Drop Shot Explorer Soft Women 2026 Review
By Andres Jovem · Updated October 19, 2026
A soft teardrop with some weight toward the head, built for the right-side player who defends to get forward: gentle on the block, quicker than a round frame on the volley, and short of a finisher's punch.
The verdict
The Explorer Soft Women is a right-sider's racket, built for the player who wins the point by getting to the net rather than by staying behind the baseline. It is a teardrop with a soft EVA Pro core and a fiberglass face, so the block and the lob stay easy on your arm. It also carries more of its weight toward the head than most right-side frames. That is the whole character of the thing. Volleys leave with more pace than a round frame gives you, and the bandeja carries deeper, in exchange for a head that is slower to turn over on a reaction block at your hip.
A player who defends for a living, and wants a racket that forgives every late block and weighs nothing in a fast exchange, is better served by a low-balance round frame. The Explorer Soft Women rewards the player whose defense is a setup for the next volley. Advanced is the right label for it, and the label fits. The softness is there for comfort, not for forgiveness. A teardrop also asks you to meet the ball further up the face than a beginner's round head would.
The Women in the name is a product line, not a spec. At 360g with a medium-high balance, this is a mid-weight teardrop for anyone who likes a soft frame with some mass behind the volley. The specs decide who it suits. The name does not.
The build
An EVA Pro core that gives under the block
The frame is filled with Drop Shot's EVA Pro rubber. Drop Shot's pitch for it is elasticity and mechanical memory. In plain terms, the foam compresses on contact and springs back to shape instead of packing down. The build implies a soft strike. A blocked smash sinks into the core for a moment, so less of the ball's pace travels back through your wrist and elbow. The ball still leaves with enough lift to reach the back glass without you adding anything. The cost is directness. A soft core takes speed off a flat drive, so the ball you hit hard gets there with less behind it than a firm frame would send.
A fiberglass face with a 3D rough finish
Over the core sits fiberglass with a 3D rough texture, and the two do different jobs. Fiberglass yields where carbon will not, so a block caught off-center still gives you a usable ball and the contact stays quiet on your arm. The rough finish keeps the ball on the strings an instant longer, which is what lets a brushed bandeja or víbora leave with rotation on a frame this soft. Drop Shot says fiberglass; one spec site says 3K carbon. We have gone with Drop Shot.
Double carbon tubes and a Smart Holes layout
Two carbon tubes run through the frame, Drop Shot's double carbon tubular construction. That is what should keep the head square in your hand when you reach wide for a ball you would rather not have chased. A frame that resists twisting sends a ball struck near the rim where you aimed it. Drop Shot's Smart Holes System sets the hole pattern progressively across the face. The brand says that widens the sweet spot and improves accuracy. It pairs the holes with an anti-vibration system aimed at keeping shock away from the wrist. We cannot measure either claim, so we list them as Drop Shot's.
A teardrop with the mass nudged up
A teardrop mold lifts the hitting zone higher than a round head keeps it, right where a volley meets the ball when you are moving forward. The balance sits medium-high, and at 355 to 365g the frame has enough mass behind that head to add pace to a volley without turning into a diamond you have to muscle. On that spec alone the Explorer Soft Women parts company with the round, low-balance frames most right-siders carry, and it is the reason to choose it or to skip it.
How it plays
At the net, the extra pace shows up first
A volley you would normally have to push through the court leaves on its own. The mass behind the head carries the ball, so a punch volley from the service line lands deep without a full swing, and a volley into the open court arrives before the opponent has reset. The price of that weight shows up next: on a ball aimed at your midriff, the head takes longer to get into position than a round frame would. Early hands fix it. Late hands get the ball in the ribs.
On the bandeja, it carries where a round frame drops
Right-siders live on the bandeja, and this is where the shape earns its place. The overhead meets the ball where the racket wants it, and the weight pushes the shot long enough to pin the opponents back instead of handing them a short ball to attack. The textured face adds the slice that makes the ball die after the bounce. What it will not do is finish. A smash with this frame is a placement shot, not a kill, and the soft core blunts a flat overhead before it leaves the face.
On defense, easy on the arm and slower to turn
Block a hard smash from deep in the court and the contact is quiet, the ball lifts without effort, and a long defensive point does not leave your forearm tired. The reset off the glass goes up without effort and lands deep, because the frame does the lifting for you. The caveat is the same one. A defender who plays most of the point from the back will want a lower balance for faster reaction blocks. There, the Explorer Soft Women is a half-step behind.
Your elbow, your shoulder
The soft core and the flexing face between them take the shock out of a mishit. Drop Shot's anti-vibration system is aimed at the same job. Elbow and wrist should get through a long session without complaint. The body part that may notice the frame is the shoulder. More weight up top means more mass to swing on every overhead. A player coming from a light, low-balance round frame will feel that over two hours of bandejas before they feel it anywhere else.
