Dunlop M-Fil 300

Yes i play with the Mfil 300. Its a bit light but can be easily fixed by adding some lead tapes. The Mfil 300 is not as solid as my 03 Tour MP from the baseline but mfil 300 is a good stick in almost all aspects. Comfortable, good for topspin/flat, great for serve and volley. Its not very stiff nor too flexy. I think Mfil 300 is a very good stick. Cant go wrong with it.
 
Love it...absolutely love it.

Just bought a couple M-Fil 300s after an extensive demo process. I switched to it from my trusty Yonex RDX Mids.

Have mine leaded up to 11.5, 2 grams in the handle, 5 g split between 3 & 9, two Yonex grap overgrips.

Just great at the net, excellent balance of power and control from the ground, and I am serving really well with it, able to pound aces w/power, spin out to the corners, etc., with very little effort. Very easy to access spin, and really solid feel for a such a light weight frame.
 
Hey Redflea, am thinking about adding lead to my mfil 300. What is the balance of your Mfil 300? Glad to hear someone loves the Mfil 300. This stick is so underrated.
 
IMO, Mfil 300 feels like a lighter version of PS 6.0 95.
Amazed at the spin potential.
No problem in sending a ball deep.
Great serves with added weight on 12 o'clock.
One of the gems out there!
 
fielders_80 said:
Hey Redflea, am thinking about adding lead to my mfil 300. What is the balance of your Mfil 300? Glad to hear someone loves the Mfil 300. This stick is so underrated.
Click to expand...

Balance is pretty close to stock...stock is 3 pts head light, and I was at about 4 pts head light the last time I checked it. I'm thinking about adding a touch of lead at 12 so I will end up closer to stock if I do that.

Yeah...frankly, I had never intended to even demo it. I went to my local shop to pick up another demo which wasn't ready, so I took out the M-Fil 300 just for the heck of it. Liked it from the first hit...so surprised how solid it was for such a light racquet, and the rest is history, as they say. :)
 
Hey Redflea, have you played with the Mfil200 2006? The weight is 11.5oz (strung), so basically almost the same as your leaded Mfil 300. I wonder if it plays the same...
 
Yup...demo'd it, but found, strangely, that it swung heavier than it "should" based on th specs. Both myself and a hitting partner who usually uses a PS 6.0 95 found that same issue with it. I wonder now if the demo was out of spec and not a good example...

So I ended up liking the M-Fil 300 w/lead more than the 200...one of the things I did like about the 300 was that since it was lighter I would have more room to play around w/weight/balance w/the lead. I wanted to be at or very close to 11.5 and the 200 wouldn't have given me any room to tweak...the 200 did have a softer feel than the 300, even though it (200) has a higher flex.

I liked the 200 except for the "heavier" feel that the demo had, and the 300 actually felt a little bit more forgiving, even though it only has a 1" larger head. Overall it played similar to the 300. Maybe all in my mind, but that was my perception. The 200 is definitely worth a look...
 
The MFil-300 is definitely an interesting frame. Tried it a few months back and played quite well with it (very impressive spin potential). However, I was disappointed with the 'feel' and didn't find it a comfortable hit. Tried it again on the weekend and nothing much has changed. It's one of those racquets that I play very well with but just don't enjoy the feel of it. On the other hand, my team-mate loves it. Feel is far less important to him so he has no issues with the frame, plays it stock (he's the equivalent of your 5.0) and plays it very well. Certainly worth a demo.
 
The feel issue w/this stick is interesting...I moved to the M-Fil from an RDX, which has a gorgeous feel that I love, as if I get a mental picture of the ball on the strings via my arm when I hit with it, and the comfort was unparallelled.

