Nolan Ryan (in his prime) could get his hand moving at over 100 miles per hour (about .85 TV). A trained martial artist might be able to exceed this speed. (I’m not sure about this. If anyone has any data on the speed of the fists of Bruce Lee or Frank Dux or whoever, let me know.) Imagine Nolan Ryan (or Bruce Lee or Kerry Wood or whoever) standing in a pool of with water up to his waist. Now imagine he hits the surface of the water as hard as he can with his hand.
We have three theories as to what might happen to his hand when he does this.
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My theory. Water does not turn into concrete based on the speed of the object hitting it. If this theory is correct. Nolan will make a great big splash and his hand will probably sting a little or a lot based on the position of his hand as it strike the surface of the water.
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The concrete theory. When something hits water at some undefined high speed the water “acts” just like concrete. All adherents to this theory are not in full agreement, but I’m going to lump most of them together because that is the kind of guy I am. If this theory is correct, Nolan will break every bone in his hand and some people suggest that his hand will even bounce off the surface of the water. Some adherents to this theory would suggest that the position of Nolan’s hand is unimportant, while others state that the least damaging hand position would be to strike the water with the flat of the palm.
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The brother rat theory. Which is explained in full earlier in this thread, but can be summed as, “water will mess you up big time.” If this theory is correct, when Nolan’s hand touches the surface of the water a shockwave will travel through his body liquefying his organs and rupturing his skin. (For the morbid: Said liquid organs will also spray out of said skin ruptures.)
Most of us have probably played in the pool before, and can probably pick which of these theories is closest to what would actually happen.