Okay, so, I’ve always been curious about just how fast a tennis serve can get. You see those pros on TV, and it’s like, “Boom!” The ball’s a blur. I thought, “Could I even get close to that?” Spoiler: not really, but it was fun trying!
I started by looking up who had the fastest serve ever. Turns out, it’s this guy Sam Groth. Man, 163.7 mph! That’s insane! I mean, that’s faster than some cars go on the highway. There was also this woman, Georgina Prez, who served at 220… something. I don’t quite remember the exact number, but it was super fast, too.
First, I grabbed my old tennis racket. It’s seen better days, honestly. Then I went to the local park where they have those tennis courts. It was a bit embarrassing ’cause there were some actual good players there, and I’m, well, not.
- Warming up: I did some stretches, you know, the usual. Arms, legs, the whole shebang. Didn’t want to pull a muscle trying to be a speed demon.
- Finding a partner: Okay, this was tough. I ended up asking this teenager who was just practicing against the wall. He was way better than me, but hey, he agreed to help.
- The attempts: I served, and served, and served. My arm started to feel like jelly after a while. The kid was nice about it, though. He kept retrieving the balls, even the ones that went way off course.
- The “speed gun”: Now, I didn’t have a real speed gun, like the pros use, so I had to improvise. I downloaded this app on my phone that claimed to measure the speed of things. Not sure how accurate it is, but it was something.
So, after like, a hundred serves (or it felt like it), the app gave me my top speed. I think the highest I got was around 70 mph. The reading fluctuated wildly, and most readings were below this. I think the app was messed up. To be fair, I don’t think any of them were very accurate. I doubt my phone could really keep up, to be honest.
Anyway, I was nowhere near 163.7 mph, but it was still a blast. I got some exercise, some fresh air, and a good laugh out of it. Plus, I can now say I tried to break the world record for the fastest tennis serve. Okay, maybe not “break” it, but I gave it my best shot. Or, my best serve, in this case. Ha!
Honestly, I have mad respect for those professional tennis players. They make it look so easy, but it’s seriously hard work. Maybe I’ll stick to just watching them on TV from now on.
