Max 200G
- Thread starter OTMPut
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MrRandom247
Semi-Pro
Juts grabbed a 200g Pro with original cover in 7/10 condition for $7.
Decayed Wilson grip needs replaced.
Decayed Wilson grip needs replaced.
joe sch
Legend
Its a GOAT racket made of flexible old school graphite that plays more like a woody with the grafil injection.
BTW, lots more power than a Borg pro and 85si vs 65 head size.
Rock Strongo
Legend
That is rather expensive to me, but still well worth it. Like Joe says it plays a bit like a wood but only if you play soft. The fun trait of the manufacturing process is that it becomes heaps stiffer if you put some mustard on the ball. Combine that with its weight and you get a racquet which absolutely destroys the ball. Very fun racquet to play with.
slice bh compliment
G.O.A.T.
Longtime max 200g guy here....loved it from 1983 until 1993 or 1994. I always felt that it had the softest touch but seemed to play firm when hitting hard. Is this because of the injection moulding process?
Is there any real science behind this?
I only wish they were more durable. And that i had kept more of them. Even the worn ones still feel awesome. Not to compete with, just for pure enjoyment.
Backhanded Compliment
Legend
The science is real I think... basically a dynamic stiffness because instead of a laminate it was a nylon/graphite material that didnt deform as much on hardhits... that makes it seem stiffer and controlled. I still take mine out on days when I want to be reminded of how awesome a flat forehand can be.
slice bh compliment
G.O.A.T.
^respect the research!^
Yeah, i hit with mine today. Cracked a very large, flat fh and a few treacherous drop-volleys.
Yeah, i hit with mine today. Cracked a very large, flat fh and a few treacherous drop-volleys.
chrischris
G.O.A.T.
Great racket .. despite it small head size it has a huge effective sweetspot.
Ball Dwell time is awesome.
Ball Dwell time is awesome.
Racketdesign
Semi-Pro
The only thing cooler than hitting with them was moulding them Crude yet genius method of manufacturing a racket for its time!
Crude yet genius method of manufacturing a racket for its time!slice bh compliment
G.O.A.T.
You must be Paul. I have been in touch with your excellent man here in the US, Andy.The only thing cooler than hitting with them was moulding them
So many quenstions for you, man:
Do you think foam-filled Angell frames can incorporate some of the incredible injection moulded feel?
What was grafil?
Some were made in W Germany, right....some in England? How and why?
How are your frames made?
Do you hit with a 90, 95 or hundred? Which stiffness do you use? 315g?
Do you still have a few good max 200Gs and 300Is?
suwanee4712
Professional
I loved some of the things that the 200G did for my game. Being a flat striker, I really could drive through the ball better. Some of the best down the line forehands and strokes hit on the stretch I ever hit were with that racquet. It felt so clean coming off the strings.
But it was a very heavy racquet and it all but wrecked my timing on volleys for a while until I adjusted to it. I can still see in my mind's eye some critical forehand volleys that felt so good coming off the strings only to smack the top of the net right in the middle of the tape. Painful!
But it was a very heavy racquet and it all but wrecked my timing on volleys for a while until I adjusted to it. I can still see in my mind's eye some critical forehand volleys that felt so good coming off the strings only to smack the top of the net right in the middle of the tape. Painful!
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
All IMF racquets were made in England. They had whole series of compression molded (conventional molded) racquets made in West Germany such as the Silver Max, Max Competition, Black Max II, Max Power, Max Power Competition, and so on...
Backhanded Compliment
Legend
I pull my 200G out ocassionally and I can hit DTL forehands and backhands with it that are simply on a different magnatude than other frames... I think, poor ball... We all called it "The Doom Log" when I was a kid and using it. Special combo of supereme control but massive power on tap. I probably should have been using the PS85 but Ive got an antio wilson thing based mostly on the fact that the other players around me used wilsons. The 200g complimented my return game like no other frame... I guess that's why I stuck with it. Well that and the massive thumping groundstrokes it produced.
Racketdesign
Semi-Pro
Hi. Great to hear you have been in touch with Andy!
Answers to your questions -
Unfortunately its hard to replicate that feel without using a nylon base and tempering the frames.
Grafil was one of the industry's first "marketing materials"
I fluctuate between frames.. depending how ambitious I am feeling.
