Illegal Pitches.....

That's right.... they moved it from 43 feet to 46, and were told to let it fly.....

I agree, the the rule is very subjective, based on the umps understanding of the rule, but the rule is written, so it needs to be called as written.

 

I have seen this Kid throw from a very early age she was taught by one of the best pitching coaches around there is NOTHING and I mean NOTHING illegal about this kid .

 

I would have protested the game, as that is a miss application of the rule, and not written anywhere. If that is the case, every kid I teach is illegal...

The easiest way to become a "crow hopper or re-planter" would be to pivot on the pitching rubber, and leap down your power line.
Pitchers that pivot and drag,.....drag the side of their complete shoe, as they push forward. They ought to just put a parachute on their hip...because that's effectively what they are doing...
The good ones, that pivot and use this mechanic, figure out that if they leap and replant, the ball goes allot faster.... It is just illegal...

Here is the easiest way to demonstrate correct mechanics..

Have your daughter pitch or throw overhand to you. As she releases the ball, watch her "ball side" push foot... (the foot she pushes with).
As she strides, she rotates on the ball of her foot, and drags her big toe forward, just like a baseball pitcher, or anyone with proper overhand throwing mechanics. Lower body mechanics for a fastpitch pitcher are the same as those throwing the ball overhand.... drive down the power line, shoulders aligned to the target, hold on to the ball as long as you can, finish with external rotation...

See attached pics...
1.... senior throwing cross fire in-curve, legal in the box, but looks like it is coming out of 2nd base... back push foot, driving body down the power line.
2.... freshman, in her first fall ball game, not on the side of her foot...high on her toe..... driving down the power line.

Best of luck to all teams in the NC High School tournament.... I am off to Pittsburgh, playing with the "COURT".

 

good point

I agree..... except.... they have been emphasizing it all year....

and all these coaches know that.... Back in April...Candrea got tossed in the first inning of a game, after his kid (Fowler) was called repeatedly.....
Fowler was back out there last night.... and got called again.....

Obviously, Arizona has to score to win, but they should have known that their kid was gonna get called, if the mechanic was not fixed...

For anyone that wants to really read about it, go here, join and click on the forum link... You will see all the discussion that has gone on all year...
Me and Dukedog visit it allot...

http://www.ultimatecollegesoftball.com/index.php

 

The rules should be enforced like this at all levels of the game.
The rule is good for the game, however I think the result should be looked at, giving free bases to runners seems a little unfair. Runners should be at there own risk to move and the pitch should be a ball. sort of a double standard give them one base, but if the pitch is hit its all they can get? All runners should be at risk and on a take it should be a ball with no advance.

Also I would not say poor poor pitcher, they knew they were illegal, so did the coaches should have been fixed and not overlooked. Just maybe there is a reason some are so dominant there illegal. Who is that fair to certainly not the batter who works hard to perfect her skill, it would be not different than if a batter used an illegal bat.

 

IMHO if umpires enforced all the rules to the letter, the flow of the game would be compromised and all the people that cry about the rules not being enforced correctly would then cry about how the umpires took the game away from the kids.

There are a lot of gray areas in the rules just as there are in our laws.

Take Joe West for example, he balked White Sox pitcher Buerhle twice and had to toss both him and manager Ozzie Guillen. He after calling by the letter of the rules got accused of trying to publicize himself by making the calls. I know this was baseball and were talking softball, but same concept applies here.

The rule needs to be rewritten to something similar to what the International rule is now. The pitcher may not replant the pivot foot and omit the section about the pivot foot having to be in contact with the ground.

As I said earlier this is JMHO

 

Should we then increase the length of the batters box to allow the batter to travel 3 foot closer to the pitcher? If you take away the pivot contact the longer stronger pitchers would learn to generate a huge amount of forward momentum that would greatly affect the pitching power. The small leap we are seeing now would be taught higher and longer as a weapon. JMO

 

I also believe that if it is a rule then train these girls proper technique and call it in the game. I have a daughter who is a 9th grader and has taken lessons for 5 years from a teacher well respected in the softball community. He believes that when a pitcher leaps to the point that the foot leaves the ground therefore not allowing them to push off the rubber that they actually lose speed. I would like to hear from other pitching instructors what you think about this.

 

I don't know her; not judging her at all. I was referring to the picture. It appears the back foot is off the ground. One picture, of course, doesn't necessarily tell the whole story.