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[ta0]

Baseball players have been using sticky stuff to improve the grip of baseballs and increase their spin. Sports Illustrated calls it the biggest scandal in sports.



The Dodgers' Trevor Bauer has been at the center of the spin rate storm: the spin on his fastball increased from an average of 2,358 rpm in 2019 to 2,835 this season. But the spin rate of the balls from every club have also increased.

If instead of throwing balls they threw tops, they would have enough spin for top tricks. 

The fact that I found this article today is a big coincidence, because I'm working on a furigoma trick and I have been trying the same sticky trick to make it work. I don't think it's a cheat, as I'm guessing it's in the realm of things a kyokugoma performer would use, but perhaps it's debatable. 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Does this have anything to do with sticky wickets?

Found an article quantifying the Magnus effect on a spinning siccer ball. At any point in the trajectory, the deflecting Magnus force was said to be proportional to the ball's spin rate. So if baseballs behave the same way, cheating to increase spin rate at launch would definitely increase total deflection at the plate.

I say, do what you need to do to make your furigoma trick work. You may have to fess up in a future contest. But till then, sticky away!