Core crush
When the core under the face collapses. The paddle develops a dead or unpredictably hot spot.
Core crush is the core material (honeycomb or foam) compacting or collapsing under the face. Usually from repeated impact, heat, or both. You will hear it first: the sound changes. Then you feel it: a visible dent or soft spot, and shots off the same area of the face flying inconsistently.
This failure mode is why core warranties got serious. Early foam and thermoformed designs crushed badly enough that lifetime core coverage (like Diadem's BluCore) became a selling point. Durability complaints are one of the signals we track across reviews, so a pattern of core crush shows up in our rankings instead of staying buried in comment sections.
See also:Foam core ·Delamination