Flexpoint Prestige MP short review...

[kumat63]

Had a chance to hit today with the new Flexpoint Prestige midplus. I currently play the Prestige LM MP and will compare it to that...

My buddy who owns a tennis shop had the racquet and said it weighed in right at 12.0 ounces and 5 points headlight. He measured my LM Prestige at 11.9 ounces and 7 points headlight. The Flexpoint Prestige does feel a bit more head-heavy which I didn't really care for all that much. Examining the Flexpoint holes, I couldn't see light through them like I can with a Flexpoint Radical. Do they only go part way through on the Prestige, or was it just a little extra plastic blocking the opening? Not sure.

Anyway, on court I warmed up to the Flexpoint Prestige right away. It feels a bit stiffer than the LM Prestige and gives a little more pop from the baseline. I didn't have to work as hard to generate pace or keep the ball deep. Spin production seemed to me no different from the LM version--which I consider quite good in the spin dept. To me, the FP Prestige might be giving up just a little of that smooth as silk, dampened feel for which the Prestige line has long been known. But it's still a very soft feeling and comfortable racquet to hit with--just a little more "crisp" than the older versions to me. I also noticed the FP version was more stable on mishits (which I can manage my share of!) than the LM version and had a little more plow-through effect than I see with a stock LM. I did notice a slightly annoying little "ping" sound though from the FP. Not nearly as loud or irritating as with the FP Radical Tour, but the FP Prestige does "ping". That bothered me more than the slightly crisper feel. I was playing the FP Prestige with a dampener too, which I don't usually use.

On volleys, the FP was very nice, stable, controlled, maybe an ever so slight improvement on the LM Prestige, though both are nice sticks at the net.

On the serve I didn't really notice any difference in weight of shot or spin production with the FP vs. the LM Prestige. I expected with the little extra pace off the ground to see a bit more heat on first serves with the FP, but I honestly can't say that I did. Kick serve spin seemed pretty comparable as well. I consider the LM Prestige a very nice serving stick, so saying I didn't notice much difference between the two is still a compliment.

Service returns were a little easier with the FP Prestige--the slight extra bit of stiffnes helped produce more weight on the shot which was especially helpful with "block" type returns, and swinging out on second serves produced nice results as well.

Overall, I didn't really notice much difference between the FP and LM Prestige. They are both very nice sticks. If you want a little more pop than you get with an LM Prestige and are willing to trade a little of the soft feel, you'll be happy switching I would think. If feel and touch are #1 for you, I suspect you won't be as eager to change. But this is still a classic racquet and imho the changes are pretty subtle...

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Those 4 extra stiffness points in the FXP might cause arm difficulties to many, used to the very good past performance of the Prestiges in this area ...

I would not be tempted to switch.

 

[iscottius]

more pop & crisp, I'm suprised, I felt that the LMP MP was a very powerful racquet and the prestige's trademark was the feel.

 

[foucapol]

5pts head light? That's interesting. The new FX Prestige MP seems like old Ti Classic with added weight (10gs) on the handle.

 

[kumat63]

Though it was a bit stiffer, I still found the FP Prestige a very comfortable racquet, much better for instance than the Wilson Ncode 6.1 95 which I've played around with a little bit lately as well--the 6.1 95 and FP Prestige have the same stiffness rating at 65, but the FP Prestige feels much more comfortable than the 6.1 95 to me...

As I said, and maybe should have emphasized, the differences were very subtle. The FP was instantly recognizable as a Prestige racquet, and I switched back and forth with ease and without any adjustments in my game, something I can't do for instance switching between a 6.1 95 and the LM Prestige, or the Yonex RDX 500 MP and the LM Prestige... even though the 6.1 and the RDX have similar specs, I have to make some adjustments in my game when I pick up one of those. The FP plays very much like the LM--playing with string type tension, and a little lead tape, and I think you could get an FP playing like an LM pretty easily... in fact they were similar enough, I really see no reason to switch myself as I'm quite happy with the way the LM Prestige plays. But if my LM Prestiges were broken or stolen, I'd pick up an FP and play it no problem.

