--- title: Explore the Surprising Science Behind the Football Spiral description: How does a football spiral? Gravity is the trick. canonical: https://time.com/4060258/football-spiral-science/ author: Ainissa Ramirez article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-03T17:18:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:32:13.043Z article:section: Science og:title: Learn the Surprising Science Behind the Football Spiral og:description: A throw from a righty isn't quite the same as one from a lefty og:url: https://time.com/4060258/football-spiral-science/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte36e8c2d7ff5d37f/698866cbcd1bbaeca36fd7e3/gettyimages-88852701.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5150 og:image:height: 2897 og:image:alt: GettyImages-88852701 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Learn the Surprising Science Behind the Football Spiral twitter:description: A throw from a righty isn't quite the same as one from a lefty twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte36e8c2d7ff5d37f/698866cbcd1bbaeca36fd7e3/gettyimages-88852701.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Learn the Surprising Science Behind the Football Spiral > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=f97cdbd3-9c61-4371-a4ee-8f7ac33acd1f&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Science Behind the Football Spiral [Watch (HLS stream): The Science Behind the Football Spiral](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lRSBxpiQ.m3u8) (1:04)  _Published 2015-10-02_ by [Ainissa Ramirez](https://time.com/author/ainissa-ramirez/) and [Salima Koroma](https://time.com/author/salima-koroma/) Oct 3, 2015 5:18 PM UTC by [Ainissa Ramirez](https://time.com/author/ainissa-ramirez/) and [Salima Koroma](https://time.com/author/salima-koroma/) Oct 3, 2015 5:18 PM UTC Football season is finally upon us, and with that, team pride, tailgating, and the perfect spiral. But how exactly does that spiral work? A good spiral throw makes 600 turns per minute—just as fast as a cd in a cd player. As the ball spins across the field, gravity pulls the nose of the ball downwards, and the direction the football changes slightly depending on which hand you use to throw it. Watch materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez explain the physics behind the perfect touchdown pass. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] When a quarterback throws a football, the football spins. it spins 600 times per minute. That's as fast as a CD in a CD player. When a football's thrown by a right- handed or left- handed quarterback, it actually looks different. This is what scientists would call gyroscopic torque. You see, there's this toy called the gyroscope. If you push on it while it's spinning, the gyroscope will move on its own. Well, this same thing happens to footballs. Footballs spin and as it's traveling, gravity brings its nose down so the football will move on its own in another direction. And so it ends up that a football will travel slightly to the right if a right- handed quarterback throws it, and it goes slightly to a left if a left- handed quarterback throws it. [ MUSIC ] You can think of a football sort of like a puppy that's unable to walk forwards. Now, why's this important? Well, a football travelling this way will be off it's target by a few yards, and this can make all the difference between a touch down or not. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4060258/football-spiral-science/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4060258/football-spiral-science/"},"headline":"Learn the Surprising Science Behind the Football Spiral","datePublished":"2015-10-03T17:18:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:32:13.043Z","description":"How does a football spiral? 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