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This model explores the physics of a mass constrained to move along a spherical surface. Physically, it can be conisderd a ball at the end of a fixed length string, although the model is simpler in that there is no accounting for the string going slack, so that strictly speaking the physical model is a mass at the end of a fixed length, massles rod.

The motivation for the development of this model was to explopre the physics of a softball (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softball , e.g.) attached to a string operated in an approximation of an ideal conical pendulum at human scales.

The overall physics is determined by the mass of the ball, the length of the string, the diameter of the ball (used in calculating drag forces) and the drag coefficient. The "launch" conditions is initially determined by the nominal initial altitude angle (which is then used to determine the nominal azimuthal velocity for conical pendulum motion). The actual initial angle can be tweaked by changing the actual launch angle (ball is "too high" or "too low" for the conical pendulum) and/or by adjusting the azimuthal angular velocity (on a pertcentage basis, making that part of the motion "too slow" or "too fast" for the nominal conical pendulum motion).