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Harder to hit: a pitched baseball or a tennis serve?

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gamecockcat

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Obviously, more surface area to hit with a tennis racquet. However, the best serves are faster than the best fastballs (some reaching >125 mph). Tennis players have more time as the court is 78' long (although the server always hits the ball inside the baseline, the returner is almost always several feet behind the baseline when they return the serve). Tennis players have to move both feet to get into position on almost every serve while baseball players don't. Both have an enormous amount of spin. The 'strike zone' for a tennis serve is much, much larger so the serve has more room to curve due to spin and still be a good serve. The best servers have perfected the ability to spin their serve both directions as well as hit a flat serve. No pitcher has both a curveball and a screwball so a baseball hitter knows a pitch, if it's going to break, is only going to break in one direction. Weather conditions would affect a tennis serve more as it's a lighter ball and it travels a greater distance.

Not sure which one I'd pick as harder, I just know I have no prayer of ever being able to hit either one.
 
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RunninRichie

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Backer cutter

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The real question is June Apples or New potatoes off a badminton rack. At least it was 50 years ago.
 
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Glenn's Take

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I would bet my life that the percentage of times people swing and miss in MLB is at the very least twice the percentage of aces in a professional tennis match.
 
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Bigblue2023

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Glenn's take said:
I would bet my life that the percentage of times people swing and miss in MLB is at the very least twice the percentage of aces in a professional tennis match.
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Not an apples to apples comparison though as most aces are simply out of reach, while a baseball is always within reach for the most part. Makes baseball that much more difficult.

Also is the OP simply saying hit the ball? Or hit back in play? Hitting 120+ mph serve is actually not difficult at all. Getting it back on the court may be a different story.
 
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It'saDoneDeal

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Bigblue2023 said:
Also is the OP simply saying hit the ball? Or hit back in play? Hitting 120+ mph serve is actually not difficult at all. Getting it back on the court may be a different story.
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That was the first thing I thought of. Sure, I feel like I could make contact if it was hit near me, but actually being able to successfully return a 120+ mph serve? Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
 
A

American Dragon

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Bigblue2023 said:
Not an apples to apples comparison though as most aces are simply out of reach, while a baseball is always within reach for the most part. Makes baseball that much more difficult.

Also is the OP simply saying hit the ball? Or hit back in play? Hitting 120+ mph serve is actually not difficult at all. Getting it back on the court may be a different story.
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I tried "playing" with the tennis coach at a school I worked at. Now mind you, when I say play, we were simply hitting the ball back and forth casually because he is well aware I have zero tennis skill. Keeping that ball in play was one of the hardest things I've ever done in sports. Your margin for error is remarkably slim or that ball is being sprayed everywhere you can imagine except in fair play.

After barely swinging the racket and having the ball go over the fence several times, I simply quit trying to swing and just held the racket stationary and let the ball contact it, only way I could keep it in play.

That damn racquet is basically a trampoline for the ball.
 
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WonderBraa

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I’m not even stepping into the box against a 100 mph pitcher. So by default, a baseball is harder to hit.
 
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American Dragon

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Also, you have to take into account the surface area in which you can fairly hit a tennis ball into is extremely smaller, and that limited space is even more limited by the fact you have to hit it over the net.
 
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Bigblue2023

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Nbacats said:
I tried "playing" with the tennis coach at a school I worked at. Now mind you, when I say play, we were simply hitting the ball back and forth casually because he is well aware I have zero tennis skill. Keeping that ball in play was one of the hardest things I've ever done in sports. Your margin for error is remarkably slim or that ball is being sprayed everywhere you can imagine except in fair play.

After barely swinging the racket and having the ball go over the fence several times, I simply quit trying to swing and just held the racket stationary and let the ball contact it, only way I could keep it in play.

That damn racquet is basically a trampoline for the ball.
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I’ve played most of my life and coached quite a bit before Father Time hit. Also played 10 years of baseball through high school. Tennis from a technical standpoint is one of the most difficult things to learn and FAR more difficult than baseball in that respect.

As far as hitting a serve vs a pitch, assuming you know what you’re doing in both circumstances, it’s significantly harder to hit a pitch. Not even close.
 
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cole854

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An ace is usually a serve that the returner doesn't even have a chance to hit. There are rarely swings and misses.

Using the OP quote...."harder to hit" .....then it would be baseball and it really isn't close.
 
G

gamecockcat

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vhcat70 said:
Is that right? Never heard or thought about this before. Not many have a screwball, but how does that stop them from having a curveball?
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The arm motion for a screwball is totally opposite from a curveball so I'm not sure I've ever heard of a pitcher having both. Screwball is very rare by itself. Now, as another poster stated, certainly a two seamer, slider, sinker all have different spins and make the baseball move a different direction, even in rare cases, the opposite of a curve.

My OP was more of returning a serve in play vs. hitting a baseball in play. Yes, getting a racquet on a 125 mph serve is most likely easier but hitting it over the net, inside the court boundaries is much, much more difficult. Same for baseball - hitting a fair ball against a 95+ mph pitch a lot different than getting a foul tip.

As for those who say 'baseball and it's not even close', I'm guessing none of you have ever tried to return the serve of a really good tennis player. Because, I have and it's a daunting task to say the least. A big serve just explodes off the racquet and, in most cases, you need to move both feet into position in order to get a swing at it. A lot of moving parts within a fraction of a second not to mention a totally different swing if it's on the forehand or backhand side. Neither is easy and I wouldn't argue for or against either one being more difficult. But, 'not even close' is showing a lack of knowledge of how hard a tennis serve can be to return, imo.
 
