Spinball Wizard

The Spinball Wizard is an obstacle, firstly introduced on American Ninja Warrior 9 as the ninth obstacle during San Antonio finals.

It consisted of five sets of handles, shaped like an inverted-V, each with a set of spherical-shaped objects to hold on. Except at the second set of handles, the other four sets handles could spin freely.

Competitors had to hold on to a set of handles and must swing four feet to another set of handles. Then, they must repeat this process, until they could make the last swing to the landing platform. Among the 6 competitors who attempted the obstacle, only Karsten Williams and Andrew Lowes failed to complete it.

American Ninja Warrior 10
On American Ninja Warrior 10, the Spinball Wizard appeared as the ninth obstacle during Philadelphia finals, and the obstacle remained unchanged from the previous season, except the fourth set of handles was made stable, meaning there were 2 sets of handles that stable (at the second and fourth sets of handles), while the other 3 sets of handles could spin freely (at the first, third, and fifth sets of handles).

During Philadelphia finals, the obstacle shared the exact number of clears and attempts as during San Antonio finals on the previous season, as among the 6 competitors who attempted the obstacle, 4 of them could complete it. Dave Cavanagh and Judas Licciardello were the only 2 competitors who failed on the obstacle.

American Ninja Warrior 11
On American Ninja Warrior 11, the Spinball Wizard appeared as the ninth obstacle during Cincinnati finals.

This time, the obstacle only eliminated Philip Scott and Tyler Smith out of nine competitors who attempted it.

Australian Ninja Warrior
On Australian Ninja Warrior 2, the Spinball Wizard appeared as the fourth obstacle in Semifinal 2 and Semifinal 4. However, compared to the one used on American Ninja Warrior, the obstacle featured:
 * A trampoline at the start,
 * Only two sets of handles were used, each with a set of spike-shaped objects to hold on, and
 * Each set of handle (along with its axis) could spin freely. Therefore, competitors must maintain their body control and momentum while making the transition between the sets of handles (in a similar fashion to the Double Twister).

Then, on Australian Ninja Warrior 3, the Spinball Wizard appeared as the fifth obstacle in Heat 1 and Heat 3. This time, the obstacle featured three sets of handles, with each of the first and third handles having a set of spike-shaped objects to hold on, and the second handle having a set of spherical-shaped objects to hold on (similar to the Spinball Wizard used on American Ninja Warrior).

This version of the Spinball Wizard was proven to be much more difficult and brutal, as only ten competitors completed the obstacle out of 32 competitors who attempted it across those two heats.

The same version of the Spinball Wizard from Australian Ninja Warrior 3 appeared again as the seventh obstacle in Semifinal 3 on Australian Ninja Warrior 5, with all three handles having a set of spike-shaped objects to hold on. The obstacle eliminated many competitors, including Josh O'Sullivan, Le Hua ,and Zed Colback. It was also served as the cut-off for advancing to the grand final.

Ninja Warrior Poland
In Ninja Warrior Poland 3, the Spinball Wizard appeared in the final as the seventh obstacle in the Stage Two. Immediately after completing the Cliffhanger, the participant had a half-minute rest before he could get onto the rope leading to the first ball-shaped handles. Then, jumping on the next handles, he had to grab the bar leading to the next obstacle. Only two participants attempted this obstacle: Ivan Kohut and Sebastian Kasprzyk. Ivan fell from the last handles to the bar, and Sebastian is the only one of all finalists to complete the obstacle. Spinball Wizard in this version consisted of three sets of handles.

Competitors' Success Rate

 * All results based on the NBC broadcast and external information found