Fastest racket sport: speed records revealed

565 km/h for a shuttlecock, 263 km/h for a serve, 116 km/h in ping-pong: the speed records of five racket sports, and why the fastest isn't the one you'd expect.

We often think of tennis and its supersonic serves. Yet, the absolute speed record belongs to a 5-gram object made of feathers: the badminton shuttlecock. And when considering the reaction time left for players, another sport takes the lead. Here’s an overview of the records and what they truly mean.

Records in Each Sport

Badminton: Up to 565 km/h

Absolute record: 565 km/h, by Indian player Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, on April 14, 2023. The measurement was taken during a test at a Yonex gymnasium in Japan, using a 40,000-frames-per-second camera, and certified by Guinness World Records.
Women’s record: 438 km/h, by Malaysian Tan Pearly, on the same day.
In competition: 426 km/h, by Dane Mads Pieler Kolding, on January 10, 2017, during a Premier Badminton League match in India.

Squash: Around 270 km/h

Guinness record: 267 km/h, by American David Hilton III, on June 11, 2021, in Philadelphia.
Women’s record: 217 km/h, by American Amanda Sobhy, on the same day.
Australian Cameron Pilley was measured at approximately 281 km/h (175 mph) by radar in 2011 during the US Open squash tournament, but this measurement was not certified by Guinness.

Tennis: 263 km/h, But Not Officially Recognized

Absolute record: 263.4 km/h, by Australian Sam Groth in 2012 during a Challenger tournament in Busan. The ATP does not recognize it because the radars at Challenger tournaments are not calibrated with the same rigor.
ATP-recognized record: 253 km/h, by American John Isner in the Davis Cup in 2016.
Women’s record: 220 km/h by Spaniard Georgina García Pérez in 2018, not recognized by the WTA, which acknowledges 210.8 km/h by German Sabine Lisicki at Stanford in 2014.

Measurements remain fragile: during the 2026 US Open semifinals, an American Ben Shelton serve was initially displayed at 158 mph (254 km/h) in the stadium before being corrected to 144 mph (232 km/h) by the Hawk-Eye system.

Padel: No Official Record

No record is officially certified in padel. A 2019 scientific study measured the smash speed of semi-professional players using radar: 133 km/h on average without an opponent and 121 km/h against opponents. For amateurs, the speed dropped from 125 to 105 km/h. Padel relies less on power and more on positioning and the use of the glass walls.

Table Tennis: 116 km/h

Guinness record: 116 km/h, by Pole Łukasz Budner, on June 4, 2016, in Częstochowa.
German Dimitrij Ovtcharov, an Olympic medalist, was measured at 122 km/h during a filmed test, without official certification.

Bonus: Golf, at 378 km/h

Golf is not a racket sport, but its ball ranks among the fastest in sports:

Guinness record: 378 km/h, by Australian Thomas Fliniks, a long-drive specialist, on February 13, 2026. He broke the record of American Ryan Winther, 349 km/h, which had stood since 2013.
American Kyle Berkshire, a two-time world long-drive champion, claimed 389 km/h (241.7 mph) in 2023 during a non-certified test session.
On the American professional circuit (PGA Tour), ball speed on drives typically ranges from 280 to 305 km/h.

With its record, golf ranks second, behind badminton but ahead of squash and tennis. Of course, no one stands in the ball’s path: in golf, speed is for distance, not to outpace an opponent.

The Shuttlecock Paradox

If the shuttlecock holds all the records, it’s precisely because it’s very light: about 5 grams. It thus reaches incredible speeds. However, its feathers slow it down significantly: according to a 2026 study, its speed is halved every 3.35 meters or so.

In practice, a smash traveling at 400 km/h slows to 100 km/h after 6.7 meters and to about 50 km/h after 10 meters. This deceleration keeps the shuttlecock within the court’s limits and gives the opposing player a chance.

A tennis ball, heavier and more compact, loses much less speed in the air.

Which Sport Leaves the Least Reaction Time?

Speed isn’t everything: the distance to cover must also be considered.

Badminton: During the 426 km/h record smash in 2017, the shuttlecock took about 0.28 seconds to reach the opponent.
Tennis: A 233 km/h serve takes roughly the same time, 0.28 seconds, to travel the 18 meters to the opponent’s service line, not accounting for air resistance.
Table tennis: At 100 km/h, the ball crosses the 2.74-meter table in less than a tenth of a second.

The human reaction time to a visual signal is about 0.2 seconds. In table tennis, and to a lesser extent in badminton and squash, players don’t truly react to the ball: they anticipate, by reading the opponent’s position, preparation, and racket orientation.

The fastest sport isn’t necessarily the one with the speed record: ping-pong, with the slowest ball, leaves the least reaction time.

For You?

No need to aim for 400 km/h to improve: in all racket sports, reading the game and positioning matter more than power. To train in good conditions, find a place to play, a coach, or partners at your level from your profile.

Sources

Cover photo: Saif71.com on Unsplash

Badminton, Tennis, Squash, Padel, Ping-Pong: Which Racket Sport Is the Fastest?