 

[Pro_Tour_630]

I also noticed the FP version was more stable on mishits

This is one of the most important things I have noticed as well and to many IMO would be the deciding factor to switch. On mishits, the LM jarred and had inconsistant shots while the FPMP was more stable.

 

[jackson vile]

That's interesting, I have really never thought about it as I have never had that effect happen to me after the break in period of a week, never have misshits as the sweet spot is just so large and the racket so soft it just eats heavy balls and fast balls right up.

 

[Skppr05]

i also have the midplus in my possession as of today. Got the demo brand spankin new with plastic still on the handle. I demoed that and the O3 white, the white was amazing. Can't wait to hit with the prestige

 

[Richie Rich]

Those 4 extra stiffness points in the FXP might cause arm difficulties to many, used to the very good past performance of the Prestiges in this area ...

I would not be tempted to switch.

it does not play as stiff as it's flex would suggest. i found it between the LM and i.prestige. it's not overly heavy so the swingweight doesn't feel that high.

 

[Richie Rich]

i found the FXP a comfy hit but just didn't have the pop, for me anyway. i play with the TF 325. it's not like i hated the racquet - it's got a nice weight, nice feel but not enough pop for me, especially when i don't have time to take a cut at a return of serve.

if you are a bigger hitter, or someone who likes to take a big cut at the ball, who likes a flexy frame then this racquet will be right up your alley.

i can see a lot of short balls with this frame if you don't have the right game for it.

 

[rfprse]

Kumat63, would you compare in terms of volley between n6.1 95 and fxp prestige?

 

[kumat63]

Kumat63, would you compare in terms of volley between n6.1 95 and fxp prestige?

Both very solid sticks at the net for me. I'd have to give a slight edge on volleys to the n6.1 95--I think that's the best volleying racquet I've hit with over the last couple years. The stiffness of the racquet makes it really easy to stick your volleys with pace and precision, and the 10 points headlight balance makes it great for quick reaction shots at net. The FP Prestige is a slight improvement on the LM Prestige because of the slightly stiffer beam, but not quite as good for me as the n6.1 95. For me the stiffness and rather extreme headlightness of the n6.1 95 gave me some control issues from the baseline and on serves that keep me playing with a Prestige, but the 6.1 is a very nice frame and I see why so many people love it, especially those who spend more time at net than I do and have a more power-oriented game than I have!

 

[barry]

Both very solid sticks at the net for me. I'd have to give a slight edge on volleys to the n6.1 95--I think that's the best volleying racquet I've hit with over the last couple years. The stiffness of the racquet makes it really easy to stick your volleys with pace and precision, and the 10 points headlight balance makes it great for quick reaction shots at net. The FP Prestige is a slight improvement on the LM Prestige because of the slightly stiffer beam, but not quite as good for me as the n6.1 95. For me the stiffness and rather extreme headlightness of the n6.1 95 gave me some control issues from the baseline and on serves that keep me playing with a Prestige, but the 6.1 is a very nice frame and I see why so many people love it, especially those who spend more time at net than I do and have a more power-oriented game than I have!

Bottom line are you going to switch to the FP Prestige? I also like the 6.1 95, very nice and forgiving racket. So far, I havenot been impressed with the FP technology.

 

[iscottius]

Though it was a bit stiffer, I still found the FP Prestige a very comfortable racquet, much better for instance than the Wilson Ncode 6.1 95 which I've played around with a little bit lately as well--the 6.1 95 and FP Prestige have the same stiffness rating at 65, but the FP Prestige feels much more comfortable than the 6.1 95 to me....

