Fastest serve (or shot)
Rcurley
who it belongs to? In HEADS advertisement for their racquets, they imply
that Cliff Swain can serve at 180+. But in the November/December issue of
RACQUETBALL MAGAZINE, he is ranked 5th, at 153 mph, in the SPALDING Power
Serve contest. They have Sudsy Monchik as the top hitter at 164 mph. If
anybody knows of any faster shots, I would appreciate you letting me know.
Thanks,
Richard
Curley
Waynepro
News to me! The results must have come from a recent Spalding contest. Had
always heard Egan Inoue had hit in the 180's with Tim Doyle, Andy Roberts
and Cliff Swain being very close to that. Might want to check with Glenn
Carlson at the the USPRA web page. Glenn works for Spalding and probably
has recent info.
Keith Herman
I have heard rumors of Egan Inoue being clocked at 180 mph back in
the 1980's and a later speed of 190 in 1992. In an interview Egan said
that he had never seen the read-out on the gun that clocked him at 190
but he had seen the one that had him at 180. I also read a newspaper
article once that said Cliff Swain had been clocked in the 190's and
once heard a rumor that Scott Reiff was clocked at 200 mph at a pro stop
in Atlanta one year. I think it's a bunch of bull. The radar gun that
Spalding uses is the state of the art Stalker if I'm not mistaken. The
recent speeds that have been published of around 164 seem to be the most
reliable we have ever had since they use they best gun and they are
consistent. I think some of these other astronomically high speeds were
the result of inferior radar guns and/or publicity stunts. Anyone that
has seen all of the top pros play know that Sudsy, Ellis, and Sweeney
hit the ball harder than Egan ever could. I believe Sudsy has been
clocked at 164 and Ellis at 163. I saw Sweeney get clocked in the high
150's with another person's racquet at an SMSU tournament, and there is
no way that anyone could hit 30-40 mph faster than that.
Can you see my posting here?
>Does anybody know what the fastest official serve or shot (in mph) is, and
>who it belongs to? In HEADS advertisement for their racquets, they imply
>that Cliff Swain can serve at 180+. But in the November/December issue of
>RACQUETBALL MAGAZINE, he is ranked 5th, at 153 mph, in the SPALDING Power
>Serve contest. They have Sudsy Monchik as the top hitter at 164 mph. If
>anybody knows of any faster shots, I would appreciate you letting me know.
>
go with Sudsy's speed. Don't know if 180 mph is attainable.
You may call me...
The Joker
Can you see my .sig here? If not, please e-mail me and let me know! My e-mail
is tlr...@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Jpokncsu
I've heard Cliff's serve as being clocked at 193 unofficially I think. It
is important to note that the Spalding Power Serve contest is only during
IRT matches, not a contest for fun. I'd imagine a lot of the guys on the
tour take a little pace of the serve during a match. Pretty scary thought.
If anybody does know the highest, I'd be interested to know too.
Keith Herman
I was under the impression that the contest was not during only the matches.
I thought the players could go on the court by themselves and see
how hard they hit. I have seen some of the top pros go on the court
by themself to see how hard they could hit and the speeds were in the
low 160's. There is no way that anyone has ever legitimately been
clocked at 180 or above. Even if those speeds are during a match, there
is no way that they could hit another thirty miles per hour harder!!
On the tape of the 1995 Pro Nationals in Portland that you can buy
from the IRT, Andy Roberts crushes a serve that is clocked at 156 miles per hour.
On the last ESPN2 broadcast Swain hit a photon serve that registered
at only 136. I was wondering whether this was do to the fact that
it was moving at the gun at such an angle or if it displays the speed
of the ball after it has come off the front wall which must be much
slower. If anyone has ever been to a pro stop where they were using
the radar gun I would like to hear what you have to say. Anyone have
any information?
Keith Herman
Glen Carlson said that he would take his radar gun to the next pro stop
and clock the pros. So maybe we will finally get an answer to how hard
they can hit. I would be interested in knowing how hard they hit their
backhands also. It seems like Sudsy hits hit a lot harder than anyone
else. Wonder if anyone has seen his backhand get clocked?
