Muscle Power 23
Model MP-23
Where to find it
The club player's companion: Muscle Power 23
The bottom of the MP ladder
The Muscle Power 23 was Yonex's entry-level offering in 2003 — the bottom rung of the MP ladder in a year when the series ran from the MP-23 up through the MP-88 and beyond. Designed for beginner to intermediate players, it used graphite construction, a flexible shaft, and the Muscle Power grommet system — rounded grommet holes that seated strings for maximum power transfer without stress-loading — manufactured in China to keep the price accessible. It was the racquet the sport was selling to the vast majority of club players.
The MP grommet system
The Muscle Power grommet system was the connecting technology across all MP models regardless of tier. At the MP-23 level, it was the main performance selling point: strings sitting on rounded archways rather than sharp grommets distributed tension more evenly across the string bed, extending string life and reducing the energy lost to localized frame flex at the grommet point. This same technology — in far more refined forms — runs through the entire MP series up to the MP-88 that Lee Chong Wei used as his first professional instrument.
The beginning of a story
In the collector context, the MP-23 matters primarily as a historical marker: the beginning of the numerical story that runs up to the MP-88. No secondary market price is tracked because examples are both common and rarely preserved. But for a collector who wants to represent the full sweep of the Muscle Power era — from the entry-level China-made MP-23 to the Japan-made LCW weapon at the top — the MP-23 is the first chapter. The distance between them tells you everything about what the MP series aspired to be.
MP-23 designation on shaft. Flexible shaft. Graphite construction. Muscle Power grommet system — rounded arch grommets visible on inspection. Made in China. No hologram on early production. Basic Yonex branding consistent with 2003 era.
No tracked price. Entry-level collector value as a historical marker. Most compelling as the first piece in a complete Muscle Power series display rather than a standalone acquisition.
Prices last updated March 2026. All data based on tracked secondary market transactions.