1 the activity of flying in a hot-air balloonSynonyms and related words Parachuting and flying or falling for leisure:bail out, bale out, ballooning... Explore Thesaurus From o [..]

excessive climbing or lifting of a shot beyond its normal trajectory, usually into the wind and usually causing the shot to fall short of the intended distance

If the golfer mis-hit the golf ball and it went to high, but didn't fly far enough, golfers call that effect ballooning. One reason for that can for example be, that the ball was hit too far down, so the backspin is strengthened and the ball again loses distance. The wind can also be an reinforcing factor for ballooning.

(n) flying in a balloon

the process in which the wind catches silk threads the spiderlings have spun and floats the spiderlings away over a large territory