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vhcat70

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I think tennis players hit a higher percentage of serves they swing at than baseball players hit pitches they swing at.
 
T

Tskware

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They are totally different sports and not easy to compare really. I guess it is really hard to miss a golf ball off a tee, but the pros play an entirely different game than even your good country club golfer.

Seems like George Plimpton wrote a book or an article about playing Pancho Gonzales (a top pro at the time) in tennis one time, and IIRC, he won the first point . . . and damn near zero points the rest of the "match". 😄

But, at the same time, I have sat right behind home plate at GABP, and when a top MLB pitcher is on their game, it is unreal not only how hard they throw but also how much the ball moves on breaking balls, I couldn't get a loud foul off of them if my life depended on it.
 
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Backer cutter

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Tskware said:
They are totally different sports and not easy to compare really. I guess it is really hard to miss a golf ball off a tee, but the pros play an entirely different game than even your good country club golfer.

Seems like George Plimpton wrote a book or an article about playing Pancho Gonzales (a top pro at the time) in tennis one time, and IIRC, he won the first point . . . and damn near zero points the rest of the "match". 😄

But, at the same time, I have sat right behind home plate at GABP, and when a top MLB pitcher is on their game, it is unreal not only how hard they throw but also how much the ball moves on breaking balls, I couldn't get a loud foul off of them if my life depended on it.
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Not really that uncommon for beginner-amateur, to completely miss a golf ball off the tee either. Just goes to show how hard it is to be a professional in any sport. As the old commercial used to say, these guys are good.
 
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Tinker Dan

Tinker Dan

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Years ago I read an article in one of the “popular” type magazines, mechanics, science, etc. I cannot remember the specifics.

However, they did the science “stuff” and claimed hitting a pitch in MLB was the most difficult task in any sport.

For myself, walking and chewing gum is hard enough.
 
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Backer cutter

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augustaky1 said:
Years ago I read an article in one of the “popular” type magazines, mechanics, science, etc. I cannot remember the specifics.

However, they did the science “stuff” and claimed hitting a pitch in MLB was the most difficult task in any sport.

For myself, walking and chewing gum is hard enough.
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You can do that 😧
 
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American Dragon

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DSmith21 said:
If you bat .300 in baseball, you are a pretty good hitter. If you can only return 30% of serves in bounds, you are not much of a tennis player. So hitting a baseball is harder.
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Batting average has three things going for it, hitting it in play or not (or at least in catchable foul range), rather a fielder catches it or not, rather you get thrown/tagged out or not. You have three hurdles you have to cross.

Meanwhile in tennis the concept of hitting is based on nothing more than putting the ball in bounds or not.

Merely putting a ball in play in tennis would be the equivalent of making contact with a pitch in baseball.

A tennis equivalent to batting average would be the # of hits that land in play and either aren't returned by the opponent or are not returned in bounds by the opponent.

So if we're going to really compare the two, you'd have to measure batting average against the percentage of returns that result in a point. I don't even know if that stat exists in tennis.
 
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Tinker Dan

Tinker Dan

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I am going to add a sport that will probably garner some eye rolls.

Table Tennis. If you have ever played a true player, you will know what I mean.

I was a great "barracks player."

However, I had an eye-opening experience when I got my a$$ handed to me by someone who knew who to play the game. Lol.

I am not suggesting it is in the difficulty of the OP, just an observation.
 
P

PhDcat2018

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augustaky1 said:
Years ago I read an article in one of the “popular” type magazines, mechanics, science, etc. I cannot remember the specifics.

However, they did the science “stuff” and claimed hitting a pitch in MLB was the most difficult task in any sport.

For myself, walking and chewing gum is hard enough.
Click to expand...
Yep. The hand eye coordination required is insane.
 
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PhDcat2018

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augustaky1 said:
The speed of decision making was a big factor if I remember correctly.
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In Cooperstown they have a pitching machine and a screen of a pitcher. It's behind glass so you can "step in the batter's box" and see how much time you have to decide, "should I swing? If yes, where?" It's absurd. Yet Ted Williams, before his frozen head got jacked up by a pipe wrench, said he could see the seams on the baseball. Un-freaking-believable
 
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Tinker Dan

Tinker Dan

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PhDcat2018 said:
In Cooperstown they have a pitching machine and a screen of a pitcher. It's behind glass so you can "step in the batter's box" and see how much time you have to decide, "should I swing? If yes, where?" It's absurd. Yet Ted Williams, before his frozen head got jacked up by a pipe wrench, said he could see the seams on the baseball. Un-freaking-believable
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Wow. Amazing.
 
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CatsFanGG24

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PhDcat2018 said:
In Cooperstown they have a pitching machine and a screen of a pitcher. It's behind glass so you can "step in the batter's box" and see how much time you have to decide, "should I swing? If yes, where?" It's absurd. Yet Ted Williams, before his frozen head got jacked up by a pipe wrench, said he could see the seams on the baseball. Un-freaking-believable
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You’re swinging at everything, until you’re not. Basically deciding not to swing, not deciding to swing.

Mindset is - hit hit hit hit, take.

start the load when the pitchers doing the same.

I think it’d be impossible to truly have an open mindset on swing/take until the pitch leaves the pitchers hand. Impossible
 
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