The optimal angle of Release in Shot Put

الأصل · EN

We determine the optimal angle of release in shot put. The simplest model - mostly used in textbooks - gives a value of 45∘, while measurements of top athletes cluster around 37 - 38∘. Including simply the height of the athlete the theory prediction goes down to about 42∘ for typical parameters of top athletes. Taking further the correlations of the initial velocity of the shot, the angle of release and the height of release into account we predict values around 37 - 38∘, which coincide perfectly with the measurements.