The M-Fil isn't at that level, but I'm actually finding it quite nice with good but not great "communication" and feel. At first I wasn't sure I would like that aspect as much as I wanted to, but after a couple weeks with it I'm quite happy. Interestingly, I would say it has had surprisingly good comfort for me - played I four long sets (two tie breakers and two 7-5s) on Sunday and three average sets on Tuesday (all doubles) and haven't had a twinge. Typically with that amount of tennis in three days my trusty old twingy shoulder and suspect elbow would both at least be "talking" to me about it, but they've been quiet. :)

What the 300 doesn't do as well as my old frame is react to framed or very near frame shots...those are harsher. Off-center shots are fine.
 
I agree with Redflea and AndrewD. I previously played with the 03 Tour MP (i still use it sometimes) and i love the comfortable feel of 03 Tour (albeit a bit muted). My Mfil 300 is not as comfortable as the 03 Tour MP. I would even say that the 03 Tour has a larger sweetspot and better spin potential. But for some reasons i play better with the Mfil 300 especially for double. I played double against some very good players (5.0) last night and we beat them in 3 sets. And i didnt even come close to being tired. So this is definitely one interesting racquet. The only downside for me is it is very difficult to find this racquet in my country. They dont even sell this in the stores and its definitely not priced at $99.

I have not played with the nblade, but i ve played with the Pure Drive (non Cortex) and APD. I really dont like PD because of its stiffness. Mfil has definitely better feel than the PD. The only Bab i would consider would probably be Pure Storm.

Anyone played with both Pure Storm and Mfil 300? Would be interested to find out how they stack up against each other
 
I should add that despite not enjoying the feel of the MFil-300 and finding it a bit harsher than other frames on shots hit outside the sweetspot I had absolutely no arm, shoulder or wrist problems after using it. I'm only playing once a week at present (just back from a knee injury) so my timing is still 'off' and that, naturally, leads to more shots than usual hit outside the sweetspot (also leads to you hitting more serves than usual). Despite that and after playing 5 hard sets of doubles I felt no discomfort at all.

I actually find that surprising as, given the feel, I was expecting the worst.

fielders_80,
Huge difference in feel between the Pure Storm (cushioned) and MFil-300 (rough/harsh). Strangely, I preferred the MFil - despite the feel- and had much better results with it. Regardless, both are very good racquets although, while I could play the MFil stock, I found the Storm too light (I know it's heavier than the Dunlop but it didn't seem to be in synch with it's stock weight).
 
For those reading this who haven't tried on yet, regarding harshness...the M-Fil 300 is a bit harsher at the extremes (frame/near frame) than some other racquets I've hit with recently (e.g., RDS 001 MP, DNX 9) but I wouldn't want to leave the impression that it is a harsh racquet. It is very sweet/solid in the sweet spot, and fine off-center. Volleys like a *****! But if you do frame a serve, you're gonna know it... :)

Still playing w/the lead on mine, more for fun than anything else at this point. (I can see I'm gonna need to join a 12 Step program for tweaking.) :) I added about 3 grams to 12 so I'm now at 11.65 oz. Going to see how that feels tomorrow.

EDIT: Bizarre...the asterisks above replaced a phoenetic spelling of "mother" - m-u-t-h-a - that I had used above. Since when is "mother" and misspelled variants a dirty word!! :)
 
I use the mFil300 and tried a demo of the Pure Storm- thought I would really like the PS.
However, for some reason it felt sluggish - maybe I just didn't care for the weight distribution. I was very inconsistent with the PS and never had a good feel for the ball.
I love playing the mFil300. I tried leather grips & lead , but basically went back to stock(have 3- had to put lead at 3 & 9 on one to bring it in spec with the others). The light weight has never been a problem for me.
Well worth a demo
 
Agree with Redflea, i too feel that the upper part of the frame is a bit stiffer. Last night during a match, i framed a serve and I felt it for sure. But in overall this is not a harsh frame at all. I ve played 2 hours for 4 days in a row and have not experienced any pain.
 
I've been very intrigued with the M-Fil 300 and the price seems extremely reasonable for a test. I'm trying to look for something that swings more easily than my current C10 Pro. I did consider the DNX9 and placed an order, but after addding in freight charges, it was a shocker.

