In the top ATP tours in tennis, we can see the radar display of first serves exceeding 200km/h, even for some of the female players.
I'm curious to know what the ball speed would be for the hardest padel shots in premier padel, for example Coello's bajada or Augsburger's kick smash. Surely the speeds would be lower than tennis, because of softer balls and the lack of strings in rackets, but how much?
Trying to do some research, I only found something generic like "The earliest available scientific studies indicate that the average smash speed among amateur and semi-professional players, it lies between 105 and 135 km/h, depending on the level and context of the game". Other study showed max speed of 120km/h, but only for junior players (ages 12-16). Does anyone have any sources or first-hand experience regarding this? Thanks!
150 kph is about where it tops out:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Qi9B2mpvQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Qi9B2mpvQ)
https://preview.redd.it/9hy2cf5s30mg1.png?width=2402&format=png&auto=webp&s=c571cec08df739ea6dd4b459de39e2bcb710f4d9
And significantly less leaver because racket is smaller.
Also look at this video, you see a pro player clocking at 167, but its not a padel shot, balls comes back straight with no height as hitting that fast requires no spin. While a lot of the energy of pro smashes goes into angular velocity of ball not just speed. An any movement you put into rotation is speed you lose. Even if ball has the same energy
https://youtu.be/JG0zkaE-nWc?si=csCb_GwLAA5_8xAI
Yeah, I was thinking most of the smashes are slower because of top spin. That's why I wanted to include bajada as well which I think is hit more flat even at the top level (excluding Paquito's cuchilla lol).
Also what about flat smashes which are hit closer to the net?
It wouldn't surprise me if Leal, Augsburger or Coello has smashed close to 200 km/h. Tennis serve record is over 250 km/h, so 200 seems about right for padel.
I highly doubt this - tennis racquets generate so much more speed from strings and the length of the racquet plus tennis balls travel faster than padel balls due to their density/pressure.
It unlikely they are regularly hitting over or near 200km/h for most shots that probably closer to the max speed on very few shots
I also am just wildly guessing here so could be completely wrong.
I calculated once and peak speed of deep kick smashes is about max 135kmph. Faster smashes will probably be close to 170, but much faster than that seems impossible to me