Kumat,
I also extensively demoed the 6.1 95 and the LM prestige MP and found the 6.1 95 to be more solid, and very comfortable, but it was very muted. It did not effect my play at all as the racquet did everything well, was just void of "feel". I found the LM prestige to be a nice racquet, the feel was comfortable, but a bit on the tinny side especially with mis-hits or high in the hoop. I hate to say it, But I felt that this frame would have been perfect if they removed the LM from the four locations on the frame.

anyway- I ended up with the fischer M speed pro 98, It had a great combination of feel, low power, and a very large sweetspot.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Both very solid sticks at the net for me. I'd have to give a slight edge on volleys to the n6.1 95--I think that's the best volleying racquet I've hit with over the last couple years. The stiffness of the racquet makes it really easy to stick your volleys with pace and precision, and the 10 points headlight balance makes it great for quick reaction shots at net. The FP Prestige is a slight improvement on the LM Prestige because of the slightly stiffer beam, but not quite as good for me as the n6.1 95. For me the stiffness and rather extreme headlightness of the n6.1 95 gave me some control issues from the baseline and on serves that keep me playing with a Prestige, but the 6.1 is a very nice frame and I see why so many people love it, especially those who spend more time at net than I do and have a more power-oriented game than I have!

these are two somewhat distinct hitting paradigms:

- with very headlight racquets (around 8-10 points HL) in which less mass is used in the hit, but one can generate more racquet head speed

- with less headlight racquets (around 4-5 points HL, such as the Prestiges, even if some of them are more HL), where's more mass helping the shot, but creating head rotational and linear speed is more difficult

one should be aware of them and adjust and compromise accordingly, including on the depth of the low to high forwardswing path of the racquet head for topspin shots

 

[kumat63]

Barry: No, I'm going to stay with the LM Prestige--it still works well for me. Weighting up the LM Prestige gives the little extra pop and the sound and feel of the LM are slightly preferrable to me.

iscottius: I also played around quite a bit with the 6.1 95 and agree with you--it is a very solid feeling stick, very muted, almost too much so. I found I could generate a bit more pace with a bit less effort with the n6.1 95 than with the Prestige, but just couldn't control it as well for some reason. Weighting up the Prestige does seem to help the feel quite a bit. I've never hit with a Fischer, but the specs are very appealing to me and I'm interested that you liked it better than Prestige or Wilson. How would you compare it power/control/spin to the Prestige and Wilson and what's the handle shape like on the M Speed Pro 98? Is it more rectangular like the Prestige, or more rounded like the Wilson, or different from both?

 

[scez]

i found the FXP a comfy hit but just didn't have the pop, for me anyway. i play with the TF 325. it's not like i hated the racquet - it's got a nice weight, nice feel but not enough pop for me, especially when i don't have time to take a cut at a return of serve.

if you are a bigger hitter, or someone who likes to take a big cut at the ball, who likes a flexy frame then this racquet will be right up your alley.

i can see a lot of short balls with this frame if you don't have the right game for it.

Which prestige would you say is more of a players racquet? I have recently switched back to my lm radical mp from my lm prestige mp because I found I wasnt getting the benifits from using a harder racquet. The problem might also be that the strings are too tight, or I want a slightly more open string pattern.

Marius, is the racquet bad for your arm? Or just worse compared to the lm prestige. I know it is just as stiff as the wilsons, less then the babolats, but I am not sure about how HL it is, and do not know how much of a difference it makes.

 

[joe1987]

Hmmm, I'm thinking of switching from the Lm radical to a prestige. The Lm prestige is a little flexy for me and I'm looking for something slightly stiffer and more crisp. How does the FXP prestige mp measure up to that?

 

[rfprse]

Both very solid sticks at the net for me. I'd have to give a slight edge on volleys to the n6.1 95--I think that's the best volleying racquet I've hit with over the last couple years. The stiffness of the racquet makes it really easy to stick your volleys with pace and precision, and the 10 points headlight balance makes it great for quick reaction shots at net. The FP Prestige is a slight improvement on the LM Prestige because of the slightly stiffer beam, but not quite as good for me as the n6.1 95. For me the stiffness and rather extreme headlightness of the n6.1 95 gave me some control issues from the baseline and on serves that keep me playing with a Prestige, but the 6.1 is a very nice frame and I see why so many people love it, especially those who spend more time at net than I do and have a more power-oriented game than I have!

Interesting. I am a little unhappy with n6.1 95 volleys because it gives me the feeling that I have to hit the volley to hit a decent one. (not good for, let's say, high backhand first volley or rapid exchange at the net) I think it's probably due to the extreme headlightness and hoped fp prestige could be a good alternative without compensating too much of the spin/power of serve. I'll just try to change my volley mechanics.