The short answer
Hunter Johnson currently plays the MEHAU S5 AIRPOOM paddle, per his PPA Tour profile and MEHAU's own announcement. His playing weight, lead tape, grip build, overgrip, and exact shoe model are all pending confirmation.
Hunter Johnson is a right-handed professional pickleball player from Taos, New Mexico, now based in New Braunfels, Texas, who played Division I tennis at SMU with his twin brother Yates before turning pro in pickleball in 2022. He plays PPA Tour singles, doubles and mixed as well as MLP, and a secondary gear write-up reports he reached PPA men's singles World No. 1 in August 2025; his PPA Tour profile listed him at World No. 18 when checked on September 16, 2026. This record is strongest on the paddle itself: he has changed paddle brands twice in 2026, and every customization detail behind that paddle is still unconfirmed.
Current equipment
A sponsor deal or product page tells you the brand and model, not the exact match paddle, weight, or tape. Each field below shows its own source and date.
The paddle named on Hunter Johnson's current PPA Tour profile and in MEHAU's 2026-09-10 post. The specifications below are MEHAU's retail specification, not a measurement of his match paddle: no public source states the weight, lead tape, grip build, or overgrip on the paddle he actually plays.
Pending
Three independent write-ups between 2024 and 2026 describe him in Babolat shoes, but no player or brand source confirms a model or a footwear deal, the 2024 piece is explicitly about Babolat succeeding in pickleball without endorsing players. The exact on-court model is not confirmed.
Checked Sep 16, 2026
16mm Model spec
16mm, per MEHAU, which sells the S5 AIRPOOM in one thickness only.
Model specifications describe the retail paddle. A player may use a custom build; we have not measured their paddle.
Light blue Wilson Majors Tech Men's Tee and Wilson U Structured Classic Cap, observed at the PPA Greater Zion Cup on March 30, 2026. No Wilson deal is confirmed.
MEHAU (paddle), named on his PPA Tour profile and in MEHAU's September 10, 2026, post; no personal sponsor block on the PPA page.
Pending
Not confirmed as measurements of Hunter Johnson's own paddle. Retail MEHAU S5 AIRPOOM specification, checked September 16, 2026: "Perfect Elongated" shape, 41.8 x 18.7 cm (16.46 x 7.36 in), 14.5 cm (5.71 in) handle, 104-106 mm (4.09-4.17 in) grip circumference, 219 g ± 5 g (about 7.7 oz) stock weight, 16mm EVA and honeycomb core inside the AIRPOOM aerodynamic frame, multi-layer carbon fiber face, USAP and UPA-A dual certified. MEHAU's product page prints the stock weight as 219 g ± 5 g (7.68 oz); 219 g converts to about 7.72 oz, so an approximate conversion is used here. Retail price is kept in the gear entry, where it carries its own observation date.
Checked Sep 16, 2026
Pending
Not confirmed for the paddle Hunter Johnson actually plays. MEHAU's retail S5 AIRPOOM specification lists a 14.5 cm (5.71 in) handle and 104-106 mm (4.09-4.17 in) grip circumference (checked September 16, 2026), but no source states his grip size, any build-up, or a handle modification.
Checked Sep 16, 2026
Pending
No public source states the weight Hunter Johnson plays. Retail stock weight for the S5 AIRPOOM is 219 g ± 5 g (about 7.7 oz), which is a manufacturer figure and not his match paddle's weight.
Checked Sep 16, 2026
Pending
No source states whether Hunter Johnson adds weight to his current paddle.
Checked Sep 16, 2026
Pending
No source describes lead or tungsten tape placement on Hunter Johnson's paddle. Searches for his name with lead tape, overgrip and paddle weight returned only generic lead-tape guides and the same aggregator entry, which gives no placement.
Checked Sep 16, 2026
Pending
No source states his base grip, any build-up, or his grip size. A gear write-up describes an unorthodox continental grip on his forehand, which is how he holds the paddle rather than anything built onto the handle.
Checked Sep 16, 2026
Pending
No primary source names his overgrip. One aggregator lists a white JOOLA overgrip wrapped high on the throat, but its own cited sources are an Instagram profile and a HIT Pickleball roster page now behind the brand's password-gated "Opening soon" page (checked September 16, 2026), and its entry dates from his HIT Pickleball period rather than the MEHAU paddle he plays now.
Checked Sep 16, 2026
Tape placement for Hunter Johnson's current paddle is pending. See the 9 other pros with sourced setups in the pro lead and tungsten tape guide.
Previous-era setup
These setups are sourced but belong to an earlier paddle or sponsor, so they are not carried over to the current setup above.
Before January 2026; no start date confirmed
Reported by secondary write-ups only; no signing announcement and no primary source were ever found, and no start date is confirmed. No playing weight, tape, grip build or overgrip is confirmed for this era either. The sources are carried in the change history entry dated January 30, 2026.
