Drop a basketball from a short height and it will go straight down. But give it enough height and add a backspin, and watch it go far, far away.
Derek Muler from the Veritasium YouTube channel shows just this when he drops a basketball from 415 feet.
The video demonstrates the Magnus effect, since the descending, spinning basketball drags air around it as it drops, forming areas of lower pressure and higher pressure.
That’s what causes it to swerve sharply away.
