Abstract
Discus throwers develop and adjust their skills depending on the discus that is being used. The optimal skill is applicable to the discuses used in their training and those used in competitions. However, their performance could be maximized if their skill and their equipment were optimized simultaneously. Here, the objective function for optimization is the flight distance. Longer flight distance is better. Fourteen design variables are considered. Eight of the fourteen are concerned with the skill of the thrower. They determine the launch conditions, which are controlled by the thrower when he or she throws. The other six variables are concerned with the design of the equipment. The optimization is carried out with the aid of a genetic algorithm. It was found that the flight distance obtained by concurrent optimization of both skill and equipment is 79.1 meters, while the skill-optimized flight distance is 76.9 meters.
