Smallville’s take on Superman was actually better at being a speedster than the Scarlet Speedster himself, The Flash’s Barry Allen. The Man of Steel is known for being “faster than a speeding bullet,” but his speed is typically inferior to the Flash’s in the comics and the cartoons. For Superman, it’s just one of his many powers, but for Barry, it’s his greatest asset.
Super speed was one of the two abilities Clark (Tom Welling) had when his journey began in Smallville season 1. During his high school years, Clark often protected his friends from villains who obtained superpowers from the meteor shower. To defeat his meteor-infected enemies, Clark had to rely on his speed and strength, since he never had access to flight on the show. Being able to move faster than humans could see was quite advantageous to him, as there was only one character on the show whose speed exceeded his own: Bart Allen (Kyle Gallner). Allen served as Smallville’s version of the Flash.
Clark couldn’t keep up with Bart, and he may not have been as fast as Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen either, but based on what he was able to do in Smallville, Clark had a better understanding of how to use his super speed than the Arrowverse’s Flash. Granted, there were times when Clark was caught off guard when he shouldn’t have been, but there were numerous moments on the show where his speed resulted in quick and easy resolutions to his problems.
Clark encounters dozens of meteor-infected adversaries during Smallville’s run, but only had to fight some of them. Since Clark was so fast, he was able to incapacitate a villain before they even knew what was happening. If Lana (Kristin Kreuk) or Chloe (Allison Mack) was being threatened by someone, Clark would speed in, dispatch them, and leave the scene right away. A couple of examples of this were his encounters with Graham Garrett in season 5 and Curtis Knox in season 7. After using super-speed to knock them out, he left before those present knew he was there. There were plenty of instances when Clark would open – if not immediately end – a fight with his speed.
This approach is much more effective than the one employed by Barry Allen in The Flash. Though he has what is arguably the greatest power in the Arrowverse, he tends to require the assistance of a team, and on most occasions has to formulate a strategy to beat the metahumans who attack Central City. Being a character who’s so much faster than everyone else, it shouldn’t be that difficult for him to get the drop on his enemies before they can use their powers on him. Unfortunately, Barry has been beaten by several super-powered criminals who he could have subdued, if only he had struck first (as opposed to beginning the battle with a conversation). Of course, these challenges Barry faces in the show may feel necessary to some degree for the sake of the story, but hopefully, this is a problem that’ll be fixed at some point down the line.