As it turns out, pretty darn fast!
“REMEMBER THE 5 D’S OF DODGEBALL: DODGE, DUCK, DIP, DIVE AND DODGE.”
– Patches O’Houlihan
One of the best parts about playing rec league dodgeball is also one of the worst parts: if you don’t pay attention you’ll probably get hit in the face. Or worse, the groin.
It’s all supposed to be fun, of course. But there are some people out on that court who can really whip a ball. And it doesn’t really hurt to get hit, unless you are oblivious to the foamy sphere hurtling towards you.
Like that time Ominocity founder Ryan Smith got canned in the nards. That was pretty funny. And it was even more funny when he got a cheque from an internet company who wanted to buy the rights to his story and make it into a movie… err… well, a fail vid.
So how fast can you throw a dodgeball anyway? As it turns out, pretty darn fast.
During a recent practice match before our regular season started, we decided to find out exactly what speed a dodgeball can get up to. We rented a radar speed cannon and put our fastest guns to the test.
On average, most of the team was throwing around 80 km/h. The fastest ball we got on record was 99 km/h.
Whoa.
So remember when Ryan got beaned in the nuts with a dodgeball? How fast was the ball travelling when he got hit? And will he ever be able to father children? At least one of those questions would be answered on the court.
We recreated the scene, right down to getting Jaime, the same thrower, to whip a ball as hard as he could at Ryan’s much-maligned mid-section.
We clocked the ball at 88 km/h. See for yourself below.