Similarly, the wind (Lichtenberg and
Wills, 1978), spinning motion of the shot (de Mestre,
1990) and altitudinal variations in the acceleration
due to gravity (Lichtenberg and Wills, 1978), all have a
small in¯ uence on the trajectory of the shot. The shot,
therefore, may be treated as a projectile in free ¯ ight.
Since the ¯ ight distance is very close to the oýcial
distance, the release angle that maximizes the ¯ ight
distance is expected to be very close to the optimum
release angle that maximizes the oýcial distance. The
¯ ight distance of a shot in free ¯ ight is given by