Racquet Playtest Comparison: Flexpoint Radical Tour vs M-FiL 300 vs O3 Tour
Prince O3 Tour: A pretty light feeling racquet that swings very easily. The thin beam also enhances this feeling of maneuverability. The huge string holes known as "O Ports" looked sort of strange, and I'm not sure if they help with the racquet's aerodynamics or not. I'm just glad I don't have to string this racquet, though! With dampener and two overgrips, (the demo was 4 3/8 and my usual size is 4 1/2), the static weight came out to 12.2 oz. Has a very high-quality looking, glossy black finish. Dunlop M-FiL300: This racquet swung heavier than its weight would indicate due to its near even balance. It's a very "chunky" feeling racquet, and the beam seemed even wider than its 21.5mm spec. Very noticeable was that this racquet's head shape is much more oblong or oval than the other two racquets', which are much more round in shape. With dampener and two overgrips (as above), the weight came in at 11.6 oz. Has a high quality looking, candy apple red and silver metallic paintjob, although I didn't really care for the graphics all that much. Head FP Radical Tour: A fairly low powered player's racquet that also has some hot spots. If you take a full swing and hit a hot spot, the racquet can generate plenty of power. The head does indeed seem to flex quite a bit as the Flexpoint system is supposed to do. This can sometimes add power to your shot as the impact of the ball seems to bend the head back and then when it snaps back, there's almost a "slingshot" feel to it that propels the ball. Whether or not this is really happening, I'm not sure, but that's what it feels like it's doing to me. This racquet was easily the most powerful of the three for serving. I could really serve some bombs with it, I think mostly due to the additional weight this racquet offers. For advanced players with full, loopy swings, this racquet should be generous enough in the power department. Prince O3 Tour: Also a pretty low powered racquet requiring full, long strokes. In fact, I would say this is the lowest powered of the three racquets. There just doesn't feel like there's a whole lot of mass behind my shots. This is also the most flexible feeling of the three racquets, which may also rob the racquet of some of its power. Blocking the ball doesn't really work very well with this one, and you really do need to take a fast, full smack at the ball to generate any pace. Serves were also not as powerful as with the other two racquets, but the upside is that it was also hard to hit a serve outside of the service box. Perhaps some lead tape on the hoop would help. Dunlop M-FiL300: Probably the most inherently powerful of the three, meaning that the power does not come from the weight of the racquet. The extra power comes from the stiffness, wide beam, and the longer main strings in the head. Due to its near even balance, this racquet swings a bit heavier than its weight would indicate. However, it was still too light for my taste. I could hit the ball deep even with short, compact strokes. However, if I tried to take my normal full, long strokes, I often hit the ball long. The stiffness and power of the frame also meant that sometimes just blocking the ball can cause the ball to fly off. Head FP Radical Tour: The strange thing about this racquet was that the harder I hit the ball, the more control it seemed I had. If I took a half-hearted or anything less than a full, long stroke, I seemed to lose some control. It also took a bit of time for me to adjust to the way this racquet flexes. The first couple of times out, I was almost hitting the back fence when I took a huge swing. After I got more used to the racquet, I was able to gain much better control and take huge cuts at the ball and still keep it in the court. Topspin was fairly easy to generate to help with control on groundstrokes. Control and placement were excellent on serves and pretty good on volleys, too. Prince O3 Tour: I probably had the best control out of the three with this one. The sweetspot on this racquet is indeed very large as advertised but when you hit the middle of it, it's not as sweet feeling as some other racquets with much smaller sweetspots. The large sweetspot did allow me to get a lot of balls back but many times with not much on them. Spin was very easy to generate with this racquet which definitely helped with control. However, due to the large head size and the its flexi nature, it did not always enhance a high-level feeling of confidence for me when I needed to hit a shot with precision. Dunlop M-FiL300: Control with this racquet is hit or miss (no pun intended). On some shots the control is very good but on others the inherent power of this racquet overwhelms the control. The wide beam and the stiffness of the frame robs the racquet of some feedback which decreased my level of control. Whether I took a compact or full swing, sometimes the ball could just fly off for no reason. The lack of mass also made controlling volleys difficult when the ball was hit hard at me. Control on serves, however, was pretty good. Head FP Radical Tour: This was the least maneuverable racquet of the three mostly due to its weight. It had a real "beefy" feel in my hands due to both the thick beam and the large head (compared to what I'm used to). However, once I got it swinging, it was fine and I didn't notice it at all. I had no trouble volleying with the racquet up at net or getting the racquet back in time to hit groundstrokes. Maneuverability was also not an issue on serves, in fact, the added weight was welcomed as it added some juice to my serves. Prince O3 Tour: This racquet felt very light to me so it was very maneuverable in my hands. I had no problems whatsoever in getting this racquet in position to hit any of my shots, whether I was on the baseline or up at the net. The thin beam, light static weight, and maybe even the "O Ports" all helped in making this racquet very easy to swing and maneuver. Dunlop M-FiL300: This racquet was also pretty easy to maneuver given it's light weight. No problem for me in getting the racquet on the ball from either the baseline or up at the net. The thick beam did feel a bit chunky at times, especially when cradling the throat with my left hand. However, I don't think it interfered with its maneuverability all that much. Head FP Radical Tour: A pretty stable racquet as expected given its hefty weight. The sweetspot is quite large and it feels like a slingshot when you hit it. It seems there might be a few hot spots on the stringbed depending on where you hit it and how the hoop flexes along its two "flexpoint" indentations