Deliberate riseball (dimple) from a baseball pitch

[chuckspnz]

Is it possible to pitch a ball as a fastball (e.g. like in baseball) and have the ball rise to a near vertical and then fall back down to the ground. The ball would obviously have an altered design/features to cause it to lift/rise, but just wondering whether that sounds like something that could work. Apologies if this question makes no sense and completely defies the laws of physics, I am definitely not an expert rather a curious mind. I was recently at a beach throwing seashells into the water, and I noticed a few shells that I had tossed ended up flying to amazing heights when thrown at a horizontal. Wanted to know if the same could be done with something spherical.

Thanks

 

[DrClaude]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastball

Fastballs are usually thrown with backspin, so that the Magnus effect creates an upward force on the ball. This causes it to fall less rapidly than expected, and sometimes causes an optical illusion often called a rising fastball. Although it is impossible for a human to throw a baseball fast enough and with enough backspin for the ball to actually rise, to the batter the pitch seems to rise due to the unexpected lack of natural drop on the pitch.

 

[Redblue88]

Maybe not a baseball, but a whiffle ball, maybe? See 4:07 of this video.

 

[chuckspnz]

Makes sense, thanks everyone

 

[berkeman]

Back in high school, we had a new baseball coach come to our school when I was a freshman. He taught us how to pull the ball out of our glove holding 4 seams (takes practice, but becomes instinctive after a while), and how to throw the ball with strong backspin as infielders and outfielders. From the outfield, that makes the ball appear to rise for a bit, and then fall more slowly on the way to the target.

I understand now that it is a bit of an optical illusion that it rises at first, but for sure it makes the ball's path much flatter for throws across the infield or from the outfield to the infield.