Review of Fischer M Pro Number 1 98

[NLBwell]

Hit with this racket for a couple days. First with no additional weight:
Groundstrokes - Wild. A lot of power when I hit the sweetspot. Usually went at least 10 feet out. Much more power than I am used to. Also, not being used to the lighter weight, I was probably swinging faster than I should have been. This was just an adjustment period, but the real problem was that there was absolutely no power just a little bit off the sweetspot. It felt like just a half-inch difference away from the sweetspot would cause the ball to bounce in front of the net versus landing way out. Volleys - better, but the same effect of absolutely no power just a little off the sweetspot. Didn't hit serves or serve returns.
Next added 12 grams of lead split along the sides of the head. Much better for me. Probably slowing my swing down with the extra weight, but the most important factor for the racket is that shots hit off-center only have a moderate reduction in pace versus hitting the sweetspot. You would expect this with added weight, but the amount of difference was surprising. First day hitting - Groundstrokes were excellent. I got surprisingly good spin and, with the spin, felt I could control the power well. Got pretty well grooved with the racket, letting the racket do the work. Could control the ball hitting reasonably flat, or hit pretty big topspin. Volleys were excellent. I felt confident with placing the ball where I wanted. Hit some serves at half speed and they felt fine. Serve returns on half-speed serves were good also.
Played a league match with it. Couldn't get the serve going at all. Still felt I was hitting at 1/2 speed, even though I was trying to go full out. Serve returns were consistent. I just couldn't get any kind of groundstroke or passing shot going. Unlike the previous day where the racket felt fine, I just had no confidence at all. Lost the 1st set 7-5, switched back to my usual racket and won the next set 6-3, breaking him twice and not losing my serve.

Overall - Like the MComp, I felt that the MPro#1 was unstable when torqued off center, though much less so. Weight along side of the head cured that, but slowed the racket down too much (probably need to mess with testing different weights). The stringbed was also much more reasonable than the MComp's wide edge, narrow center stringing pattern. It was very comfortable and surprisingly powerful for a flexible racket. Spin is pretty easy to get, and groundstrokes are very controllable with a little spin. Volleys feel good. Serve returns were good. The larger stringbed probably helps with both of these. Serves were disappointing. I serve better with mid rackets and was hoping this mid+ would be good, but it wasn't the case.

Technifibre TFight 335 and Fischer MComp review:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=196090

Yonex RQis 1 Tour review:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=198945

[iscottius]

what string and tension were you using? the description of your experience with the m pro 1 is very different from mine. The m pro is sensitive to string and tension. also adding 12 grams of weight will usually add power to a racquet.

[0d1n]

My experience with this racket was very different as well. I found it had quite a forgiving (i.e large) sweet area and the power level was pretty consistent and lowish. I didn't see any variations in the power level as described in this review.
I agree with iscottius that the frame is sensitive to TENSION. I'm not sure about string types ... since it played well for me with full poly to full multi and everything in between (i.e synthetic gut and various hybrids).
What I mean by "tension sensitive" is that one needs to string it @ or bellow 25 kg for best results (and significantly lower when strung with poly).

[nickb]

I disagree with just about everything you said...the M Speed is low powered, flexible and is good at everything. Oh well...people like different rackets.

[dan_the_man]

I agree with the last few posts that the racquet is pretty low powered and control oriented. Stringbed is relatively consistent. And the sweet spot is pretty decent - average or larger than most similar spec'ed racquets.

dan_the_man

[Djokovicfan4life]

Dude, what were you smoking when you tested this frame?

Serves have always been a huge improvement with this racquet, at least for me. The sweet spot does take a little while to find, but it's about as sweet as they come once you get used to it.

[NLBwell]

Looks like we have some lack of clarity in my writing as well as some possible disagreements.
First, the racket was strung with Volkl powerfibre, a multi which I don't know much about - I don't know what tension.
As far as power is concerned, I said it was "surprisingly powerful for a flexible racket." This is a players racket with a stiffness of 58 - I am not comparing it to a Pure Drive or any such thing. I'm comparing it to rackets such as the Prince Graphite Mid, Yonex RDX-500, RQis-1, Technifibre TFight 335, etc. I thought it had more power than any of those other rackets, even though it is less stiff than they generally are, so I was surprised.
I did not comment on the size of the sweetspot, but I thought it was reasonably large and comfortable. Past the sweetspot, I thought that power dropped off very quickly. I think the racket would benefit by something like a (real) Perimeter Weighting System.
As I said I just couldn't get my serve going. This is one reason I play with midsize rackets. Based on the early hits I thought I might be able to serve well with this midplus (which would allow me to play with a racket with more margin for error). I was disappointed when I couldn't serve well with it. For someone who can serve well with a midplus, I would think this would be a good serving racket since it does give "surprising power" and good spin.
If I thought it was a bad racket, I wouldn't have risked losing a league match playing with it. I would have seriously thought about buying it if I could serve better with it.

