has a limit: up to 38 mm, according to the ITF Rules of Beach Tennis, far above what the market uses.

Heat and wear: the core changes over time

EVA is a polymer, and foams of this type get softer in the heat and firmer in the cold. On a sand court in full sun, the racket heats up, and the same racket can feel more "lively" at noon than in the night match. Some brands address this: Sexy says the bamboo face of the Sexy Bamboo protects the EVA from heat, and Ama Sport ships the Poison Bee with a thermal cover.

In practice:

• Do not leave the racket in a closed car or lying on the sand in the sun between matches.
• Store it in its cover, preferably a thermal one.
• If the racket feels different on a very hot day, the temperature may be to blame, not your arm.

With use, the foam also ages: it loses part of its ability to return to its original shape. Players usually describe the "dead" racket this way: the ball comes off shorter with the same stroke and the sound of impact gets more muffled. If you play many times a week and notice this, it is a sign to replace it, even if the face is intact.

How to choose thickness and core

1. Has your arm ever hurt? Stay with soft EVA and 22 mm, and see a health professional if the pain persists. The racket helps, but it does not treat.
2. Where do you play? Net and reflexes: 20 or 21 mm. Baseline and defense: 22 to 24 mm. The guide to beach tennis racket for attack or defense details each role.
3. How often do you hit the center? If you still miss a lot, a soft core. Medium and hard only when your stroke is consistent.
4. Want to make up for something? Profile too thin for you? Offset it with a soft core. A thick, slow racket? A 21 mm is the middle ground.
5. Compare the finalists in the beach tennis comparison tool and filter the beach tennis catalog by thickness. If weight is also a criterion, see the light beach tennis rackets.

The face comes after these decisions; the guide to 3K, 12K, 18K and 24K carbon covers that part. To see the lines cited here, the pages for NOX in beach tennis and Mormaii in beach tennis gather the models.

Frequently asked questions