This is a rubber ball with one hemisphere made of layered rings. These rubber rings keep their diameter but can move along a axis from the centre of the ball out past the hemisphere's surface. The smallest and last ring is a disc and stays stationary.
The rings move to different distances to form
a cone. The largest, centre ring moving the most. The the rings are spaced so air can flow and deflect between them. Having extended rings is the ball in shuttlecock mode, producing drag and dropping the ball out of ball trajectory.
C)) to C-:)
The mechanism is the of the popup (spring and suction cup). Squeezing the rings into the ball, loads the springs and primes the suction release. For all intensive purposes it is a ball.
The rubber ball can played with until, pop, the shuttlecock mode takes over and the drop shot is inevitable. The shuttlecock mode will now also bounce at less discernible angles for more surprising play.
Dropball, lowering reaction times and widening path prediction logic.