# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**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, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/21 "2005-06-07T06:39:36Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > 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. I can’t say for sure regarding the speed of the golf ball but the site that I cited (wow is that a strange read) discusses the speed of a golf ball but doesn’t list that among the top three. My guess is that it loses speed so quickly after leaving the club head as to be no longer comparable. Your reference is to a golf related webpage that would be expected to be a little prejudice and as pointed out below isn’t too accurate in its info. The cite you give incorrectly states that 1) Roscoe Tanner has the fastest serve in tennis (see my cite which has documented records and has been discussed above), and 2) that jai-alai is the fastest. Again, the cite that I give states that badminton is faster and references documented test results. ---
**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/22 "2005-06-07T14:14:26Z")
Isn’t shooting a sport? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/23 "2005-06-07T14:55:35Z")
> [@Bewildebeest](#): > > Isn’t shooting a sport? I was going to be a smartass and say “dog-sled racing”, since the tip of the whiplash attains supersonic velocity when cracked… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/24 "2005-06-07T15:54:55Z")
According to Guiness, the fastest tennis serve happened about a year ago in London. > [@](#): > > Fastest Tennis Serve: > The fastest tennis service by a man (measured with modern equipment) is 246.2 km/h (153 mph) by Andy Roddick (USA) during a Stella Artois Championship match against Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) at the Queen’s Club, London, UK, on June 11, 2004. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/25 "2005-06-07T17:08:39Z")
You’ve not seen fast until you’ve seen a cyclist come off his bike and rip his top off when he gets a bee down the front of his jersey. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/26 "2005-06-07T17:16:19Z")
We really oughtn’t to count skydiving (even if we count the person as the projectile), unless you can think of some non-motorized means of getting to altitude. Cliff diving, maybe, but I would doubt that that gets anywhere near golf, jai-alai, or the racket sports. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/27 "2005-06-07T17:16:33Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > 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. This would be a lot more impressive if, like in _jai alai_, another participant was expected to catch the ball on the fly. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/28 "2005-06-07T17:22:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > We really oughtn’t to count skydiving (even if we count the person as the projectile), unless you can think of some non-motorized means of getting to altitude. Up, up and away in my beautiful balloon. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/29 "2005-06-07T22:27:40Z")
In one of the two times I have ever been to a the great american pastime, I have seen, (Well, heard, actually) the bound barrior being broken. That is to say, I have seen the batter hit the ball, and heard the sound later. [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_sound) leads me to believe that must be one fast strike. Sure, so the impact breaks the sound bearier, not the ball per say, but still. Isn’t it faster then 200 mph 😕 ---
**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, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/30 "2005-06-07T23:36:57Z")
**Scott** , the delay in hearing the crack of the bat isn’t from any physical object going faster than sound. You see the impact pretty much as it happens, but the sound of the impact (travelling toward you at, well, the speed of sound) takes a fraction of a second to reach you. Or am I being wooshed? ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230/31 "2005-06-08T15:04:03Z")
Not a whoosh, I am just that clueless about physics. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-attain-highest-speeds-non-racing/307230.md?page=1)