[Lendl]

Those that say this racket is sensitive to the string used what do you recommend? I have only used the racket for a week using a set up as follows:

Wilson Extreme - 16
55 lbs.
Two 4" strips of lead on each side at 3:00 and 9:00

Frame is very comfortable and just feels great in my hands but is VERY low powered and unstable when returning a heavy ball. I play mostly 4.5/5.0 players so they are firing some good pace shots at me and I like a lot about this racket but would like to find a better combination of power/stability with this frame.

Recommendations welcome

[NLBwell]

Don't know about string setups, but I needed to add 12 grams of lead to get over the instability. Depending upon what kind of lead tape you have, that's probably more than you have no there now.

[pfchang]

Originally Posted by Lendl

Those that say this racket is sensitive to the string used what do you recommend? I have only used the racket for a week using a set up as follows:

Wilson Extreme - 16
55 lbs.
Two 4" strips of lead on each side at 3:00 and 9:00

Frame is very comfortable and just feels great in my hands but is VERY low powered and unstable when returning a heavy ball. I play mostly 4.5/5.0 players so they are firing some good pace shots at me and I like a lot about this racket but would like to find a better combination of power/stability with this frame.

Recommendations welcome

dude, thanks a lot for reviving the thread. you totally just stole major thunder from the thread i was about to write!

but as for the instability, i've added ~4 grams @ 12 to match my ideal SW and Weight as well.

[Lendl]

Sorry the OP linked t this thread and reading through it I just asked some followup questions

My lead tape is the 1/4" and I have four total strips on each racket, about 4" long. How does that translate to grams added?

[pfchang]

Originally Posted by Lendl

Sorry the OP linked t this thread and reading through it I just asked some followup questions

My lead tape is the 1/4" and I have four total strips on each racket, about 4" long. How does that translate to grams added?

1/4 gram is = 1"

so you have 16" total, which is about 4 grams, which is 0.14 oz.

[Lendl]

Wow, sounds very small for the difference in feel.

Originally Posted by pfchang

1/4 gram is = 1"

so you have 16" total, which is about 4 grams, which is 0.14 oz.

[jrod]

Originally Posted by Lendl

...Frame is very comfortable and just feels great in my hands but is VERY low powered and unstable when returning a heavy ball. I play mostly 4.5/5.0 players so they are firing some good pace shots at me and I like a lot about this racket but would like to find a better combination of power/stability with this frame.

Recommendations welcome

Couldn't agree more....extremely comfy frame. Power is very low, even with lead added. Spin is exceptional. stability is not a problem as far as I've encountered hitting against 4.5 - 5.0 players. I've used it as my dubs stick for ~2 years. Groundies are a little short compared to what I get with k90 (singles stick). I use VS gut 16g in mains strung at 55 lbs and WC SS (~17g) in crosses strung at 52 lbs.

[Lendl]

I drilled with our travel team tonight and got a ton of work in and hit the Fischer alongside my MG Prestige Mid and just kept going back and forth all night.

The Fischer I used tonight was strung with 17g Wilson K-Gut Pro at 55 lbs. and it added a lot of power and spin relative to the 16g Wilson Extreme string strung at the same tension. The Prestige was strung with 17g NRG2 string which is very solid.

Two real good rackets, so completely opposite Really liking the Fischer right now after using these strings tonight. My arm was feeling much better and we were not serving tonight so on the groundstrokes I was able to hit out and really test them out.

[blackfrido]

as August 2012, are there any still playing with this racquet?
I'm bringing of one mine back to life

[iMpro]

Originally Posted by blackfrido

as August 2012, are there any still playing with this racquet?
I'm bringing of one mine back to life

I like that gray alot. You should throw some red trim on that to make it even sexier

[blackfrido]

That grey looks good, but that's only the primer .
I haven't decided color yet, I'm prone to red or blue (Baghdatis blue)

[blackfrido]

one more coat and will be done

[blackfrido]

finally done!! New paint job. New Pacific grommets and new grip.