specifics in Spear fighting combat

[PMBardunias]

On the one hand,one would say that the shorter the part behind the grip, the better to avoid injuries of the rear ranks. On the other hand,the spear may had been held in a slight angle. And in this case it's even safer to have a long shaft,bringing the sauroter well over the rear rank's heads. Any opinions?

If you wanted to make the fastest stabbing, most handy spear you could design, it would have a weight just behind the grip like a pommel equal to the weight of the spear sticking out in front of your hand. The reason is that there is no need to sweep a long length of wood through the air resistance behind you. This design is impractical due to the fact that the rear portion of the spear gains in counterbalance from a lever effect with added length. Both ends of the spear can be thought of as levers meeting at your fist.

So the balance point is probably a compromise to give you the maximum reach for any given total weight of spear. This could be tested.