I wish I had a container load... Given the right investment we could do it all again
slice bh compliment
G.O.A.T.
Thanks vs babolat and racketdesign, for your responses.
Backhanded compliment...we have similar names and similar games...And we both used the 200g? Hmmmm. I might have to report us to the mods for being the same person with two different usernames.
Well, i was always only an occasional flat hitter. More of an allcourt, attacking spin guy.
So i guess we are just different enough. Mods can move along...nothing to see here.
Backhanded compliment...we have similar names and similar games...And we both used the 200g? Hmmmm. I might have to report us to the mods for being the same person with two different usernames.
Well, i was always only an occasional flat hitter. More of an allcourt, attacking spin guy.
So i guess we are just different enough. Mods can move along...nothing to see here.
joe sch
Legend
There were also a few variants of the max 200g, here is a look:
http://www.woodtennis.com/McEnroe/dunlopmax200g4a.jpg
http://www.woodtennis.com/McEnroe/dunlopmax200g4c.jpg
slice bh compliment
G.O.A.T.
Given the right investment we could do it all again
Hello. Are you saying you could make a batch of 200G frames?
Is there a way to make this frame in a 95 head? Or would it break too easily?
SpinControl
Rookie
Used to have one in my teens, but the head twisted on a 65# string job.
Knowing what I know now (wisdom; customer service), it should have gone back to Dunlop, but I just kept it.
I liked the racquet; had nice power and touch.
A little blocky, but surprisingly good at the net.
Knowing what I know now (wisdom; customer service), it should have gone back to Dunlop, but I just kept it.
I liked the racquet; had nice power and touch.
A little blocky, but surprisingly good at the net.
Racketdesign
Semi-Pro
Rackets moulded from a nylon/carbon matrix would definitely be possible again given the right amount of investment and design. Materials have moved on plenty since the 200G was produced so a 95 or larger head would also be possible.
Ciaron
Semi-Pro
Did you notice the one racquet in the first link has a Wilson butt cap .. How peculiar is that
michael valek
Hall of Fame
i couold never get on with any of the versions except the first one. they didnt feel as solid to me. the best were the originbal paintjob pro versions. little bit lighter and more flexy, if i remember rightly. someone correct me........
Backhanded Compliment
Legend
Lol, my girlfriend thinks all of these posters here are actually me having a conversation with myself... she's an artist (whose work makes people question their sanity a bit) and of Scottish descent. She has a wicked sense of the absurd.
Ive developed my more modern topspin game when I came back to the sport 6 years ago. I switched to a semiwestern forehand grip but I still love to flatten it out occasionally... I vary it a lot. I look like a viking too, so unless you are very Nordic looking we should be ok.
...and suddenly a lot of rather crazy tennis players started to get a lot crazier with just the theoretical possibility of this.
Racketdesign
Semi-Pro
6-2/6-4/6-0
Semi-Pro
Worked for about a year on the design problem of improving on the original IMF by making it easier to produce while removing the head size issues (collapsing frames over 90 sq in). What a fantastic exercise (I do product and intellectual property development as my day job in other fields). One of these days I keep thinking that I'd like to take the IP and give it a go...Let's hope some of them fancy investing and getting involved then
Racketdesign
Semi-Pro
Just curious. When you say "worked" was that just something you did on your own or for a company?
Sanglier
Professional
A gentleman who worked on the first generation of graphite racquets in the mid '70s explained to me once that earlier efforts to injection-mold tennis racquets all resulted in failure, and the engineers came to realize that it was impossible to cram enough carbon fibers into the matrix to achieve the strength per unit mass ratio required in a proper tennis racquet and still have a matrix that would flow during the injection molding process. The Dunlop engineers obviously figured out a way around that problem to make something that was more than workable. Nevertheless, the thick beam cross section, hefty weight, buttery flex (which many classic-fans here consider an asset rather than a liability), and the well known warping tendency of the 200G all suggest that those design engineers were pushing against some hard limitations.
Would it be possible to explain in lay terms what exactly has changed during the past three decades that could have 'softened' these limitations?
Would it be possible to explain in lay terms what exactly has changed during the past three decades that could have 'softened' these limitations?
Racketdesign
Semi-Pro
It would be possible but it's not something I'm able to discuss in detail at the moment.
