# Sports That Attain Highest Speeds (non-racing) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 7, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230 "2005-06-07T00:36:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/1 "2005-06-07T00:36:06Z")
What are the three sports that produce the fastest projectiles? No tricks, though the answers may be a bit surprising. This includes all sports with batted, thrown, hit, etc. objects but excludes those sports invloving motor driven cars, boats, etc. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/2 "2005-06-07T00:42:03Z")
I have heard it is Jai Alai. The hard rubber ball can be thrown at speeds approaching 188 mph, the average is about 150. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/3 "2005-06-07T00:50:55Z")
I strongly suspect that **Badminton** is way up there. If **Jai Alai** is that sport which features those curvy throwing things, it doesn’t surprise me that the speed would be way up there, as you get a slingshot effect. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/4 "2005-06-07T00:58:15Z")
Bill Tilden is credited with a [168 MPH](http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/TinaCheung.shtml) tennis serve. > [@racer72](#): > > I have heard it is Jai Alai This [link from the same site](http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2002/JennyMai.shtml) makes an interesting comparison with relation to the 188 MPH velocity. “A jai alai ball going this speed in 1927 would have beaten Lindberg across the Atlantic by 14.25 hours.” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/5 "2005-06-07T01:42:43Z")
Skydiving. ---
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/6 "2005-06-07T02:21:17Z")
According to the link provided, the three are: 1. Badminton (obviously not the way I’ve ever played badminton 2. Jai-alai (means “Jolly Feast” in Basque) 3. Tennis [http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/TinaCheung.shtml](http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/TinaCheung.shtml) (see last paragraph) It amazes me that the fastest tennis serve would have been in 1931 considering the athletic ability of so may male tennis players over the last decade. ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/7 "2005-06-07T02:49:12Z")
Archery? ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/8 "2005-06-07T02:57:41Z")
If we’re excluding only the motorized sports, I’d cast my vote for some form of target shooting. I find it hard to believe that you could serve a ball of any type faster than the muzzle velocity of a rifle. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/9 "2005-06-07T03:01:04Z")
> [@Waterman](#): > > It amazes me that the fastest tennis serve would have been in 1931 considering the athletic ability of so may male tennis players over the last decade. The professional tennis tour has had to change the balls to slow down serves, actually, since otherwise the game would essentially be a serving contest. The tennis players of 1931 were playing with tennis balls that could be hit much faster. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/10 "2005-06-07T04:12:25Z")
I played competitive badminton in high school and can testify that it is extremely fast. Table tennis (ping-pong) is also one of the faster racket sports, I can’t find the cite in my old GBoR but shots have been timed at well over 100mph. However for non-mechanical sports I think that skydiving is tops; Joe Kittinger was falling over 600mph at one point during his 1960 jump from 102,800 feet, and that was with a small drogue chute out. At normal altitudes skydivers can go more than 200mph in a head-down (“no lift”) dive. ---
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/11 "2005-06-07T04:41:45Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > I played competitive badminton in high school and can testify that it is extremely fast. Table tennis (ping-pong) is also one of the faster racket sports, I can’t find the cite in my old GBoR but shots have been timed at well over 100mph. > > However for non-mechanical sports I think that skydiving is tops; Joe Kittinger was falling over 600mph at one point during his 1960 jump from 102,800 feet, and that was with a small drogue chute out. > > At normal altitudes skydivers can go more than 200mph in a head-down (“no lift”) dive. See this site for terminal velocities for skydivers which suggests a top velocity of 76 m/s which is 168 mph. [http://hypertextbook.com/facts/JianHuang.shtml](http://hypertextbook.com/facts/JianHuang.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/12 "2005-06-07T04:43:50Z")
> [@brianjedi](#): > > If we’re excluding only the motorized sports, I’d cast my vote for some form of target shooting. I find it hard to believe that you could serve a ball of any type faster than the muzzle velocity of a rifle. I was trying to include only those sports that involve hitting, kicking, batting (you get the idea) a ball or similar object. BTW (and I don’t mean to get into a long discussion here) but shooting guns or bows or arrows doesn’t, in my mind, constitute a sport. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/13 "2005-06-07T04:51:06Z")