HIT Pickleball signing January 2026; paddle reportedly on sale March 13, 2026 (date not independently verifiable); reported through April 2026
HIT Pickleball signed Hunter and Yates Johnson in January 2026 and reportedly launched the Hand Cannon HC-01 on March 13, 2026, per HIT Pickleball's own Instagram post. Re-fetched on September 16, 2026, the live post renders no caption, account name, or date, so this date could not be independently re-verified. Only secondary write-ups ever tied Hunter Johnson to that model, and no source reports how or when the deal ended; hitpickleball.com served a password-gated "Opening soon" page on September 16, 2026. Third-party pages that still name the HC-01 as his current paddle are out of date. The sources are carried in the change history entries dated January 30, 2026, and September 10, 2026.
Tournament record
Official results with the event, division, partner or team, date and source kept together.
Men's Singles
Official pickleball.com Championship Sunday report: top seed Hunter Johnson "secured the men's singles crown with a hard-fought 11-8, 5-11, 11-8 victory over third-seeded Christian Alshon" at the WALKER Australia Pickleball Cup in Brisbane (PPA Tour Australia). Official pickleball.com player result module (opened 2026-10-21): Gold in "PRO MEN'S SINGLES - MAIN DRAW"; scored wins 11-3 11-8 vs Kyle Stoker, 11-3 11-7 vs Daiki Tanabe, 11-3 11-4 vs Hong Kit Wong, 11-9 11-3 vs Grayson Goldin, 11-8 5-11 11-8 vs Christian Alshon (final).
Men's Singles
Official history lists gold in Men's Singles; Finals date 2026-10-04.
Men's Singles
Official history lists gold in Men's Singles; Finals date 2026-09-06.
Men's Singles
Official history lists gold in Men's Singles; Finals date 2026-03-08.
Men's Singles
Official history lists gold in Men's Singles; Finals date 2026-01-25.
Men's Singles
Official history lists gold in Men's Singles; Finals date 2025-06-22.
Men's Singles
Official history lists gold in Men's Singles; Finals date 2025-03-30.
Men's Singles
Official history lists gold in Men's Singles; Finals date 2025-02-09.
Men's Singles
Official history lists gold in Men's Singles; Finals date 2024-12-08.
Men's Singles
Official history lists gold in Men's Singles; Finals date 2024-11-17.
Window: Nov 9, 2023 to Nov 9, 2026. Selected verified results, ordered by finish and then date. This record may not cover every tournament appearance. Tournament results do not establish which paddle was used.
Change history
Each sponsor or gear change, with its date and source.
Sponsor · sponsor switch
Paddletek HIT Pickleball
The preceding Paddletek period was reported by secondary sources only; no signing announcement was ever found and it has no start date. The HIT feature names no paddle model because the paddle was not yet on sale; the Hand Cannon HC-01 reportedly went on sale March 13, 2026, per an HIT Instagram post that could not be independently re-verified on September 16, 2026 (see hunter-changelog-hit-launch), and only secondary write-ups (such as the April 18, 2026, gear page cited here) ever tied Hunter Johnson to that model.
Paddle · sponsor switch
HIT Hand Cannon HC-01 (reported January–April 2026) MEHAU S5 AIRPOOM Aerodynamic Pickleball Paddle
Dated to MEHAU's first explicit sponsorship claim; the brand had already reported seeing him with the S5 in MLP play on July 6, 2026. No source reports how or when the HIT Pickleball deal ended, and hitpickleball.com served a password-gated "Opening soon" page on September 16, 2026.
Questions fans ask
His PPA Tour profile's "In the Bag" section names the MEHAU S5 AIRPOOM Aerodynamic Pickleball Paddle, and MEHAU's own September 10, 2026, post says he won the men's singles title at the opening PPA Tour event of the new season, in North Carolina, with the MEHAU S5 after recently joining the brand. Earlier 2026 write-ups had him on the HIT Hand Cannon HC-01, so anything older than July 2026 is out of date.
Pending. MEHAU sells the S5 AIRPOOM at a 219 g ± 5 g (about 7.7 oz) stock weight, but that is the retail figure, and no public source states the weight he actually plays.
Pending. The only claim anywhere is an aggregator entry listing tungsten tape at 0.5 g/inch in 1/2-inch width with no total amount and no placement, citing an Instagram profile and a HIT Pickleball roster page that is now behind the brand's password-gated "Opening soon" page (checked September 16, 2026), and it dates from March 2026, before he moved to MEHAU.
Pending at the model level. Writers have described him in Babolat shoes as far back as March 2024 and again in February 2026, but no player or brand source names the model or confirms a footwear deal.
Pending. No source states his base grip, build-up, grip size, or overgrip; an aggregator lists a white JOOLA overgrip wrapped high on the throat, but its cited sources are an Instagram profile and a HIT Pickleball roster page now behind a password gate, and the entry predates his current paddle.