Push/Stride Length

Can you pick out the "push off and drag" vs. the "leap and drag" mechanics?



I thought so........

It's nice to see an explanation of what I saw my DD do last week. The first batter she faced was a hard push and drag with a ton of speed. She got hung up in the air a couple times on one of the next batters and lost her timing and speed. There was such a big difference that I had to bring it up after the inning.

Boomers,

inm the video BM uses and says the pitcher is 5'6" tall and lands at the edge of the 8ft circle. Watch the pivot foot at the start of the motions. Pivot foot comes forward of the rubber, then the stride foot comes forward. She might hit the edge of the circle, but she has to cheat to do it, illegal pitch. Cant prove the crow hop but everybody sees the 2nd step. You dont want to piotch like that in my area of California. You will get rung up in a heartbeat.

Rung up in rec league, HS, travel ball, everywhere they enforce the pitching regulations. BM always seems to forget to mention that fact when showing his video collection. Of course you have to remember, in the arena he said he pitched in, they dont enforce all the regulations. Keep that in mind.

Did I work with rec leaguers? Yes I did, lots of them. I worked with every age group including college and international adult pitchers. You can see a few of their statements at my site. The same things I taught young rec league pitchers are the same things I taught pitchers playing in international tournaments.

Never tried to pull the wool over anyones eyes.

Not every instructor can say that.

halskinner said:

Boomers,

inm the video BM uses and says the pitcher is 5'6" tall and lands at the edge of the 8ft circle. Watch the pivot foot at the start of the motions. Pivot foot comes forward of the rubber, then the stride foot comes forward.

Click to expand...

I see movement of the pivot foot forward, but I dont see it ever leave contact with the pitchers plate. Looks to me the pivot foot slides forward slighty as she shifts her weight back to the pivot foot before push off, but some part of her foot is always in contact w plate untill push off/drag.

Not unlike a pitcher who turns her foot outward right before push off, which you see a lot (not recommended IMO. Distracts energy away from power line...)

As long as pivot foot maintains contact with plate, a position shift is not illegal, correct?

That's one interpretation of this blurry, low-res video.

The other is that she lifts her foot ever so slightly and loses contact with the plate for an instant. But I dont see how an ump can call this an IP in real-time. That is really splitting some hairs...

The "divot" in front of the mound isnt helping the situation either.

Obviously, yes, this pitcher probably could adjust and lock her pivot foot in place and not reposition as she delivers. Would this affect her leap distance appreciably? I seriously doubt it.

corlay said:

I see movement of the pivot foot forward, but I dont see it ever leave contact with the pitchers plate. Looks to me the pivot foot slides forward slighty as she shifts her weight back to the pivot foot before push off, but some part of her foot is always in contact w plate untill push off/drag.

Not unlike a pitcher who turns her foot outward right before push off, which you see a lot (not recommended IMO. Distracts energy away from power line...)

As long as pivot foot maintains contact with plate, a position shift is not illegal, correct?

That's one interpretation of this blurry, low-res video.

The other is that she lifts her foot ever so slightly and loses contact with the plate for an instant. But I dont see how an ump can call this an IP in real-time. That is really splitting some hairs...

The "divot" in front of the mound isnt helping the situation either.

Obviously, yes, this pitcher probably could adjust and lock her pivot foot in place and not reposition as she delivers. Would this affect her leap distance appreciably? I seriously doubt it.

Click to expand...

Corlay, watch the distance between the back of the pivot heel and the front of the stride foot toe. If the rubber is 24 inches wide, that rubber must be at least 24 inches long, if they are both staying in contact with the rubber.

halskinner said:

Corlay, watch the distance between the back of the pivot heel and the front of the stride foot toe. If the rubber is 24 inches wide, that rubber must be at least 24 inches long, if they are both staying in contact with the rubber.

Click to expand...

