pfrischmann
Professional
Hi Guys,
It's been a looong time. I thought I'd post in the main racquet group as I think the Angell thread is getting so long, things are getting lost. I, like a lot of people, am constantly fighting a battle between control and easy put away power. I love very controlled, no B.S. racquets, like the PS85, Wilson Ultra Pro Tour and Dunlop CX-200 Tour. If I'm being honest at 53, out of shape with a shoulder surgery in my past and a knee surgery on the horizon, I play my best tennis with a tweener like the Pure Aero or Pure Strike. I just hate the feel and lack of touch. In my bag at the moment is the PA-100 (banana), Prince ATS 98 Tour, Dunlop CX-200 Tour and the Angell MPP 99. I play 90% doubles at the 4.0 sometimes 4.5 level.
On to the Angell. For starters I've had a few Angells over the years. They are all beautifully crafted, quality sticks. I've never really bonded with the custom series as I found the throat flex off-putting. The React MPP 99 I ordered was stock. so 305 grams unstrung. Currently, with Hyper-G 18G (47lbs), dampener and over grip, It comes out as 330G. 31.9 balance and 325 SW. Add to that a reported 61 stiffness unstrung and this stick is generally on the low powered side. Maybe even lower powered than the Wilson pro tour. Feel is great, I understand this racquet and know what is going to happen as soon as I hit the ball, if I hit it on the center. The racquet is pretty intolerant of off-center hits. Spin is decent, about as good as the Head Gravity pro-not as good as the Dunlop CX-200 Tour, both 18X20's. If I'm playing singles where I put a premium on moving the ball around and placement, This setup works fine. Hitting my targets is pretty easy with such a dense pattern as long as I don't try to go for the ridiculous top-spin angles I can get with a pure-aero type racquet with a flick of the wrist. A true guilty pleasure for me. Where I run into trouble with this stick is when I have to do a more defensive reflex volley in doubles, where my opponent hits a missile at me or my partner has set me up at the net. The racquet isn't stable or heavy enough do do well with stab volleys. The lead will be coming out shortly. The lead will help serves a bit too. Targeting is great but I've easily lost 20mph off my serve and three feet off my kick, again, more legs.
So, short answer. The stick feels amazing. I really like the feel compared to the other Angells and generally like it more than most sticks except the true classics like the PS85 and Pro Tour 630. It just may be too much on the control side. I may be giving up a little too much spin and power for the feel and touch. I feel weighing it up to give me some more stability and oomph might put it out of my current fitness level. We shall see.
It's been a looong time. I thought I'd post in the main racquet group as I think the Angell thread is getting so long, things are getting lost. I, like a lot of people, am constantly fighting a battle between control and easy put away power. I love very controlled, no B.S. racquets, like the PS85, Wilson Ultra Pro Tour and Dunlop CX-200 Tour. If I'm being honest at 53, out of shape with a shoulder surgery in my past and a knee surgery on the horizon, I play my best tennis with a tweener like the Pure Aero or Pure Strike. I just hate the feel and lack of touch. In my bag at the moment is the PA-100 (banana), Prince ATS 98 Tour, Dunlop CX-200 Tour and the Angell MPP 99. I play 90% doubles at the 4.0 sometimes 4.5 level.
On to the Angell. For starters I've had a few Angells over the years. They are all beautifully crafted, quality sticks. I've never really bonded with the custom series as I found the throat flex off-putting. The React MPP 99 I ordered was stock. so 305 grams unstrung. Currently, with Hyper-G 18G (47lbs), dampener and over grip, It comes out as 330G. 31.9 balance and 325 SW. Add to that a reported 61 stiffness unstrung and this stick is generally on the low powered side. Maybe even lower powered than the Wilson pro tour. Feel is great, I understand this racquet and know what is going to happen as soon as I hit the ball, if I hit it on the center. The racquet is pretty intolerant of off-center hits. Spin is decent, about as good as the Head Gravity pro-not as good as the Dunlop CX-200 Tour, both 18X20's. If I'm playing singles where I put a premium on moving the ball around and placement, This setup works fine. Hitting my targets is pretty easy with such a dense pattern as long as I don't try to go for the ridiculous top-spin angles I can get with a pure-aero type racquet with a flick of the wrist. A true guilty pleasure for me. Where I run into trouble with this stick is when I have to do a more defensive reflex volley in doubles, where my opponent hits a missile at me or my partner has set me up at the net. The racquet isn't stable or heavy enough do do well with stab volleys. The lead will be coming out shortly. The lead will help serves a bit too. Targeting is great but I've easily lost 20mph off my serve and three feet off my kick, again, more legs.
So, short answer. The stick feels amazing. I really like the feel compared to the other Angells and generally like it more than most sticks except the true classics like the PS85 and Pro Tour 630. It just may be too much on the control side. I may be giving up a little too much spin and power for the feel and touch. I feel weighing it up to give me some more stability and oomph might put it out of my current fitness level. We shall see.
