Leaping

A few at 65 plus right off the top of my head

Morgan Montemayor UGA, Jackie Traina Alabama, Sara Pauly NPF league and Angela Tincher. Everyone has opinions about this. Without bringing names on two respected pitching coaches nationally don't like time spent in the air. I share that opinion. I also don't believe major draggers do themselves very good either. I think there is a balance.

 

100 percent

I agree!

 

We're probably not that far apart on this

I don't like a lot of time in the air and certainly not much height. 100% agree that trench digging draggers don't do themselves (nor field crews) and favors at all.

 

Kudos to her and you for persevering, controlling your emotions and taking care of the tasks at hand.


A lesson this young lady will take with her into adulthood, and she will be the better person for it.


I agree that umpires should enforce the rules and I take pride in knowing the rules and enforcing them.

It does bother me when I watch games that paid umpires are officiating and there lack of rules knowledge is clearly evident.
An umpire who receives payment for officiating should be professional enough to learn the rules of the game and enforce them accordingly.

Remember the home schools AD selects the booking agent for their school or their conference votes on the booking agent so its really in their hands.



(My thought on the picture in the original post: If the pitcher in the original post just pointed her toe to the ground it would either be touching and dragging or so close no one would have even questioned it. I am not saying it is right not to call that pitch illegal, but I am saying that she can have the same trajectory and still be legal if she just pointed her toes at the ground.)

 

Oh no, our little problem was completely hurting her. When she did it, it was combined w/ turning her foot sideways on the rubber and getting very little drive. While the "leap" was not the only factor in her problems it was the easiest sign to pick up. Correct the "leap" and it normally fixed everything else.
I've seen those guys pitching (thanks Wndmillr) on some tapes and yes they do leap and create amazing power and movement. If anyone gets a chance to see these guys pitch, do so.
In our case, i hoped they called her for leaping, she normally picked up a couple of mph quickly. Partially for the fixed mechanics and partially for being mad she got called on it
and just throwing in my two cents, the replant is what iritates me. We've seen most all the big names do it. Osterman, Abbott (awful about it), and so many others. Kinda hard to convince a young pitcher to not do it when virtually everyone gets away w/ it.

 

Replant

Abbott's problem was more a 'gym step' than replant. She slides her foot forward off the rubber then drives from that point. T Mowatt is another semi-famous pitcher who clearly replants.

 

Out, not up.....

IMO
It’s not the windup or even the delivery that causes the pitcher to leap but instead, it’s the direction of her motion. Instead of striding, releasing and following through forward, too many pitchers stride more up,which causes the release and follow through to finish up, which takes them away from the ground, and with it, the strike zone and target.

First area that needs correcting is to re-direct her power forward, instead of up. Her stride needs to go forward, just like when she throws overhand. Instead of the pitcher lifting her stride knee up which starts her entire direction to go upward, she needs to take her stride forward and out toward the catcher, the strike zone and the plate. Glide out instead of stride up.

Her release also needs to stay forward instead of starting to pull up as she releases.

The follow-through is not the focus of a pitch – the ball is – and since we want the ball to go out toward the target we need our release to go out.

It’s just like throwing overhand where our hand ends up way down by our legs in the follow through. Every top level baseball pitching coach will tell their students to "hold on to the ball as long as you can". This mind set helps preserve accuracy and velocity within the motion. Remember, a baseball pitcher gets the benefit of gravity, as they explode off the mound. This is the key component to power... The other thing any good baseball pitching coach emphasis's is "flat work". This teaches their students to focus on leg drive without the benefit of a mound.

Same is true for fastpitch. Forward is where everything that matters to the pitcher is: the catcher, the strike zone, home plate, the batter and the umpire, so forward is the main direction the pitcher needs to have during her motion.

Simple drill....
Put her on a baseball mound....The action will force her to go forward instead of up....Let her throw 5-6 pitches off the raised mound. She will naturally use the gravity that the mound provides to stride out, not up.

This will help her understand the explosion principal..., and the leg drive toward the target...have her then alternate baseball mound to fastpitch mound. This will help establish an explosive power-line.

 

Good post

Makes sense to me.

 

If leaping did not help a pitcher gain an advantage, it would not be illlegal. Things that help you gain an advantage are illegal. Leaping changes the angle of the pitch.

Men are allowed to leap as long as their foot is pointed down.

 

Something I would like to see

would be a good round table discussion with pitching coaches and see how many would agree with you.