First look: Balance Plus LiteSpeed PRO brush

As mentioned above, this new 2026 LiteSpeed carbon-fibre handle is the lightest in my collection, at a paltry 133 grams and 8 grams lighter than my 2022 models. What is immediately evident is that the sticky coating on the handle, while similar to other Balance Plus handles of prior years, is much stickier than prior models. 

The PRO handle, on the other hand, weighs more than the “standard” LiteSpeed but is still quite comfortable at 172.5 grams. However, the coating on the PRO handle differs considerably from the standard LiteSpeed model. The lower half of the PRO brush handle has a sticky coating with a much softer (and grippier) feel, and is augmented by a rubberized, textured coating approximately 16 cm long for a player’s low hand. The textured, supplemental coating begins 30 cm from the end of the handle so as to match the lower hand position for many players (see photos at right). In use, at practice we found that it would have been helpful for the textured area to be a bit larger than the 16 cm, and begin 7-8 cm lower on the handle. However, the new sticky coating on the PRO handle throughout its lower half is, in our view, a marked improvement over the standard LiteSpeed.

How the new handles compare with previous models and with products from other manufacturers is outlined in the table below.