How fast is that throw?
Ball speeds cluster far more tightly than you would expect: almost every sport tops out between 150 and 260 km/h.
92% of a professional fastball
140 km/h is faster than 2 of the 8 references on this page.
Reference figures are measurements and are rounded; the unit conversion behind them is exact.
| Reference | Size | Yours ÷ theirs | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| recreational throw | 60.1 km/h | 2.33× | 60 km/h |
| high-school fastball | 121 km/h | 1.16× | |
| professional fastball | 153 km/h | 0.915× | About 153 km/h |
| fastest cricket delivery | 161 km/h | 0.87× | Shoaib Akhtar, 161.3 km/h |
| fastest pitch recorded | 167 km/h | 0.838× | Aroldis Chapman, 169.1 km/h |
| fastest tennis serve | 263 km/h | 0.532× | Sam Groth, 263 km/h |
| fastest golf drive | 346 km/h | 0.405× | Ball speed off the clubface |
| badminton smash | 493 km/h | 0.284× | 493 km/h — the fastest of any sport |
Worth knowing
- The fastest object in any sport is a badminton shuttlecock, at 493 km/h off the racket — though it decelerates faster than anything else too.
- A 100 mph fastball reaches the plate in about 375 milliseconds, less than twice an average reaction time.
Frequently asked
How fast is a professional fastball?
Major League average is around 94 mph (151 km/h) and the record is 105.8 mph (170.3 km/h). Twenty years ago the average was 6 mph slower.
Why is a badminton smash so much faster than a tennis serve?
The shuttlecock weighs 5 grams against a tennis ball’s 58, so the same racket energy accelerates it far harder. It also slows down far faster.