Who it's for (and who should skip it)
Buy it if
- Your right-side defense is a way of getting to the net, not a way of staying alive
- You want more pace on the volley and more carry on the bandeja than a round frame gives you, without a diamond's harshness
- A soft contact that keeps your elbow and wrist quiet through a long session is high on your list
Look elsewhere if
- You defend from the back for most of the point and want the fastest possible hands on a reaction block: a low-balance round frame serves you better
- You are new to padel: this is an advanced player's frame, and a round head with a bigger central sweet spot will forgive your first season
- A finisher is what you are after: the soft core and the medium-high balance give you placement overhead, not a put-away
Not sure it's your match? The free 2-minute quiz reads your level, style, and budget and tells you which racket is.
The bottom line
If your right-side game is built on winning the net and you want it to cost your arm nothing, this frame is a good home for it. If you win from the back, a round head will treat you better.
Where to buy
Prices shown in Euro, converted and approximate. You check out in the store's own currency.
Frequently asked
Sold under Drop Shot's women's line, the Explorer Soft Women carries a name and nothing else. A 360g teardrop with a soft EVA Pro core and a medium-high balance fits any player who wants a comfortable frame with some weight behind the volley.
Not as a first racket. The Explorer Soft Women asks for an advanced player's hands. The teardrop shape puts the sweet spot further up the face than a beginner's round frame does, so a mishit low on the face costs more here. A soft, round, low-balance frame around 350 to 360g will forgive more while you learn.
Control, with a lean toward the net, is where the Explorer Soft Women sits. The soft core and fiberglass face put it there, while the medium-high balance adds pace to volleys and carry to the bandeja that a pure control frame does not have. Drop Shot sells it as a power racket, which overstates it: overhead, this frame places the ball rather than ending the point.
From €128.90 at PadelPROShop, against Drop Shot's list price of 210 euros. Only PadelPROShop has it right now, so expect one store until another picks it up.
A soft EVA Pro core under a fiberglass face with a 3D rough texture, inside a double carbon tubular frame, is what the Explorer Soft Women is built from. The core cushions the block, the fiberglass face rounds off an off-center hit, and the rough finish grips the ball for slice on the bandeja.
Choose by shape. Drop Shot's Explorer Pro Comfort 1.0 keeps the same 360g but goes round and balances low. It puts EVA Soft foam under a smooth 3K carbon face, for the intermediate who wants placement and the easiest possible contact. The Explorer Soft Women keeps a soft core but moves to a teardrop with a medium-high balance and a fiberglass face. It gives up some of that forgiveness for more pace on the volley and more depth on the bandeja. If you defend from the back, the Pro Comfort; if you defend to get forward, the Soft Women.
The app · free quiz
Not sure which one's you?
Take the free quiz in the app. We'll match a racket to your game, not the other way around.
Find my racketFree quiz. Sign in with email or Google to get your four picks.
Drop Shot Explorer Soft Women 2026 Review
By Andres Jovem · Updated October 19, 2026
A soft teardrop with some weight toward the head, built for the right-side player who defends to get forward: gentle on the block, quicker than a round frame on the volley, and short of a finisher's punch.
The verdict
The Explorer Soft Women is a right-sider's racket, built for the player who wins the point by getting to the net rather than by staying behind the baseline. It is a teardrop with a soft EVA Pro core and a fiberglass face, so the block and the lob stay easy on your arm. It also carries more of its weight toward the head than most right-side frames. That is the whole character of the thing. Volleys leave with more pace than a round frame gives you, and the bandeja carries deeper, in exchange for a head that is slower to turn over on a reaction block at your hip.
A player who defends for a living, and wants a racket that forgives every late block and weighs nothing in a fast exchange, is better served by a low-balance round frame. The Explorer Soft Women rewards the player whose defense is a setup for the next volley. Advanced is the right label for it, and the label fits. The softness is there for comfort, not for forgiveness. A teardrop also asks you to meet the ball further up the face than a beginner's round head would.
The Women in the name is a product line, not a spec. At 360g with a medium-high balance, this is a mid-weight teardrop for anyone who likes a soft frame with some mass behind the volley. The specs decide who it suits. The name does not.
The build
An EVA Pro core that gives under the block
The frame is filled with Drop Shot's EVA Pro rubber. Drop Shot's pitch for it is elasticity and mechanical memory. In plain terms, the foam compresses on contact and springs back to shape instead of packing down. The build implies a soft strike. A blocked smash sinks into the core for a moment, so less of the ball's pace travels back through your wrist and elbow. The ball still leaves with enough lift to reach the back glass without you adding anything. The cost is directness. A soft core takes speed off a flat drive, so the ball you hit hard gets there with less behind it than a firm frame would send.
A fiberglass face with a 3D rough finish
Over the core sits fiberglass with a 3D rough texture, and the two do different jobs. Fiberglass yields where carbon will not, so a block caught off-center still gives you a usable ball and the contact stays quiet on your arm. The rough finish keeps the ball on the strings an instant longer, which is what lets a brushed bandeja or víbora leave with rotation on a frame this soft. Drop Shot says fiberglass; one spec site says 3K carbon. We have gone with Drop Shot.
