Comments:I've been playing with the MG Prestige midplus for six months now. I played some college tennis in the early 80's and play to a 4.5-5.0 now. Most recently, I played with the Liquid Metal Prestige MP for several years. I've also played the Yonex MP-1 Tour 98 and RDX 500 98, and have hit extensively with the Wilson N 6.1 and K factor 6.1 95, Tecnifibre 325, Prince 03 Tour mid and MP, as well as the earlier Head Flexpoint Prestige and just a little bit with an old PT280. As a couple other posters said, you can't judge a racquet adequately by a couple hitting sessions. So, after six months (playing a couple times a week with it on average) here's my take:
I like this MG Prestige 98 as much as any other racquet I've played. I don't really notice huge differences in any of the "players" racquets mentioned above. With string adjustments and time, I think I could play happily with any of them. Certainly none of them are bad racquets. However, there are some things about the MG Prestige that make me favor it: 1) Feel. This one has that more old school Head "dampened" feel, much more like a PT280 (albeit a slightly stiffer PT280/630) than the LM or FXP Prestige. A knowledgable friend with an RDC machine told me the PT630/280 flexed around 61-63 on his machine and the MG Prestige about 66-67, and that corresponds to the feel I get from playing them. The extra stiffness of the MP doesn't translate into loss of feel or comfort for me though--just a tiny bit more pop on the serves and groundies which I appreciate. Compared to the other frames in this category, I find the Wilson 6.1s just feel a bit too stiff for my tastes and the Yonexes feel a bit "dead" or "mushy" and I feel like I have to work too hard to get pace on groundies and serves. The LM Prestige feels more "twangy" like it vibrates too much. The Tecnifibre 325 felt just as good as the MG to me, and the PT280 is still king of feel, the MG Prestige can't beat it, but it's acceptably close while giving a touch more power that is still very controlable. Those are just my impressions, how those racquets feel to me. Your mileage may vary, as they say, and I've been a Head racquet fan for a long time so I'm probably biased towards what is most familiar to me.
2) Control. I'm playing my MG Prestige with BB ALU Power at 54. When I'm playing well, I feel like this racquet lets me place the ball as precisely as any other racquet I've ever tried and that's what makes the biggest difference for me in winning matches--putting the ball exactly where you want it and having the confidence to go just inside the lines...
3) Serve spin and pace. I'm serving with a bit more pace on my first balls (measured on a radar gun and got about 3-4 mph more than with my LM Prestige) and a bit more spin on kickers. Control is great on the serve, and feel can't be beat. I lost significant mph serving with the Yonex frames. I got great pace with the N 6.1 95, but didn't feel like I could place the ball quite as well (that was a 16 main racquet, never tried the 18 main version). Similar experiences with the T-325 and Prince 03 Tour mid--very acceptable pace on first balls, but my confidence on placement suffered. I think I hit sharper kickers with an 18 mains racquet too. I know that goes against conventional wisdom, but the kick on second serves I get with the MP seems just a tad more than with the other frames mentioned.
Dislikes--I liked the simpler, older LM paint job. Also it's a little light in stock form. My racquet is custom weighted with lead under the bumper to 325 grams unstrung and that little bit of extra heft is nice, seems to help the ball get through the court just a bit quicker. My three frames are from the Austrian pro player's line and are coded TGK 238.1 with the plain black butt caps with the silver Head logo. So for the reviewer who said it's not tour frame--uh... you're wrong. I think many of the pros still favor the PT57a or PT57e, but the Austrian factory turned out some "real" MG Prestiges for the pros too, and I've heard some actually are playing it as well as some college players. Also holding it up to a PT280, it's pretty clear they are out of the same mold, unlike the LM and FXP Prestiges which were a different mold that very few tour or better college players ever used...
I did demo extensively a retail MG Prestige MP with the same string set-up, and similar weight and didn't notice any difference in how they play. So think my experience would be valid for the retail frames as well.
I like this MG Prestige 98 as much as any other racquet I've played. I don't really notice huge differences in any of the "players" racquets mentioned above. With string adjustments and time, I think I could play happily with any of them. Certainly none of them are bad racquets. However, there are some things about the MG Prestige that make me favor it: 1) Feel. This one has that more old school Head "dampened" feel, much more like a PT280 (albeit a slightly stiffer PT280/630) than the LM or FXP Prestige. A knowledgable friend with an RDC machine told me the PT630/280 flexed around 61-63 on his machine and the MG Prestige about 66-67, and that corresponds to the feel I get from playing them. The extra stiffness of the MP doesn't translate into loss of feel or comfort for me though--just a tiny bit more pop on the serves and groundies which I appreciate. Compared to the other frames in this category, I find the Wilson 6.1s just feel a bit too stiff for my tastes and the Yonexes feel a bit "dead" or "mushy" and I feel like I have to work too hard to get pace on groundies and serves. The LM Prestige feels more "twangy" like it vibrates too much. The Tecnifibre 325 felt just as good as the MG to me, and the PT280 is still king of feel, the MG Prestige can't beat it, but it's acceptably close while giving a touch more power that is still very controlable. Those are just my impressions, how those racquets feel to me. Your mileage may vary, as they say, and I've been a Head racquet fan for a long time so I'm probably biased towards what is most familiar to me.
2) Control. I'm playing my MG Prestige with BB ALU Power at 54. When I'm playing well, I feel like this racquet lets me place the ball as precisely as any other racquet I've ever tried and that's what makes the biggest difference for me in winning matches--putting the ball exactly where you want it and having the confidence to go just inside the lines...
3) Serve spin and pace. I'm serving with a bit more pace on my first balls (measured on a radar gun and got about 3-4 mph more than with my LM Prestige) and a bit more spin on kickers. Control is great on the serve, and feel can't be beat. I lost significant mph serving with the Yonex frames. I got great pace with the N 6.1 95, but didn't feel like I could place the ball quite as well (that was a 16 main racquet, never tried the 18 main version). Similar experiences with the T-325 and Prince 03 Tour mid--very acceptable pace on first balls, but my confidence on placement suffered. I think I hit sharper kickers with an 18 mains racquet too. I know that goes against conventional wisdom, but the kick on second serves I get with the MP seems just a tad more than with the other frames mentioned.
Dislikes--I liked the simpler, older LM paint job. Also it's a little light in stock form. My racquet is custom weighted with lead under the bumper to 325 grams unstrung and that little bit of extra heft is nice, seems to help the ball get through the court just a bit quicker. My three frames are from the Austrian pro player's line and are coded TGK 238.1 with the plain black butt caps with the silver Head logo. So for the reviewer who said it's not tour frame--uh... you're wrong. I think many of the pros still favor the PT57a or PT57e, but the Austrian factory turned out some "real" MG Prestiges for the pros too, and I've heard some actually are playing it as well as some college players. Also holding it up to a PT280, it's pretty clear they are out of the same mold, unlike the LM and FXP Prestiges which were a different mold that very few tour or better college players ever used...
I did demo extensively a retail MG Prestige MP with the same string set-up, and similar weight and didn't notice any difference in how they play. So think my experience would be valid for the retail frames as well.
