Spinning Ball Flight Under Moderate Wind

In this section of Resonance, we invite readers to pose questions likely to be raised in a classroom situation. We may suggest strategies for dealing with them, or invite responses, or both. Classroom is equally a forum for raising broader issues and sharing personal experiences and viewpoints on matters related to teaching and learning science. Predicting the flight of spinning balls is an exciting aspect while playing cricket, tennis, table tennis or soccer. These games demand a wide range of skills to exploit the aerodynamic effects induced by spin, wind and gravity. The theory underlying these aerodynamic effects unveils bizarre opportunities for budding cricket, tennis and soccer stars!