ILLEGAL PITCHES

The lane

No one comes close to UGA's Hamilton. She gains a huge advantage with release angle on her screwball. She gets further from the lane as game progresses. Tune in at 1 PM Thursday to see for yourself.

 

Knowing the people that will be at the WCWS, they will be told to watch for this and will call it a few times.

 

So at 60 mph = 88' per second which will average out to 8.8' per 10th of a second, the leaper is gaining not quite 1/4 of a 10th of a second advantage in distance, but what is she losing in velocity? I would venture to say she loses more than she gains, plus control is much better when the pivot foot stays grounded. If I thought my hitters were struggling over something that trivial, we need to take more batting practice.

 

I think we need to call in Mythbusters.....lol

 

Never saw it called in the Super Regionals, didn't watch every minute, but watched a good bit.

 

Sadly, you are correct. But as in past years, just like with Monica Abbott taking too long between pitches, it was never called in anything leading up to the WCWS, but was called on her 3 times in one game. Unfortunately the NCAA rules committee putsd rules in the book that they say they want enforced, but after it is called a couple of times in the WCWS and the coaches start raising a stink about it, then the umpires are told to overlook it. It is not right, but thats the way it is.

 

While we can debate the advantage of leaping vs dragging, there is a clear advantage in not having the pivot foot on the rubber prior to pitch start. If they lift their foot off and rock back then step forward onto the rubber they will gain forward motion advantage.

Regarding leaping... if it was not advantage then you might assume it was a disadvantage and if it was then why do many college pitchers continue to do it? Dragging a toe slows your forward motion and reduces your "reach".

 

REPLANTING

If you ask any college coach, they will say that the "Crow Hop", the replanting of the pivot foot in front of the pitching rubber, is the most advantageous of the illegal pitches.

 

Leap or not too leap

The attached picture was taken of my DD this past Sunday in Mannheim, Germany. It reflects the mechanics she used throughout her career. Clearly, she is airborne. However, there is no chance for replant with drive foot is pointed down. There is also a depression in front of the rubber so she's not exactly flying. So . . . . Point is she threw 600 innings in D1 including several tournaments on the west coast and this year's NCAA regionals and was never called. She did have a few umps remind her between innings to "stay grounded" but that was it. Does she (or any other leaper) gain advantage? Actually depends on the pitch. For her primary pitch, the fastball (which you can throw in college despite what the 'gurus' say) and and the change it helps. For most breaking pitches it can hurt, especially the drop. She works on cutting her stride on the drop. The bottom line is, though, the leap without replant is not anything to dwell on as long as all the other mechanics are sound.

Her body position is very different than some of the young 'flyers' pictured earlier in the thread. The first girl is almost certainly a crowhopper (note the bent back leg) and the second is a real vertical leaper who almost certainly gains no velocity advantage as her force lines are not toward the plate.

 

QUOTE=Dukedog4;2394404]The attached picture was taken of my DD this past Sunday in Mannheim, Germany. It reflects the mechanics she used throughout her career. Clearly, she is airborne. However, there is no chance for replant with drive foot is pointed down. There is also a depression in front of the rubber so she's not exactly flying. So . . . . Point is she threw 600 innings in D1 including several tournaments on the west coast and this year's NCAA regionals and was never called. She did have a few umps remind her between innings to "stay grounded" but that was it. Does she (or any other leaper) gain advantage? Actually depends on the pitch. For her primary pitch, the fastball (which you can throw in college despite what the 'gurus' say) and and the change it helps. For most breaking pitches it can hurt, especially the drop. She works on cutting her stride on the drop. The bottom line is, though, the leap without replant is not anything to dwell on as long as all the other mechanics are sound.

Her body position is very different than some of the young 'flyers' pictured earlier in the thread. The first girl is almost certainly a crowhopper (note the bent back leg) and the second is a real vertical leaper who almost certainly gains no velocity advantage as her force lines are not toward the plate.
[/QUOTE]

I agree "Dog", and with what I see there, it doesn't surprise me that she was never actually called, but yet a few would warn her. It is common practice at that level to take the field contour into consideration. But as you also stated, to say that these forms of illegal pitches gains no advantage, (as was stated by others), is incorrect. And I thank you for your response and comments to the contrary. If you were to poll all the officials that I personally work with and assign to games, they will tell you, I personally hate to have to call illegal pitches, but in some cases, they need to be called. But I put the blame for the girls not learning the proper mechanics on the early instructors that she had, then increase the blame when it gets to the high school and college levels. Just because no one in the past has had the nerve to call these pitches illegal, is a reflection on their lack knowledge and character and not on the umpires who do call it.