Maybe someone can clear this up but I thought in high school or some governing bodies allowed the stride foot to be behind the pitching plate before the pitch? I know under ASA, both feet need to be in contact with the pitching plate before the pitch.

Rocketech1 said:

Maybe someone can clear this up but I thought in high school or some governing bodies allowed the stride foot to be behind the pitching plate before the pitch?

Click to expand...

NFHS (national federation of high schools) HS Softball Around the Country.........

2012 NFHS SOFTBALL POINTS OF EMPHASIS
1. PITCHING
A. Pitching Regulations. NFHS pitching regulations were created and are maintained for high-school-age pitchers of all skill levels, not just those seeking participation opportunities at higher levels. A high school pitcher may begin with one or two feet on the pitching plate. The pitcher may also step back (before the hands come together) and then forward to gain momentum in her pitching motion.

Click to expand...

Anyway people..........Instead of focusing on Hal's consistent distraction attempts of my posts......Which are getting old..........Focus on the point.........Leap and Drag vs. PUSH OFF AND DRAG mechanics...........



Teach your kids, students etc. to DRIVE FORWARD OFF THE MOUND.........Get rid of the word "leap" anywhere in your vocabulary and teaching........You'll find that timing WILL improve........Velocity WILL improve........Energy will be properly directed..........And injury will be mitigated......

halskinner said:

Corlay, watch the distance between the back of the pivot heel and the front of the stride foot toe. If the rubber is 24 inches wide, that rubber must be at least 24 inches long, if they are both staying in contact with the rubber.

Click to expand...

Ooooo. I totally missed that, since your comment seemed to imply something illegal with the Pivot Foot specifically - so I was only focused upon that.

Yes, per ASA that is an illegal pitch.

corlay said:

Ooooo. I totally missed that, since your comment seemed to imply something illegal with the Pivot Foot specifically - so I was only focused upon that.

Yes, per ASA that is an illegal pitch.

Click to expand...

And the distraction from the content continues............I'll bump this in case anyone missed it..........

NFHS (national federation of high schools) HS Softball Around the Country.........

2012 NFHS SOFTBALL POINTS OF EMPHASIS
1. PITCHING
A. Pitching Regulations. NFHS pitching regulations were created and are maintained for high-school-age pitchers of all skill levels, not just those seeking participation opportunities at higher levels. A high school pitcher may begin with one or two feet on the pitching plate. The pitcher may also step back (before the hands come together) and then forward to gain momentum in her pitching motion.

Anyway people..........Instead of focusing on Hal's consistent distraction attempts of my posts......Which are getting old..........Focus on the point.........Leap and Drag vs. PUSH OFF AND DRAG mechanics...........



Teach your kids, students etc. to DRIVE FORWARD OFF THE MOUND.........Get rid of the word "leap" anywhere in your vocabulary and teaching........You'll find that timing WILL improve........Velocity WILL improve........Energy will be properly directed..........And injury will be mitigated......

OK...so this thread took a turn in a direction I really need some help with. I was under the impression that a lot of up down motion just seems bad. Nothing but gut feel until BM specifically mentioned it. So I was telling DD to minimize up/down during leap/push/explosion/whatever you want to call it. Went to a PC and he specifically said that you want to feel an UP in the leap/push/whatever. Without anything to back me up I accepted it. Now my online gurus BM an Hal have me totally confused. I can see some added power in going up, when you come down the added down velocity in the "fall" could be translated to the whip. But this seems like it would be really hard to control and it doesn't seem like a good risk/reward.
All the video I see for women is more push towards catcher than leap high and I see very little up down head motion in the top pitchers I have seen. This is a limited set so Hal, if you could post some video of someone who has more high/low leap instead of push out it would help me understand. If I am misunderstanding your position and you don't think there should be a lot of up/down in the leap my bad (it gets a little wonky sometimes and I'm not sure I always see the differences between you and BM when you all go toe to toe, it sometimes seems like different terminology for the same thing "that's a rock" "no that's a stone")