For those who have played with both the DNX9 and M-Fil300, would you consider the Dunlop as coming close to the Volkl?
 
I just bought one and have played a few times with it stock and really like it so far. Won't add any lead 'till I use it for a while and maybe never.
 
Jonolau...I thought you had already gotten a DNX 9! You are starting to follow in Craig Clark's footsteps w/the summer of endless decisions... ;)

Yeah, the bargain price on the M-Fil is a sweet bonus...

As I think you know, I demo'd the DNX 9 and M-Fil 300 amongst the many I sticks that I hit with. They were my last two sticks that I chose between, and both performed very well for me in all areas.

After a few days of hitting I was on the fence between the DNX 9 and the M-Fil 300...the DNX had a slightly more solid, comfy feel overall than the M-Fil 300, but both felt very good to me. I did better at the net w/the M-Fil (found it more manueverable, better reaction volleys, and somewhat suprisingly, slightly better on drop/touch volleys), and served better with the M-Fil as well. I use a variety of serves (flat bombs, slice, and kick, lots of varied pace) and was able to dial in my serves w/the M-Fil much easier than the DNX 9 for some reason. However, groundies and serve returns were somewhat more penetrating w/the DNX 9 with less effort.

In the end, I think the main deciding factors were that I found I had the best balance of power/control w/the M-Fil, had better results at net, and my serve came online very quickly with it.

Definitely recommend the M-Fil 300. Also the RDS 001 MP (but that's getting right up w/the DNX 9 in terms of $$).
 
Redflea,

Have you had a chance to experiment with different strings in the MFil-300? I did wonder whether a softer string (the demo I tried was strung with a basic nylon: probably factory strung) might allieviate a bit of the harshness I experienced and give it a bit more 'feel'.
 
Jonolau...I would think a true tennis fan would live as close to TW as possible. Get your priorities straight, man! ;)

I'm using Klip Excellerator 17 at mid-point for my "first round" of stringing. So far that seems to work well in terms of power/control, and comfort. I'm also going to try Technifibre X-1 Biphase in it next, which is my other favorite multi.
 
cool...we have this little Mfil 300 fan club....

I agree with Redflea that this is a good all around stick. I like my O3 Tour better for groundstrokes, but the Mfil 300 is a better stick in general (serve/volley , etc)

AndrewD, i have mine strung with a Pacific Gut at 55, it does not feel harsh at all, in fact it feels rather comfortable to me. The sweet spot is pretty generous except for the upper part of the frame i think. Volley is great, played double last night and i handled a few hard low volleys with good precision.
 
Fielders 80...did you start at 55 w/the string tension, or work your way down? I'm thinking about going lower in my next string job (say 58) but am worried about getting too much power. I hit relatively flat FH (I can hit heavier top when I need to, but am most comfortable w/a low to moderate amount of topspin), heavier topspin & slice BH, so it's on my FH that I have to be careful about getting my setup too powerful.
 
fielders_80,
I can certainly see how gut (especially at a comfortable 55lbs) would increase the feel. When I first demoed the MFil-300, just after it came out, the racquet was strung with a very basic sythetic but I seem remember it feeling very cushioned (actually, too cushioned and lacking control: no doubt, too loose). However, I wasn't sure if my memory was playing tricks on me as the next couple of times I tried it the feel was very crisp and a lot less comfortable.

If I could find a compromise string between the one in the first demo (cheap synthetic but soft, Im guessing it was 16g) and the last couple (basic synthetic: one felt like 17g and the other just felt stiff but both offered better spin) then I think it would be a good balance between comfort and spin.
 
AndrewD: The Klip has a nice feel, a bit softer than the Technifibre X-1 Biphase I used to use, but less spinny than the X-1, I think. A trade-off.

Even softer is the Yonex ProSpin 850 (I think that's the name). You could probably string that tighter than the X-1 or Klip and still maintain a cushiony feel...

