resulting in more lift on the smoother side of the ball
Is this phenomenon about lift or drag?
My initial reply assumed that it was about differences in drag (i.e. forces in the direction of flight), regardless of whether the cause is separation or skin friction.
More recent replies and the cited articles suggest lift, i.e. forces perpendicular to the direction of flight caused by differential pressure, which seems like a distinct mechanism.
Of course it could be a combination of the two, but what evidence is there for one rather than the other? Can we get some order of magnitude numbers?