Professional athletes are constantly progressing further and faster in the sports they compete in. Sports sciences will help measure diet, breathing, movement, strength, muscle fatigue, and speed. Essentially, every aspect that can be analyzed will be used to gain a slight edge over the competition.
Have you ever watched a race where the leader was chased down from a seemingly impossible gap or even on a football field before a tackle was made? How did they close the gap? Perhaps the only thing traveling faster than some athletes is the accessories they use to play these sports, such as racquets, balls, bats, shuttlecocks, or pucks.
It can sting you if you’ve ever played any ball sport and accidentally been hit by a stray ball. As you can imagine, if this impact came from a professional athlete with superior speed and power to a casual sports player, this intensity would likely be dialed up a fair amount. Some sports can be high-speed and brutal, leading to heavy impacts and injuries sustained. But how fast are these items traveling? Below are a few of the fastest-measured sports, from slowest to quickest.
Cricket
With widespread media coverage, especially in countries such as Australia, England, India, and South Africa, it’s easy to find a game being broadcast on TV. If you do, you’ll see that the bowler’s speed is measured and shown with each delivery. With a large run-up permitted, delivery speeds have been measured up to 160km/h, and as you can guess, a returned strike of the bat can sometimes even increase this speed.
Baseball
A similar game style to cricket, where the pitcher’s speed in throwing a ball is measured for TV viewing. The pitching style does differ a little, though, with no run-up permitted, but pitchers can essentially throw it in any manner, using all their body to propel balls slightly upward of 160 km/h
Ice Hockey
The surface of a skating rink will often have a micro-thin layer of water. This reduces drag for anything that travels over it, such as a player on skates or even a puck. With players slaking around at speeds of 45 km/h and then launching the puck, it can propel it at speeds around 166km/h
Field Hockey
Strange as it might seem, Field Hockey is slightly quicker than its cousin played on ice, but this largely depends on the actual surface on which it is played and the player’s swing technique. APT Asia Pacific manufactures several different surface configurations specifically for this sport. These vary slightly depending on the level of professionalism of the players and the environment. When played on high-grade synthetic surfaces, flicks, and drives can reach around 120 km/h and 170 km/h, respectively.
Tennis
Tennis is well-documented as one of the quickest sports in the world. Many of us will have seen players on large television broadcast audiences, with ATP players serving their opponents at speeds up to 253 km/h.
Squash
This game is played on a small court with racquets that are not too different from tennis and a small soft rubber ball. Instead of serving over a net, the ball is launched at a wall, and players take turns returning shots. Professional players have been measured at an astonishing 281 km/h
Badminton
Many would think this sport is a little surprising on this list, with a shrunken-down tennis racquet and a shuttlecock. The shuttlecock in this sport derived its name from a chicken’s feathers and is designed to create wind drag and slow down. Despite this, in a professional’s hands, they can reach an astonishing speed of 493 km/h.