Here is my opinion of who the hardest hitters (of all time) are:
(in order) I bet they all hit within 150-170 mph
1.John Ellis
2.Sudsy Monchik
3.Tim Sweeney
4.Shane Wood
5.Brian Fredenberg
6.Jeff Evans
7.Joel Bonnett
8.Tim Doyle
9.Scott Reiff
10.Andy Roberts
11.Bret Harnett
12.Cliff Swain
13.Egan Inoue
Does anyone disagree?
FPoletta
me that they are hitting it alot faster than i was, who knows how fast but
faster
just my 2cents worth
Doug Jones
<c59...@mizzou1.missouri.edu> wrote:
About 7-8 yrs ago they brought a radar gun down to our club where some
pros were putting on an exhibition. Egan Inoue was hitting about
170-175 mph but it was Jeff Conine who ended up hitting it the fastest
about 182. He's the same guy playing for the Marlins. Would've have
been a top pro if he had of kept playing.
murray patrick m
Has anyone ever seen Egan Inoue's brother play? I don't recall his name.
I've heard that he crushes the ball harder than his brother ever did.
I also remember reading in either Racquetball Magazine or Killshot within
the last year that there was a rumor going around that someone clocked
Sudsy's backhand during a match at 210 mph. I find this hard to believe,
but after watching him play at the pro stop in Chicago last October, I
can vouch that the little freak crushes it harder than most pros hit
their drive serves.
Dylan Savage
Mike Guidry, Andy Roberts, and especially a guy I know named Brian
Fredenberg hit way way way harder than me. I've seen Tim Doyle play,
and he hits just way way harder than them even. I'd bet he's around
180. Egan used to be around 190...this 165 top speed is crap, maybe
they're using weird radar or something.
Dylan
Spirit SB
been clocked seveal times at 172+ mph. I have seen him play several times
and he definately hits the ball with awesome power!
Markus Freund
: I was under the impression that the contest was not during only the matches.
: I thought the players could go on the court by themselves and see
: how hard they hit. I have seen some of the top pros go on the court
: by themself to see how hard they could hit and the speeds were in the
: low 160's. There is no way that anyone has ever legitimately been
: clocked at 180 or above. Even if those speeds are during a match, there
: is no way that they could hit another thirty miles per hour harder!!
: On the tape of the 1995 Pro Nationals in Portland that you can buy
: from the IRT, Andy Roberts crushes a serve that is clocked at 156 miles per hour.
: On the last ESPN2 broadcast Swain hit a photon serve that registered
: at only 136. I was wondering whether this was do to the fact that
: it was moving at the gun at such an angle or if it displays the speed
: of the ball after it has come off the front wall which must be much
: slower. If anyone has ever been to a pro stop where they were using
: the radar gun I would like to hear what you have to say. Anyone have
: any information?
I do know that the only way a radar gun gets a true speed of any object
is if it is traveling right at the radar gun. The next best thing is if
it is traveling parallel to the direction that the gun is facing. Any
angle between the gun and the ball will result in a lower speed rating,
but for very small angles it will only be by a bit. They call it parallax
error because its reading the speed*cos(Theta).
Frankly I'm always amazed that these radar guns are even reading anything
as small as a raquetball. Makes you wonder if there are any birds around when
you get pulled over that you can complain about in court (not r-ball court).
Mark Freund
BSFried
pressure sensor mounted on the front wall would give an accurate measure
of the ball's force. Knowing the mass makes calculating the speed easy. Of
course, that would mean the hitter would have to drive the ball hard AND
accurate ... not always so easy!
Anyone know if this has ever been done?
Bart
I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have
been only a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and
then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst
the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me. Sir Isaac
Newton
anandc...@gmail.com
Played Swain and felt like he was hitting twice as fast without really trying
nick...@gmail.com
> Does anybody know what the fastest official serve or shot (in mph) is, and
> who it belongs to? In HEADS advertisement for their racquets, they imply
> that Cliff Swain can serve at 180+. But in the November/December issue of
> RACQUETBALL MAGAZINE, he is ranked 5th, at 153 mph, in the SPALDING Power
> Serve contest. They have Sudsy Monchik as the top hitter at 164 mph. If
> anybody knows of any faster shots, I would appreciate you letting me know.
>
> Richard
> Curley
The fastest serve unofficially was 191mph by Egan Inoue. The fastest clocked serve was Brian Fredenberg at 186mph.