Which is faster? Tennis serve vs. Badminton smash
Let's settle the long-drawn debate once and for all over which is faster: the tennis serve or the badminton smash?
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Tennis serve vs Badminton smash (Images via Imago)
When it comes to racquet sports, none come closer to tennis and badminton in terms of popularity. Racquet sports require great speed and agility. To play well one needs to have good hand-eye coordination and so on. While vastly different from one another, tennis and badminton have quite a few aspects in common. And the most prominent of them is speed.
Both the games are high-paced and a treat to watch. Given their widespread popularity, both sports have been compared numerous times. From racquet speeds to ease of learning, fans have debated over several aspects of the game but the one which reigns supreme is speed.
Then again, it all boils down to the ability of the players to outfox their opponents with their speed and agility. Hence it has been speed that often turns out to be the deciding factor.
Tennis serve vs. badminton smash: What do the records say?
In badminton, it is the smash that does the trick while in tennis, it is the serve where speed can be measured in the sport. So, let’s find out, which is faster, tennis serve vs. badminton smash?
The fastest tennis serve belongs to Australia’s Samuel Groth at 263.4 km/h, according to the Guiness World Records. He is followed by American John Isner whose serve was recorded by the ATP at 253 km/h during the 2016 Davis Cup.
On the other, all the top ten among badminton smashes is beyond 400 km/h, with the shuttlecock being the fastest recorded object in sports. It was while testing new racket technology back in 2013 that Malaysia’s Tan Boon Hoeng set the world record with a 493 km/h smash.
Top 10 fastest serves Tennis vs. Badminton
| Top 10 fastest Tennis serves | Top 10 fastest Badminton smashes |
| Sam Groth – 263.4 km/h | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy – 500 km/h |
| Albano Olivetti – 257.5 km/h | Prannoy HS – 428 km/h |
| John Isner – 253.0 km/h | Lakshya Sen – 420 km/h |
| Ivo Karlovic – 251 km/h | Kunlavut Vitidsarn – 419 km/h |
| Jerzy Janowicz – 251 km/h | Anthony Sinisuka – 419 km/h |
| Milos Raonic – 249.9 km/h | Aaron Chia – 419 km/h |
| Andy Roddick – 249.4 km/h | Loh Kean Yew – 419 km/h |
| Chris Guccione – 248.0 km/h | Soh Wooi Yik – 419 km/h |
| Joachim Johansson – 244.6 km/h | Viktor Axelsen – 419 km/h |
| Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard – 244.6km/h | Lee Zii Jia – 419 km/h |
Numbers don’t lie and the latter is the clear winner of the tennis serve vs. badminton smash debate if numbers are taken into consideration.
According to Guinness World Records, the fastest smash in the sport used to belong to Mads Pieler Kolding at a whooping 426 km/h. Unfortunately, it too is not recognized by the BWF as the Danish achieved the feat during a Badminton Premier League match, which is not acknowledged by the global body.
However, India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy broke all records when he hit a smash of 500 km/h in the Men’s Doubles Quarterfinals during the 2023 Korea Open. This is by far, the fastest smash in the sport during open play recognized by BWF.
Barring the extremes, the shuttle beats the tennis ball on average too. In general, shuttlers produce a speed of around 200 m/h or 322 km/h with a modern racquet. On the other hand, the average of pace a tennis ball is around 190-200 km/h. Hence, the clear winner, in this case, is the rather tender-looking shuttlecock that beats the tennis ball by a fair margin in the game of speeds.
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Vinay Dave
(1737 Articles Published)