# What's the fastest moving object in sports? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564 "2003-10-25T22:24:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/41 "2003-10-31T20:55:05Z")
Some other possibilities for a whip-like speed I can think of but find no data for. The tip of a Fencing Foil. The tip of a Fishing Rod. ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/42 "2003-10-31T20:57:18Z")
I’d agree Jai alai, but we always thought our lacrosse ball was getting up over 110mph pretty easily. ---
**Author:** ![Apoptosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Apoptosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apoptosis)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/43 "2003-10-31T22:02:47Z")
Hey **Figaro** , Now I don’t claim to be a physicist, but how is it possible for a golf ball to leave travelling faster than the club face? -Apoptosis ---
**Author:** ![Sarcastro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@Sarcastro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarcastro)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/44 "2003-10-31T22:18:48Z")
IANAP, but I’d guess it’s because the ball is elastic, compressing when the club face hits it, and it “springs” back to its old shape off the club face, adding X miles per hour to its launch speed. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/45 "2003-10-31T22:33:16Z")
Yes look up Newtonian mechanics elastic collision on a web site and wear your thinking cap. It comes down to the maximum velocity of a light elastic object hit by a heavy elastic object is twice the velocity of the heavy object. ---
**Author:** ![moejuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@moejuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejuck)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/46 "2003-10-31T22:43:35Z")
I think it is Jose Canseco’s Porsche. ---
**Author:** ![flusyndrome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@flusyndrome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flusyndrome)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/47 "2003-10-31T23:06:42Z")
I have read somewhere about the elasticity theory, matter of fact, I am pretty sure the jai alai ball has been clocked substantially faster coming off the wall than thrown. Just for the heck of it, try bouncing a golf ball off the floor, you’d see you may just toss it gently and still it will bounce up much faster. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/48 "2003-10-31T23:14:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by metroshane \* > \*\*I’d agree Jai alai, but we always thought our lacrosse ball was getting up over 110mph pretty easily. \*\* A lax ball isn’t going much over 100 on even the harder shots in the pros. Jesse Hubbard and the like might be getting it up to 110 or so, but I really doubt that anybody’s shooting much faster than that. It just seems like it when it hits you. According to [this site](http://www.thelacrossejournal.com/07170301news1.html) the fastest shot at the MLL All Star game in 2002 was clocked at 108 mph. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/49 "2003-10-31T23:47:32Z")
**flusyndrome** unless the ball loses mass when it returns from the wall it cannot bounce back with greater speed than it hit the wall. But this is all simple physics and not relivent to the OP. Does anyone have more information or links on the Badminton smash speed record? ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/50 "2003-10-31T23:52:15Z")
So I suppose my guess of curling doesn’t make the cut? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/51 "2003-11-01T00:43:25Z")
If it’s golf, John Daly isn’t a contender - there is a whole sport that involves hitting long golf balls, and the guys who compete in it can put anyone in the PGA to shame. Of course, they don’t have to be as accurate, so they work on pure strength and speed, and probably have humongous heads on their clubs. But they knock them at least 50 yards farther than the best PGA guys. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/52 "2003-11-01T03:29:13Z")
I have to vote for the **foosball** slapshot. After a couple beers it’s impossible to even see it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/53 "2003-11-01T04:31:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Figaro \* > \*\*Nah - the fastest club head speeds (Tiger isn’t the fastest around) are only in the high 150s, occasionally the low 160s. The ball leaves the club face faster than that (170s-190s if I recall), so a John Daly drive might be a contender here. \*\* According to [this site](http://www.golfrankingcanada.com/jason_zuback.html), Jason Zuback has clocked a swing speed of 262 kph (163 mph), resulting in a ball speed of 339 kph (210 mph), which beats the Jai Alai record. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/54 "2003-11-01T13:38:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Soup\_du\_jour \* > \*\*So I suppose my guess of curling doesn’t make the cut? \*\* Only if you hurry REAL hard! ---
**Author:** ![hauss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5fc32e/32.png) [@hauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hauss)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/55 "2003-11-01T14:59:38Z")
I told you guys it was the golf club head… ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/56 "2003-11-01T17:53:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hauss \* > \*\*I told you guys it was the golf club head… \*\* Well that’s definitely wrong - the ball always goes faster than the head, rare double-hits excepted. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/57 "2003-11-01T22:19:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flusyndrome \* > \*\*I have read somewhere about the elasticity theory, matter of fact, I am pretty sure the jai alai ball has been clocked substantially faster coming off the wall than thrown. Just for the heck of it, try bouncing a golf ball off the floor, you’d see you may just toss it gently and still it will bounce up much faster. \*\* If you’re using Bippy the Beardless’s remark, wouldn’t it be coming off the wall at twice the wall speed? ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/58 "2003-11-01T23:54:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*Is a bullwhip used in any sport? Because the tip exceeds the speed of sound, making the _crack_ sound. \*\* Not necessarily a _bullwhip_, but a whip is used in harness horse racing which is ‘cracked’ to ‘encourage’ the horsies to go faster. So there you go, a supersonic, non-‘mechanical’, human-powered sports device. Looks like we got a winner. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2003, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/59 "2003-11-02T09:06:44Z")
Mentock - In the original example, a heavier mpoving object was striking a stationary lighter object. The heavy club has considerably more kinetic energy than the ball carries away when struck. When you bounce a ball off a wall, the heavy wall is stationary, and the lighter ball is the source and target of the kinetic energy (along with some heat losses due to the flexion of the ball during the collision, sound, etc.). The wall doesn’t give the ball any kinetic energy, it can only leave the wall with (at best) as much kinetic energy as it had before it struck the wall. KE= 1/2 m v^2 (so **m** ass must go down if **v** elocity goes up) (Forget relative frames of reference. We’ve been implicitly using the standard ‘stationary’ frame of the Earth’s surface - and sensibly so. Changing the frame of reference won’t change the conclusion at these speeds anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![hauss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5fc32e/32.png) [@hauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hauss)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564/60 "2003-11-03T14:42:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by amarone \* > \*\*Well that’s definitely wrong - the ball always goes faster than the head, rare double-hits excepted. \*\* I thought the rules were to have the ball possess a coefficient of restitution \<1? Cite? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-moving-object-in-sports/209564.md?page=4)