at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. However, the racquet does feel very solid most of the time and produces some solid feeling shots. It just took a bit of time to get used to the way the hoop flexes around its "flexpoints". Prince O3 Tour: This was not as stable as the FP Radical Tour. This is a very thin beamed racquet that's also very flexible which makes the racquet feel a bit "wobbly" at times. It didn't really inspire a sense of confidence when I went for my shots. However, although some shots may have felt a bit unstable, it didn't seem to affect the resulting shots all that much. The balls pretty much went where I was aiming. I think adding some lead tape to the head of this racquet would increase its stability, as it does seem to bend and twist a bit too much when defending against hard hit shots. This racquet also has a very large sweetspot, as advertised. Dunlop M-FiL300: This was probably the least stable of the three racquets mostly due to its light weight. This racquet has a fairly stiff hoop and throat so there's not really a whole lot of twisting nor bending, it's just that I seemed to get pushed around defending against hard hit shots, especially on volleys, because of the lack of mass. However, I will say that this racquet is pretty stable for its weight, just not compared to the other two heavier racquets. So if you don't like heavy racquets but prefer lighter ones, this is probably one of the more stable lightweight racquets. Head FP Radical Tour: Not a stiff racquet at all despite its thick beam width, and thus, very comfortable overall. In fact, I would consider this a flexible racquet due to the way the hoop flexes around the "flexpoints". The shock and vibration seem to be well dampened. However, if you're not used to a heavier racquet, it may cause some shoulder discomfort after a lot of serving. It also has the standard Head flat, rectangular grip which may take some people a little while to get used to, especially if you're coming from a Wilson or Prince grip shape. Prince O3 Tour: A very comfortable racquet due to its very flexible beam. It does have, what some may call, a "plush" feel to it. However, the slight wobbling on hard hit shots may be a bit disconcerting at times. This racquet was also extremely easy to swing and felt much lighter than its weight would suggest. Not sure if it's the "O ports" or the aerodynamic thin beam, but I never felt fatigued using this racquet. As mentioned above, although this racquet has a very large sweetspot, the feel when hitting the sweetspot was not as sweet as with some other racquets, like my usual PS 6.0 95. Dunlop M-FiL300: This racquet was the least comfortable of the three mostly due to its stiffness and light weight, which transmitted a lot of the shock and vibration. I could feel more of the ball's impact on shots hit hard at me with this racquet than with the other two. It appears the stiffer beam and lighter weight didn't absorb as much of the shock and vibration from the impact as with the other two heavier racquets. In fact, the stiffness and light weight caused me a bit of wrist pain sometimes when I hit with this racquet. Head FP Radical Tour: Fairly easy to generate spin with this racquet due to its relatively open (16x19) string pattern and flexible head. However, since this was the heaviest racquet out of the three, it was relatively more difficult to brush the racquet head up quickly to generate extreme topspin. Slices were pretty easy to produce. Slice and kick serves were also easy to generate. Prince O3 Tour: This is a very spin friendly racquet. The low swingweight, thin beam, and open (16x18) string pattern makes it very easy to generate the fast racquet head speeds necessary to produce lots of topspin. Slices, however, were not as good as with the FP Radical Tour because, I think, of the lack of mass in the head. Slices tended to sit up a bit more and with less bite and pace. Hitting spin serves, however, was very easy. In fact, it was much easier to hit slice serves with this racquet than flat serves. Dunlop M-FiL300: Not as easy to generate spin with this racquet as with the other two. I think it had to do with the near even balance which made it feel awkward trying to whip the racquet head up quickly to generate topspin. The lack of mass and stiffness of the hoop, I think, also made it more difficult for the strings to really dig in and grab the ball for more spin. In fact, it had sort of a boardy feel to it. Slices also tended to sit up with this racquet due to the lack of weight behind the slices. Serving with spin was relatively easier than groundstroke slices, though. Head FP Radical Tour: I liked this racquet a little better than the Liquidmetal Radical Tour that it replaces. This one has more feel, more power, easier to generate spin, and much easier to serve with. However, the flexing of the hoop along its "flexpoints" can sometimes be unpredictable and you can sometimes lose control and over-hit. Bottom line: A forgiving player's racquet best suited for 4.0 to 6.0 players looking for a bit more power and spin from the baseline and can handle a 12.5 oz. racquet. Prince O3 Tour: A very easy to use, soft feeling racquet with a large sweetspot. Quite flexible but also quite muted. In fact, it's almost hard to hear the ball hitting the strings sometimes, which may throw some people off. Good feedback from the feel, but not from the sound. Bottom line: A good racquet for 4.0 to 6.0 players that like a thin beamed, flexible racquet with a fairly large head and sweetspot. Probably also a safe bet for those with arm/elbow problems. Dunlop M-FiL300: Funny thing is after my first hit with all three racquets, I thought I liked this one the best. It felt solid on all shots and I could serve pretty well with it. But the more I played with it, the more I realized that it's just too light and stiff for me and didn't offer enough feedback to hit touch shots. I also felt like I was getting pushed around by hard-hitting opponents and was concerned about injuring my wrist. Bottom line: Best suited for 3.5 to 5.0 players looking for a light weight racquet with decent power and solid feel. As I experienced with this playtest, it's best to demo several racquets over several play sessions over a good period of time. Your perceptions of each racquet could change with each play session, as they did with me. What I thought was the best racquet for me turned out to be probably the worst racquet for me. The more times I hit with these three racquets, the more I could discern their positives, and more importantly, their negatives. Happy hitting!
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