The M-Fil 300 demo I used had a string that felt very nice, pocketed well and very comfy, good feel. It was Dunlop M-Fil Tour 16g, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. Only $6.95 from TW! I don't have any idea how it lasts or how well it maintains tension, so I didn't string with it first off, but I may give it a try, going to do a search on it in the String forum...

Jonolau: Congrats on your order! Send me $100US in a self-addressed stamped envelope, and I'll send you your card. ;) I really hope you like the M-Fil. If not, blame fielders_80, it's his fault! By the way, what did you order for string/tension?
 
AndrewD, i would try the X-1 Biphase, i think thats a good compromise between feel and softness. I ve never tried the klip or the Yonex, but i heard the Yonex is pretty soft too. I would consider Prince Premier Softflex but for some reasons it feels too springy for me. NXT Tour is decent and so is XCel Premium, except it lose tension really fast.

Redflea, by the time Jonolau get his Mfil 300, we'll start another fan club for a different stick.....

Jonolau You can send the money to Redflea, he accepts credit card and Pay Pal. For $100, we will send you a congratulatory card, a cheap Mfil 300 key chain and most important, an autographed best seller paperback book by Redflea entitled "How to make love to your Mfil 300"
 
Thanks all. I won't get the chance to try the MFil-300 with different strings unless I go ahead and buy one but it is useful to hear how it plays with different set-ups. I recall trying a racquet a little while ago and marvelling at how much spin it produced and its uncanny control. Had no idea it was strung with BB and that with any other string it becomes a very ordinary frame with low spin and power potential.
 
fielders_80 said:
Redflea, by the time Jonolau get his Mfil 300, we'll start another fan club for a different stick.....
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm already moving on. Been about two weeks, time to find a new stick!

fielders_80 said:
Jonolau You can send the money to Redflea, he accepts credit card and Pay Pal. For $100, we will send you a congratulatory card, a cheap Mfil 300 key chain and most important, an autographed best seller paperback book by Redflea entitled "How to make love to your Mfil 300"
Click to expand...

Hey, pal - that's out of line! Our key chains are not cheap! ;)
 
Awww shucks, thanks for the thought, guys. What are mates for, eh? ***as jonolau struggles to pull the knives from his back ...***

Yes, the M-Fil is available in Singapore, but stocks only arrive month's end.

Not too sure what to string it with as I'm also waiting for my supplies to arrive from TW. I've got some Alpha gut, Klip Kicker, Tecnifibre Spinfire, Gosen Polylon SP, Prince Lighting XX and Babolat Super Fine Play coming my way. Choices, choices, choices.

Does the M-Fil300 club membership include string choices of the day? I was quite looking forward to the keychain, hope it doubles up as a vibe dampener.

$100 for membership??? Now, that's what I call exclusive! It'd better include unlimited usage of the jacuzzi and complimentary towels, if not there's going to be a riot.

See you at the club lobby!
 
Redflea, i meant "exclusively cheap", not just cheap.

Jonolau, the membership does include a set of used string from Redflea. I heard they are now considered collectibles and can fetch a pretty large sum on e*ay. Now you have to provide your own towels.... what do you expect for $100, you el cheapo!!

AndrewD I agree that string plays a very important role on a racquet. I recall how different my 03 Tour feels when i strung it with VS Gut as compared to multi /syn gut.
 
Several people mentioned in the above the M-fil 300 isn't that comfortable and they might well be right. I think it's a bit harsh outside the sweetspot.

A friend of mine has elbow probs with it. Mind you, even after leading it up a bit. He doesn't have a very good technique though.

I think the M-fil 200 is better in this respect. I have it and don't any probs with it (and I am elbow-sensitive).

But in terms of playability and versatility, the M-fil 300 is definitely great.
 
Well, I personally feel that harshness is good! It is as good as receiving a little shock on every mishit to remind you to focus on good preparation.

As Marius has pointed out, it is usually a concept of poor technique that causes these problems. I can personally vouch for that. After taking a 3 year hiatus from tennis, my timing and strokes were totally out of whack and I got TE from pulling my arm too close to my body on the follow through. One session with a coach solved all that.
 
