Backspin Makes a Ball Travel Farther

A baseball that spins backward as it moves through the air experiences the Magnus effect: an upward force that allows it to stay aloft longer. At 2,500 revolutions per minute, a ball with an initial speed of 103 miles per hour, launched at an angle of 27 degrees, will travel 403 feet - nearly 70 feet farther than a ball that isn't spinning.