Heard on NFL Blackhawks vs. Redwings

[Seán Fitzpatrick]

The same distinction is recognized in fencing.  One's feints might
completely deceive an opponent, but some fencers so deceived are still quick
enough to parry or evade the actual final attack.  This ability is not
closely related to speed of hand or foot.

I would not call quickness a stationary phenomenon.  It is very much
dynamic, involving the second (and maybe also the third) derivative of
distance with respect to time, vs. speed, which is the first derivative.

I liken it to a comparison of the Soviet MiG-17 and US F-86 Sabre in Korea.
The MiG had better performance than the F-86--climb, acceleration, ceiling,
turn radius--but the F-86 had better what the pilots called cycle rate.  It
could make the transition from one attitude to another faster, e.g., left
bank to right bank.  Thus, though a MiG-17 could turn tighter than a
pursuing F-86, the Sabre could be initially inside the MiG's turn, the
superior position in the pre-missile days of dog fights with machine gun and
cannon.

Seán Fitzpatrick
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-----Original Message-----
From: Victor Steinbok [mailto:aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Thursday, December 24, 2009 12:55 AM
Subject: Re: Heard on NFL Blackhawks vs. Redwings

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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