American Football was more or less derived from Rugby. At some point, the shape of the American football was made longer and pointier to make it easier to throw a forward pass, or "spiral".
This made me wonder... is the American football actually the ideal size and shape for maximum distance throws by a human arm? The Canadian football is slightly less pointy, and a bit fatter. An Australian Rules ball, less pointy, still. And finally... the Rugby ball. They are all some version of prolate spheroids. But, given that one can assume aerodynamic sciences were not as sophisticated at the time that the American football's dimensions were standardized... does anyone have any ideas on what shape ball can truly be thrown the farthest by a human?
I'm wondering if an even longer, more slender and pointier ball could be tossed a greater distance than the current football. Since pointy prolate spheroids can be thrown farther than spheres of the same material weight... I'm curious about what determines the tipping point, where more pointy and longer is no longer an advantage, and begins to become a disadvantage.
I'm talking only about distance thrown; and am ignoring all other practical aspects of the actual games that are played, as those relate to the ball's shape.
So, given identical material weights, could an inflated ball be designed that could be thrown a greater distance by a human, using an overhand throwing motion? ("overhand", to eliminate any floating discus type properties of the flight)
I'm envisioning a new game, where the players throw a long pointy sausage around

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