Spin & Swerve

The Magnus effect

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• A spinning ball deflects the air flow and is pushed the opposite way: the Magnus effect.
• Topspin dips, backspin lifts, sidespin curves.
• Dimples cut a golf ball’s drag, roughly doubling its range.

Steps

1. The Magnus effect
2. Golf balls
3. Bending a free kick
4. Topspin in tennis
5. A bending kick
6. How much bend?