Question about pitch, legal or not

[bwhitaker]

My daughters pitching coach has been working on her timing. *He has her pitching motion broken down into three motions, back, down, and then a push. *My question is when she goes back she pauses (for maybe a second)with the ball at the height of her backswing. *I trust her pitching coach, but the rules on this are a little gray. *Please see the YouTube links below for a video. *I have emailed the sanctioning bodies that we play under, but have not heard anything official back yet. Your input or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks...Brandon


10 year old fastpitch softball pitcher - YouTube

10 year old fastpitch softball pitcher - YouTube

 

[Ken Krause]

Don't have my rulebook handy, but I'm pretty sure that once the hands separate you must remain in continuous motion until the ball is delivered. If that's the case what the pitching coach is teaching is illegal. So probably time to find a new PC.

Beyond the legality issue it makes no sense. She will get a lot more drive and momentum going into the pitch if she uses the backswing in continuous motion. All she's doing here is eventually hurting herself by exposing her grip, which will be bad when she has more than a fastball. And not only exposing it but putting it on display for all to see. I'd see if someone else can teach her how to pitch.

 

[02Crush]

I agree with Ken. Whether legal or not I think this is bad strategy, bad muscle memory at a young age where reps of good fundamentals are important and will allow batters at even age 9-10 to take her to the cleaners at the plate. Even knowing the timing of a FB vs. a CU is huge for a young batter when these are all the pitches they see.

 

[starsnuffer]

There might be a reason her PC is doing this. I'm going out on a limb here playing devils advocate, and I've never taught a kid to do this, but I can possibly see that this kid may have had an issue overextending her backswing, so her PC is trying to make her conscious of it. It's funny how such a simple thing as a premotion and lean are the hardest things to teach.

-W

 

[wannahit]

not only is she exposing the grip but she is also locking her arm out stiff when she is rocking that arm back

 

[tojo]

I have to agree with Starsnuffer that there may be a reason her PC is asking your DD to pause on her backswing. Not knowing what she was doing prior to this, it is hard to say. I would ask her PC if what he is asking her to do is temporary. I would be hesitant to switch PCs until I found out his reasoning behind this exercise. Other than the pause in the backswing, her motion is not bad for a 10 yr. old.

 

[dadonachair]

She also has a slight stutter in her step. It looks to me she is at the beginning stages of a crow hop. That means trouble and is hard to get rid of. The thing that concerns me is she doesn't look fluid. Is the PC having your DD pitch like this trying to break a bad habit, or is this the way the PC teaches? I would look for a new PC.

 

[Comp]

She is doing more than one thing illegal. Your specific questions, once the hands separate, the pitch must be delivered without any stop in the motion. What your pitching coach is teaching is an illegal pitch.

The second things she is doing is stepping forward with the pivot foot. This foot cannot leave the ground, it can slide side to side and it can slide forward as long as it maintains contact with the pitching plate, but it must remain in contact with the plate. If it lifts off, or slides forward of the pitching plate it is an illegal pitch. And, different sanctioning organizations have different rules. ASA says the heel can just touch the front edge of the pitching plate, FED requires a portion of the foot to be on top of the pitching plate as does NCAA.

 

[tojo]

I don't believe I would be so quick to call for a change of PC. Overall, she is doing more right than she is doing wrong. As mentioned numerous times on this forum, sometimes when pitching indoors, there is a tendency to replant the push foot. I would not throw the "baby out with the bath water" until I asked the PC where he is headed. At 10 yrs. of age, most are works in progress and are nowhere near finished or polished pitchers at this age. As to the legality of the pitch as it is, ASA rule 6.3.C states, " the pitcher must not make a stop or reversal of the forward motion after seperating the hands". It could be argued that the arm going back would not be a forward motion and therefore not illegal. All backswings have to stop a some point to begin the forward motion of the arm. Definitely a "gray area" and should be clarified.

 

[bwhitaker]

He has only had her doing this for a few weeks. She had some bad habits that he was trying to replace with good habits. She had a problem rushing, sometimes she would load up on her leg, sometimes she wouldn't. It is hard for me to explain and it was hard to see without slow motion but most of the time she was starting into the pitch with her head and upper body instead of pushing into the pitch with her leg. He was trying to get it into her head that a few elements need to be in place before starting the pitch, in practice he had her verbally speaking back, down, and then push that way she wouldn't make any movement before she was ready. He said it would look more fluid the longer she did this....anyway, I think it's time to look more fluid.....and thanks for pointing out the crow hop, we have that fixed now........thanks for all the input, I really like the coach so we are gonna stay for awhile longer.