Stepping back off rubber with drive foot

It’s not right for a pitcher to spend hours and hours practicing their pitching only to get to a tournament where every pitching rubber has a 6” crater in front. Dd has been working on strong and balanced drive. When she gets to tournament steps on the rubber puts hands together and pulls drive foot up into pushback position at this point she looks like a weeble wobble “telling my age”. I told her if she is unbalanced and feels that falling feeling just continue back with her drive foot and act like she didn’t just start the pitch. She is real smooth with it. But I’m thinking this is illegal once the hands have gone together. Can I get someone to clarify if this is illegal. She has only had to do it once in a game and the ump just stood up and waited as she wiped her forehead and stepped right back on the plate.

Most school ball allow pitch to take a step back, hs and under.

Stepping back and off of the pitcher's plate and pitching is legal only in HS, maybe also Little League.

In other codes, a legal disengagement is done by stepping back and off, followed by stepping back with the other foot, then the hands may come apart.

It’s not right for a pitcher to spend hours and hours practicing their pitching only to get to a tournament where every pitching rubber has a 6” crater in front.

Click to expand...

So, here's what you do to combat the problem. Take her and find the crappiest pitching rubbers you can find and have her practice off of them. No filling in the holes. No doctoring the pitching area. Let her learn how to adjust to a junk pitching area when there is no pressure. No whining, or complaining allowed. Now when she encounters one in a game she'll have the experience of pitching in less than ideal conditions and it won't bother her. Once a poor pitching area is pitchers head you might as well get her out of the game. She's toast.

I did it with my DD when she was younger. It was really, really rare a crappy pitching area bothered her. It had to be really bad.

Another thing to do. Take her out when it's cold, rainy, wet and generally miserable and have her practice. Have her pitch in a light drizzle. Let her learn what she needs to do so she can pitch in those poor conditions. Teach her how to keep her hand warm, how to take care of the ball. A great built-in hand warmer is the armpit of the glove hand.

Thanks i guess I will dig a hole and let her get used to pitching out of a hole. I still haven’t figured out if what I’m teaching her is legal crabby bob I think said it was legal. I’m not talking about rocking back I’m talking about stepping back off the rubber and stopping the pitching motion.

DD got annoyed with craters, she started to make craters herself. She went out of her way to make craters. They started it..

Always something.

Laphoneman said:

Thanks i guess I will dig a hole and let her get used to pitching out of a hole. I still haven’t figured out if what I’m teaching her is legal crabby bob I think said it was legal. I’m not talking about rocking back I’m talking about stepping back off the rubber and stopping the pitching motion.

Click to expand...

As long as her hands are still together she can legally step back. Once they come apart she has started the pitch and must finish it.