VERTEX 05 LIGHT PP26

Highlights

The feel

How it's built to play, by shape, core and construction — rated low / mid / high rather than on a false 1–10 scale. Higher isn't always better; it depends on the game you want.

The spec sheet

Our verdict

What the shape, core and construction tell us about how this racket is built to play.

How it's built to play

The Vertex 05 Light PP26 is Bullpadel's answer to a specific problem: the standard Vertex 05 is a powerful attacking diamond, but its weight can blunt the swing speed of players who aren't physically big. The Light version takes the same high-balance diamond geometry — built around the Vertex line's commitment to overhead finishing — and reduces the overall mass to let the head travel faster through the strike zone. The trade-off is the one you always make with light attacking rackets: less stability on hard-hit balls coming back at pace, and a smaller margin for error when the contact point drifts off-centre.

Without a confirmed spec sheet from the manufacturer, the construction signals are drawn from the Vertex 05 line's established architecture. Expect the Vertex 05 Light PP26 to carry an X-Tend Carbon face — Bullpadel's 12K biaxial carbon weave — which means the hitting surface is open-grained, stiff, and engineered for rapid snap-back after impact rather than the extended dwell time you get from fiberglass. That stiffness is what gives the Vertex line its direct, immediate feel on overheads, but it also means the face does not absorb off-centre energy: the ball leaves fast in whatever direction contact was made, rewarding clean technique and punishing rushed swings. The core is almost certainly a MultiEVA formulation — Bullpadel's three-layer EVA sandwich with denser outer layers for power and a softer inner layer to cushion slower balls — which keeps the Vertex line's attacking character while stopping the response from becoming brutally harsh on volleys. The Air Power channel at the throat reduces mass where it matters least for power generation, so the head stays heavy relative to the handle without the total weight climbing into the 375g-plus territory that would slow the swing down.

On the left side of the court, the Light PP26 earns its place quickly on smashes and bandejas. The high balance does the work: the head arrives at the contact point with momentum the player doesn't have to manufacture entirely from shoulder rotation, which means tighter, more compact swings still generate meaningful ball speed. This is the primary reason to choose the Light over a standard-weight diamond — not because lighter is always better, but because faster swing speed on a shorter lever (compact stroke) produces cleaner contact on the bandeja, where a heavier head would drag and cause late hits. At the net, volleys feel crisp and direct — the 12K carbon face communicates contact precisely, and there is very little ambiguity about whether the ball was hit clean or not. That feedback is genuinely useful for advanced players calibrating their positioning. The limitation shows up when opponents start hitting hard, flat balls from the back of the court: a lighter frame has less inertia to absorb incoming pace, and if your technique isn't absorbing that energy through body rotation, the ball will sit up rather than redirect with depth. This is a racket that performs at its ceiling when the player is the one dictating pace, not responding to it.