Double carbon tubes and a Smart Holes layout
Two carbon tubes run through the frame, Drop Shot's double carbon tubular construction. That is what should keep the head square in your hand when you reach wide for a ball you would rather not have chased. A frame that resists twisting sends a ball struck near the rim where you aimed it. Drop Shot's Smart Holes System sets the hole pattern progressively across the face. The brand says that widens the sweet spot and improves accuracy. It pairs the holes with an anti-vibration system aimed at keeping shock away from the wrist. We cannot measure either claim, so we list them as Drop Shot's.
A teardrop with the mass nudged up
A teardrop mold lifts the hitting zone higher than a round head keeps it, right where a volley meets the ball when you are moving forward. The balance sits medium-high, and at 355 to 365g the frame has enough mass behind that head to add pace to a volley without turning into a diamond you have to muscle. On that spec alone the Explorer Soft Women parts company with the round, low-balance frames most right-siders carry, and it is the reason to choose it or to skip it.
How it plays
At the net, the extra pace shows up first
A volley you would normally have to push through the court leaves on its own. The mass behind the head carries the ball, so a punch volley from the service line lands deep without a full swing, and a volley into the open court arrives before the opponent has reset. The price of that weight shows up next: on a ball aimed at your midriff, the head takes longer to get into position than a round frame would. Early hands fix it. Late hands get the ball in the ribs.
On the bandeja, it carries where a round frame drops
Right-siders live on the bandeja, and this is where the shape earns its place. The overhead meets the ball where the racket wants it, and the weight pushes the shot long enough to pin the opponents back instead of handing them a short ball to attack. The textured face adds the slice that makes the ball die after the bounce. What it will not do is finish. A smash with this frame is a placement shot, not a kill, and the soft core blunts a flat overhead before it leaves the face.
On defense, easy on the arm and slower to turn
Block a hard smash from deep in the court and the contact is quiet, the ball lifts without effort, and a long defensive point does not leave your forearm tired. The reset off the glass goes up without effort and lands deep, because the frame does the lifting for you. The caveat is the same one. A defender who plays most of the point from the back will want a lower balance for faster reaction blocks. There, the Explorer Soft Women is a half-step behind.
Your elbow, your shoulder
The soft core and the flexing face between them take the shock out of a mishit. Drop Shot's anti-vibration system is aimed at the same job. Elbow and wrist should get through a long session without complaint. The body part that may notice the frame is the shoulder. More weight up top means more mass to swing on every overhead. A player coming from a light, low-balance round frame will feel that over two hours of bandejas before they feel it anywhere else.
Who it's for (and who should skip it)
Buy it if
- Your right-side defense is a way of getting to the net, not a way of staying alive
- You want more pace on the volley and more carry on the bandeja than a round frame gives you, without a diamond's harshness
- A soft contact that keeps your elbow and wrist quiet through a long session is high on your list
Look elsewhere if
- You defend from the back for most of the point and want the fastest possible hands on a reaction block: a low-balance round frame serves you better
- You are new to padel: this is an advanced player's frame, and a round head with a bigger central sweet spot will forgive your first season
- A finisher is what you are after: the soft core and the medium-high balance give you placement overhead, not a put-away
Not sure it's your match? The free 2-minute quiz reads your level, style, and budget and tells you which racket is.
The bottom line
If your right-side game is built on winning the net and you want it to cost your arm nothing, this frame is a good home for it. If you win from the back, a round head will treat you better.
Where to buy
Prices shown in Euro, converted and approximate. You check out in the store's own currency.
Frequently asked
Sold under Drop Shot's women's line, the Explorer Soft Women carries a name and nothing else. A 360g teardrop with a soft EVA Pro core and a medium-high balance fits any player who wants a comfortable frame with some weight behind the volley.
Not as a first racket. The Explorer Soft Women asks for an advanced player's hands. The teardrop shape puts the sweet spot further up the face than a beginner's round frame does, so a mishit low on the face costs more here. A soft, round, low-balance frame around 350 to 360g will forgive more while you learn.
Control, with a lean toward the net, is where the Explorer Soft Women sits. The soft core and fiberglass face put it there, while the medium-high balance adds pace to volleys and carry to the bandeja that a pure control frame does not have. Drop Shot sells it as a power racket, which overstates it: overhead, this frame places the ball rather than ending the point.
From €128.90 at PadelPROShop, against Drop Shot's list price of 210 euros. Only PadelPROShop has it right now, so expect one store until another picks it up.
A soft EVA Pro core under a fiberglass face with a 3D rough texture, inside a double carbon tubular frame, is what the Explorer Soft Women is built from. The core cushions the block, the fiberglass face rounds off an off-center hit, and the rough finish grips the ball for slice on the bandeja.
Choose by shape. Drop Shot's Explorer Pro Comfort 1.0 keeps the same 360g but goes round and balances low. It puts EVA Soft foam under a smooth 3K carbon face, for the intermediate who wants placement and the easiest possible contact. The Explorer Soft Women keeps a soft core but moves to a teardrop with a medium-high balance and a fiberglass face. It gives up some of that forgiveness for more pace on the volley and more depth on the bandeja. If you defend from the back, the Pro Comfort; if you defend to get forward, the Soft Women.
The app · free quiz
Not sure which one's you?
Take the free quiz in the app. We'll match a racket to your game, not the other way around.
Find my racketFree quiz. Sign in with email or Google to get your four picks.