Imagine you’re playing a fun, summer game of badminton in your backyard.  Your sister smacks the birdie across the net directly at you and, whoosh!  You hit it back.  For a moment, it looks like it’s going to fly right into the neighbor’s yard, but then it slows and falls, barely crossing the net.

Did you know that the fastest projectile in sports is the birdie, or shuttlecock?  At starting speeds of 300 miles per hour, professional badminton players can smash a birdie faster than a football or baseball.  Seconds later, it’s falling to the ground.  This has to do with the unique design of the shuttlecock and the laws of physics.  Read more about badminton physics at our author’s site, The Mystery of Science.