> [@Waterman](#): > > See this site for terminal velocities for skydivers which suggests a top velocity of 76 m/s which is 168 mph. > > [http://hypertextbook.com/facts/JianHuang.shtml](http://hypertextbook.com/facts/JianHuang.shtml) Terminal veloscity depends on the position of the body and the density of the air he’s in. That 76 m/s is probably for a guy not to far up falling belly first, the most typical way you’d see a skydiver falling. I assume because it’s the position that slows you down the most and prolongs the fun. Point forward like a dart and you’d take off even faster. Jump from over 100,000 feet where the air is _very_ thin and you’d really be booking. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/14 "2005-06-07T04:59:26Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > I played competitive badminton in high school and can testify that it is extremely fast. Table tennis (ping-pong) is also one of the faster racket sports, I can’t find the cite in my old GBoR but shots have been timed at well over 100mph. [This](http://www.sbttc.org/spectatorguide.htm) says table tennis kills range from 100-120 km/hour. That’s only about 75 mph. Still very fast though. ---
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/15 "2005-06-07T05:06:35Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > Terminal veloscity depends on the position of the body and the density of the air he’s in. That 76 m/s is probably for a guy not to far up falling belly first, the most typical way you’d see a skydiver falling. I assume because it’s the position that slows you down the most and prolongs the fun. Point forward like a dart and you’d take off even faster. Jump from over 100,000 feet where the air is _very_ thin and you’d really be booking. Another link regarding terminal velocity: [http://www.winona.edu/physics/Physics115/chap%20notes%20new%20book/Chap4-3-04.htm](http://www.winona.edu/physics/Physics115/chap%20notes%20new%20book/Chap4-3-04.htm) Another site - see Part III-A: [http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/TFrey/Bio750/Friction&Diffusion.html](http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/TFrey/Bio750/Friction&Diffusion.html) This site refers to extreme skydiving but again I will restate that I was not addressing this type of activity in my OP\*: [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content\_pages/record.asp?recordid=58075](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=58075) - From my OP: _No tricks, though the answers may be a bit surprising. This includes all sports with batted, thrown, hit, etc. objects but excludes those sports invloving motor driven cars, boats, etc._ ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/16 "2005-06-07T05:10:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The professional tennis tour has had to change the balls to slow down serves, actually, since otherwise the game would essentially be a serving contest. The tennis players of 1931 were playing with tennis balls that could be hit much faster. Gee, can you still get this kind of tennis ball? In the black market perhaps? eBay? Yes, I know that a tennis ball made in 1931 would be pretty flat by now. ---
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/17 "2005-06-07T05:13:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The professional tennis tour has had to change the balls to slow down serves, actually, since otherwise the game would essentially be a serving contest. The tennis players of 1931 were playing with tennis balls that could be hit much faster. While I see your point regarding the tennis balls it is still surprising since I would think racquet technology back then would have been pretty primitive by today’s standards? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/18 "2005-06-07T05:52:14Z")
> [@Waterman](#): > > While I see your point regarding the tennis balls it is still surprising since I would think racquet technology back then would have been pretty primitive by today’s standards? I vaguely remember an experiment (perhaps during Wimbledon?) with Greg Rusedski, or another big server. Using wooden racquets made hardly any difference to the speed of the serve. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/19 "2005-06-07T06:20:24Z")
Sorry **Waterman** , it just seemed like you didn’t believe **Valgard** ’s point about [Joe Kitterman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kittinger) Acutally reading your first link I see it does mention him and his speed well in excess of what you said was a top speed. I just thought that needed correcting. But to get on topic, how about golf? This [site](http://www.golfdigest.ie/features/index.ssf?/features/gd200310golfguru.html) says “The ball will leave a long hitter’s clubface at 200 mph, which easily exceeds the fastest recorded tennis serve of 153 mph (by Roscoe Tanner), and is on a par with jai-alai, often called the fastest game in the world.” Not sure how accurate that is though. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/20 "2005-06-07T06:34:22Z")
How about racketball? Those little boogers can liquify your eyeballs. I’ve had my share of welts and nutshots from racketball. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230.md?page=2)