Tennis Racquet Review: Dunlop Biomimetic MAX 200G 

They should just call this racquet the Dunlop John McEnroe model and be done with it. The simple reality of the thing is that only a gifted player with genius hands and feet is going to be able to maximize the design and features of this racquet. In my humble certainty; there is a very small main market for this racquet. I am sure that with that start, all will be surprised that, this is basically a rave review coming up.

I really enjoyed hitting with this racquet. It is very heavy and very solid. These are two factors that are often missing in modern racquets. I have never had arm problems in my life, but a few months of hitting with various Babolat trampolines, and my massage technician was asking me every other week, ‘what the hell are you doing to your arm.’

The racquet looks like an old wooden racquet. Maybe it is a combination of the old school leather grip and the classic Wimbledon green paint job. I loath green on spec, but this frame has a really cool dimpled paint job, plus a original John McEnroe signature on each side. Johnny Mac is one of the few celebrities who have a recognizable signature, so if you started playing in the 1970’s or 1980’s you will think that is kind of cool. I was a huge Bjorn Borg fan back in the day, and played with Donnay and Bancroft racquets in homage to the great Swede, but what would Borg have been without McEnroe?;  or Liz Taylor without Richard Burton?; or Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson without Larry Bird?

The frame has a 98 inch sized head, which is just big enough to feed into the illusion that you have a big margin for error with this thing. Trust me you don’t. According to Dunlop it weighs 313 grams unstrung (easily the most useless statistic in sports. Put a strung weigh on the thing. Is this the lawyer’s worrying about product liability if the weight is off due to different string weights? Really? Tell them to shut up and\or put a strung range on there).

The strung weigh is 331 grams or 11 5/8 ounces for those residing in the Colonies. With dampener and over grip we are talking 335 grams. I am making a point of this because they thing plays like it weighs 13 ounces. You have to swing this racquet. Or be John McEnroe with those half swing chips and dips and blocks.

I play with the Wilson Pro Staff 6.1 95 which weighs 12.5 ounces the way that I have it set up, and it is a much easier swing than this frame. The sweet spot is bigger on the Dunlop McEnroe, it is more rectangular and longer on the sides, but if you miss the sweet spot, you can forget it. But with all of those caveats, this racquet is fun to hit with and gives one a great sense of satisfaction when you hit a good shot.

For me it was much easier to his serves and volleys with this racquet than ground strokes. My backhand has a big takeaway and I was late a lot of the time with this racquet, I cover the ball with my hand on the forehand wing and with this racquet I just did not have much feel for topspin on that side. I could absolutely crack my serve and overhead with this thing though, and that is always the coin of the realm for a serve and volley player.

I would recommend this racquet to 4.5 plus level players. And in all truth the closer that you are to 5.0\Open level the more you will get out of this racquet. I wish the companies would make more racquets that are player specific, instead of packaging the same raw oatmeal in different colored frames and calling them ‘player racquets’ or ‘performance racquets. This racquet is difficult to play well with, but it is literally a thing of beauty. The first time I drove a friend’s hopped up yellow Roadrunner with a Hemi shifter in 1973 or so I almost hit a signpost getting onto the Long Island Expressway. This is the same deal. Good looking and well made, but demanding all of your skill and focus.