Heard on NFL Blackhawks vs. Redwings

[Victor Steinbok]

It's been mentioned already in the context of basketball, but generally,
it seems, "fast" refers to physical directional ability (running,
skating, etc. up and down the court) while "quick" refers more to
reaction time, such as quickly changing direction or providing a
defensive response to an offensive move. In a sense, "quick(ness)" is a
somewhat stationary concept while "fast"/"speed" are dynamic ones,
although both, obviously, involve motion. "Quick(ness)" has also been
used to describe mental acuity. But, consider, "He's quick to respond"
vs. "He responds fast" or "He has a fast response".

I believe, one person who has routinely used quick vs. fast in his
analysis was John Madden, so this kind of comment on athletic ability
has well over a decade of history (particularly in the N*F*L).

     VS-)

On 12/23/2009 11:34 PM, Alice Faber wrote:
> Michael Sheehan wrote:
>
>> "Not only is he fast, but he is quick."  [Mickey Redmond}
>>
>>
> Given the team names and the speaker cited, I assume you mean NHL, not
> NFL. And, in the context of hockey, that actually kind of makes sense.
> "Fast" would refer to skating speed, and "quick" refers to shooting
> speed. A player who is a fast skater may or may not have quick hands,
> and vice versa.
>
>

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