When serving with the Flexpoint Prestige Midplus XL, I did indeed gain increased power, especially on flat serves.  Opponents commented that the ball was noticeably heavier and harder to power back, even when I tired a bit or felt that the serves lacked some of that additional pace. Getting the racquet head through the ball on kick serves took a little more time, but soon they were also very effective and easily placed.

On service returns I grew to appreciate the racquet’s stability, especially on backhands.  The extra swing weight (338) produced stable, certain shots that crossed the net with authority. On forehands it was more challenging at first to consistently move the racquet through the ball rapidly enough to counter serves with heavy pace, but this was simply a matter of racquet preparation and adjusting my timing to utilize the racquet’s length. 

The single, most impressive advantage I found with the Prestige Midplus XL was on groundstrokes, where both forehands and backhands felt firm, comfortable and easy to place. This was especially true with a two-handed backhand, which felt comfortable and predictable on almost every shot. While the swing weight made it slightly more difficult to cut sharp angles, the only difficulty I had was an inconsistent, unpredictable result on low balls I tried to chip.

Volleys with the Midplus XL were firm, deep, and adequately paced, and the string bed was forgiving on off-center hits.  The racquet always felt stable at the net. This gave me confidence in doubles and in my all court singles game.  Although the heavy swing weight and weight distribution made it difficult at times to maneuver the racquet during reflex volleys, this seems like a small price to pay for the racquet’s other advantages.