Speed of Badminton Shuttles

Faster than a Speeding Bullet - well, not quite, but a heated discussion over the Christmas break, has resulted in the following compilation of facts about the speed of various sporting missiles.

Bullets - 1022 mph

.22 rimfire cartridge (subsonic) between 818 - 1022 mph.

12 bore shotgun pellets - between 749 - 955 mph.

Badminton - 206mph

The record for a badminton shuttle during gameplay was set by Chinese player Fu Haifeng in 2005 with a recorded smash of 332 km/h (206 mph) during the Sudirman Cup competition.  He has hit it faster than that subsequently, but not "officially".   

In 2009, Yonex announced that using their new badminton racket, the ArcSaber Z-Slash, Malaysian player Tan Boon Heong hit the fastest badminton smash ever recorded – 421 km/h (262mph) in the Danish open. This beats Naoki Kawamae’s record of 414 km/h (257mph) from earlier in the same test.  Again, not officially recognised.

Source: http://www.badmintondoubles.com/badminton-news/badminton-doubles-player-new-world-record-badminton-smash421/

Golf - 204 mph

Canadian long drive champion Jason Zuback (on an episode of Sport Science) in July 2009 hit a golf ball with a recorded speed of 204 mph.

Jai-Alai (a variation of Pelota) - 188 mph

Fastest ball velocity :- 188mph Jose Aretito - Aug 3 1979

Rackets 180 mph

Not easy to verify, but at Queen's, "good players regularly play at 150+ mph and the ball can get up to 170-175 mph. Some would even suggest as much as 180 mph."

Source - http://www.minterdial.com/2008/10/fastest-rackets-sports-in-the-world-badminton-or-rackets/

Squash - 175 mph

Fastest recorded speed is 175mph (by world record holder Cameron Pilley) at the US Open in Oct 2011.

Tennis - 163 mph

Fastest serve ever recorded :- 163.3 mph by Bill Tilden in 1931

(but of questionable technical accuracy). More recently -

Ivo Karlovic - fastest serve 156mph in 2011 Davis Cup.

Andy Roddick - fastest serve 155mph in 2004 Davis Cup

Venus Williams - fastest serve 128.6mph in 2010 at the French Open.

Sources : as stated + Guinness Book of Records; Wikipedia; 

and The Physics Factbook (www.hypertextbook.com) a veritable treasure trove of fascinating facts.