Do the hands need to come together?

[dbronstein]

We had our first game tonight and I'm not sure if one of our pitchers was throwing illegal pitches. She would step onto the rubber and pitch without bringing her hands together at all. My understanding is that you have to bring the hands together at some point after you step on the rubber before you start the windup. She was just going right into her windup without her hands ever coming together. Is this legal?

 

[Ken B]

The hands need to come together for about a second.

 

[coach james]

the easiest way to handle this is to step onto the rubber with the ball in the throwing hand. The hands will come together as she secures her grip discreetly inside her glove..... boom, problem solved!

 

[4 girl's dad]

I would think step on to the plate with the ball in the glove, and then you have to bring them together to grip the ball.

 

[nikkilugi]

I would think step on to the plate with the ball in the glove, and then you have to bring them together to grip the ball.

Agree - there is a girl on our team who just has it gripped in the fastball grip with the ball in her throwing hand when she steps on the rubber. She barely brings her hands together (less than a sec) and has only been warned about it once. She uses the same grip for both fastball and change-up. I think if she had the ball in her glove she would need to reach in to grip it and then she would have her hands together longer.

 

[dbronstein]

Agree - there is a girl on our team who just has it gripped in the fastball grip with the ball in her throwing hand when she steps on the rubber. She barely brings her hands together (less than a sec) and has only been warned about it once. She uses the same grip for both fastball and change-up. I think if she had the ball in her glove she would need to reach in to grip it and then she would have her hands together longer.

This is what our pitcher is doing. She sets her grip before stepping on the rubber and then goes right into her windup without ever bringing her hands together.

Thanks for the replies.