In sports like ping pong and snooker we use the word spin (e.g. top spin).
What is the French equivalent of this word, which is also used frequently in sports like snooker and billiards?
French Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the French language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityDonner de l'effet (à la balle, la boule ou la bille) would probably be the most natural translation. To be more precise one can use “donner un effet de rotation”. The result would be une balle qui a de l'effet, beaucoup d'effet, etc.
Physicists could also use “donner du moment”, but this would not be understood by laymen.
The spin the ball has¹ is “l'effet (qu'elle a)”. “Giving it spin” is as Stéphane mentions “(lui) donner de l'effet”.
If you're saying the ball spins, you'll say “(elle) tourne”, from the verb “tourner”. For a wheel, the spin, as a noun, will be “un tour”.
¹ If that's correct English wording, which I slightly doubt.