Unlike a normal object, if you throw a basketball from a height, it does not follow it’s intended flight path. For quite a while, scientists and engineers have been wondering why this happens. Finally, we have the answer. Called the Magnus effect, a spinning basketball creates areas of low and high pressure around it which causes the basketball to sway away. Below is the demonstration of Magnus effect.
This Is What Happens When You Throw A Spinning Basketball Into A Dam
A Dam was a good choice to illustrate an effect that was used to to great effect in 1943 –
Look here –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnes_Wallis
and go to bomb design
Happy experiments (see what gave him the idea)
Terry