Marius, do you play with the heavier Mfil 200(12+oz) or the newer Mfil 2006 (11.5oz)? I thought Mfil 200 is actually less forgiving than the Mfil 300? Hows the power level between the 200 and the 300?

I agree with Marius that Mfil 300 can feel a bit harsh. Its not by any means a demanding racquet. The sweetspot is rather large i think. However, when you hit it off the sweet spot, you will (really) feel the harshness. Especially on the upper part. And i also agree that this is one versatile racquet with great feel.
 
M-Fil 200 2006 sweet spot felt smaller than the M-Fil 300. Also, for me and a friend it swung heavier than it's weight/swing weight would have indicated, which was strange. We may have gotten one that was out of spec...

Don't particularly remember it being a lot different than the 300 in terms of
"normal" off-center mis-hits, but frame/near frame I think it was a bit better than the 200.
 
jonolau,

The harshness I experienced with the MFil-300 was neither good nor informative. It might have been, in part, a product of the strings but when I hit a slice backhand I'd get good depth and good pace but not the touch which allows you to change direction at the last moment. That isn't a technical issue as feel/touch are independent of technique.
 
AndrewD said:
jonolau,

The harshness I experienced with the MFil-300 was neither good nor informative. It might have been, in part, a product of the strings but when I hit a slice backhand I'd get good depth and good pace but not the touch which allows you to change direction at the last moment. That isn't a technical issue as feel/touch are independent of technique.
Click to expand...
Hi Andrew, Thanks for your feedback. Feel and touch are very important criteria for me, which was why I was with Volkl for a long time. As for strings, I did like the feedback I received from the strings hence my long term association with them. Now that I've got my own stringing machine, I can start to play around more with strings to see what setup is most suitable.

Will post my views once I've received the racquet.
 
jonolau,

I've been interested in the MFil-300 as a few clubmates and I, after reading several claims made on this board, are running a test this year to have me use a light-weight tweener and see what effect it has on the quality of my game (4.5ish level). Ultimately we decided against the Dunlop as, despite its specs (98sq, 10.9oz, 3pts HL, 61 flex), it seems to fall more into what could be termed the 'players tweener' category. In its place we've substituted a Head i.S2 MP (98sq, 10.2oz, 1pt HL, 70flex).

Played with the Head today and I have to say, I much preferred its feel to the Dunlop. Despite being a much stiffer racquet I didn't find the response as harsh and had much better feel on my slice backhand. Quite a change from my old T10mp Gen2 but I think I'll get the hang of it

I'm sure you'll love the MFil-300 and look forward to your review. Ultimately, I just couldn't get comfortable with the feel but it is a good racquet that suits a range of styles and skill levels.
 
fielders_80 said:
Marius, do you play with the heavier Mfil 200(12+oz) or the newer Mfil 2006 (11.5oz)? I thought Mfil 200 is actually less forgiving than the Mfil 300? Hows the power level between the 200 and the 300?
Click to expand...

I am playing with the heavier (2005) M-fil.
 
Had a very nice hit tonight, a nice way to end the weekend after a very poor performance in a 4.5 doubles match on Saturday. Just played like cr*p. Felt like I was using someone else's feet, if you know what I mean, and I couldn't get into the proper position to hit a shot to save my life. We lost 7-5, 6-3, and were lucky to do that "well." <sigh> I guess one has to have those types of days once in a while to enjoy the good ones sufficiently. :)

On the bright side, by Sunday morning I had my own feet back and was on form. Each day I play w/this racquet I'm liking it more. Played again tonight and I was really finding my range and putting the balls just where I wanted them. Looking forward to a singles match this week with an old nemesis...he doesn't know it yet, but there's an M-Fil smack attack comin'! ;)
 
jonolau,

may i know which shop do you frequent for dunlop rackets in singapore?

found only the mfil 200 at q-----way which was quite reasonably priced.

another shop at lucky plaza has the mfil 300 but the pricing is such that i don't bother to remember.

blue
 
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