Don't Let It Bounce
Hall of Fame
I think there were larger versions of the Max 200G. Wasn't the Max 500i 95 sq in and the Max 800i 98 sq in?
In 1992 Prince came out with something similar to the Dunlop Max series, in the sense that their Vortex rackets (97 and 107 sq in) were made of carbon fibers suspended in thermoplastic instead of in the usual thermoset resin. Like the Dunlops, they had the "dynamic stiffness" effect, they protected elbows in a way that makes the PK Kinetic rackets seem like Pure Drives strung with steel wire, and they absorbed vibration like they were carved out of a giant vibe damp – so well, in fact, that many tournament players complained of a lack of feedback. That led to the last generation of Vortexes being targeted at recreational players, and the very high production cost (they retailed for $400, IIRC) killed off the Vortex series after only a few years.
Unlike the 80s Dunlops, the 90s Princes were not made by injecting the thermoplastic-carbon fiber mixture into a mold. The carbon fibers in the Dunlops had to be much shorter than in ordinary rackets – 0.5" long or shorter, so that they could flow through the nozzle of the injection machine – and Prince was after a way to use the usual long fibers, even in a thermoplastic matrix, so they could wind, braid, and otherwise use engineer magic on the fiber orientation.
(If I've gotten any of the above wrong, hopefully Racketdesign will correct me; he was there!)
It looks like both the 1982 Dunlop patent and the 1991 Prince patent have lapsed, if there are any brave venture capitalists out there who can overcome the production and marketing challenges Prince couldn't overcome.
In 1992 Prince came out with something similar to the Dunlop Max series, in the sense that their Vortex rackets (97 and 107 sq in) were made of carbon fibers suspended in thermoplastic instead of in the usual thermoset resin. Like the Dunlops, they had the "dynamic stiffness" effect, they protected elbows in a way that makes the PK Kinetic rackets seem like Pure Drives strung with steel wire, and they absorbed vibration like they were carved out of a giant vibe damp – so well, in fact, that many tournament players complained of a lack of feedback. That led to the last generation of Vortexes being targeted at recreational players, and the very high production cost (they retailed for $400, IIRC) killed off the Vortex series after only a few years.
Unlike the 80s Dunlops, the 90s Princes were not made by injecting the thermoplastic-carbon fiber mixture into a mold. The carbon fibers in the Dunlops had to be much shorter than in ordinary rackets – 0.5" long or shorter, so that they could flow through the nozzle of the injection machine – and Prince was after a way to use the usual long fibers, even in a thermoplastic matrix, so they could wind, braid, and otherwise use engineer magic on the fiber orientation.
(If I've gotten any of the above wrong, hopefully Racketdesign will correct me; he was there!)
It looks like both the 1982 Dunlop patent and the 1991 Prince patent have lapsed, if there are any brave venture capitalists out there who can overcome the production and marketing challenges Prince couldn't overcome.
Hi
I just picked one up for a ridiculously low price. I do not think the seller knew much about the racquet. Good condition Max 200g, made in England, with some patent numbers. I cannot see the grip size. It has a black Dunlop grip on it, I think it is black leather. I did not know these racquets came with various coloured grips, unless the grip is not original. Cannot tell what the grip size is, but it looks to be in good nick. I think I will restring it with a sun gut. Any ideas what is ideal tension on these?
Thanks
I just picked one up for a ridiculously low price. I do not think the seller knew much about the racquet. Good condition Max 200g, made in England, with some patent numbers. I cannot see the grip size. It has a black Dunlop grip on it, I think it is black leather. I did not know these racquets came with various coloured grips, unless the grip is not original. Cannot tell what the grip size is, but it looks to be in good nick. I think I will restring it with a sun gut. Any ideas what is ideal tension on these?
Thanks
It weighs 395g strung with dampener, no overgrip. Wow, that is heavy. I play with a 362g Dunlop 4D 200 Tour, that is a step up in weight. Cannot wait to try it.
Ciaron
Semi-Pro
It came in light brown (camel color) leather and black leather. String it at 55 pounds I reckon .
My bruv still has the 800i in his garage and I did have a 400i. The 800i was a completely different racket. Same racket line Max Xi/tech. however it has a variable width profile. Thicker in the head than the throat. Yes it is 98". Solid old school racket.
The Max 400i, I had, had identical physical dimensions to the 200G/200i. The difference was I suspect in the stiffness rating.
