Illegal Pitching motion

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Nov 21, 2017
23
3
My DD was pitching in USSSA 14u tournament . Umpire mentioned to coach her motion was illegal after the game. DD starts with hands apart comes together brings to her right side and back together. From there her right arm goes back and up above her head from there she starts into the forward drive out into full arm circle and pitch. Is this in anyway illegal and if so why. yes in her back swing /load she gets very high above her head but don't see anything in rules about it. thanks in advance
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
Video would help ... by your description I am not picturing it.

What jumped out at me was when you said “back together” ... once her hands come together, they can only come apart to pitch. If they are coming together a second time, it is illegal.
 
Nov 19, 2014
89
8
I believe he means bring arm and glove back together. From what you have described sounds legal... Could it have been a foot issue?

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
Ahh ... backwards as one ... got it. My mind immediately went to breaking and reconnecting.

When her arm goes back, does it go past the 12:00 counter-clockwise, meaning she is getting more than 1 1/2 rotations?

I got nothing so far ...
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
Had a USSSA ump griefing one of our pitchers a couple weeks ago. She is the Hillhouse style pitcher that leans back with her drive foot in front of rubber with heel touching. He was saying that she paused at end of her leaning back before her hands come apart and she drives forward. She doesn’t. She looks like every pitcher who has any training from a modern pitching instructor. Our argument was that even if she does the pitch has not yet started at that point so........ so what.

He also wasn’t calling IP’s. He was calling strikes balls because he “thought she was illegal.” We couldn’t figure out what was going on and our catcher told us that was what he told her. I confirmed this with him. We were smoking the other team so I didn’t say anything and the second day of the tournament was rained out so I never did talk to anyone about it.

There must have been something in the recent rules interpretation that these screwballs can’t figure out. Heard similar stories from other USSSA victims.

This goober also warned one of my assistant coaches before the game. Told him he would throw him out at the first hint of arguing a call. I was taken aback. This assistant coach is one of the nicest, most mild mannered people I have ever met. It was really weird.

Pray for me. I have two more goofy local tournaments to endure before we get to a real one with non-bozo umps.
 
Last edited:
Mar 28, 2014
1,081
113
Had a USSSA ump griefing one of our pitchers a couple weeks ago. She is the Hillhouse style pitcher that leans back with her drive foot in front of rubber with heel touching. He was saying that she paused at end of her leaning back before her hands come apart and she drives forward. Our argument was that the pitch has not yet started at that point so........ so what.

He also wasn’t calling IP’s. He was calling strikes balls because he “thought she was illegal.” We couldn’t figure out what was going on and our catcher told us that was what he told her. I confirmed this with him. We were smoking the other team so I didn’t say anything and the second day of the tournament was rained out so I never did talk to anyone about it.

There must have been something in the recent rules interpretation that these screwballs can’t figure out. Heard similar stories from other USSSA victims.

Pray for me. I have two more goofy local tournaments to endure before we get to a real one with non-bozo umps.
Sigh. Yet another rogue umpire that makes up their own rules. Geezus, there is a rule book for a reason blue. So it is universal. Follow the rule book, don't make up your own. You aren't that important.
 
Nov 8, 2018
774
63
My DD was pitching in USSSA 14u tournament . Umpire mentioned to coach her motion was illegal after the game. DD starts with hands apart comes together brings to her right side and back together. From there her right arm goes back and up above her head from there she starts into the forward drive out into full arm circle and pitch. Is this in anyway illegal and if so why. yes in her back swing /load she gets very high above her head but don't see anything in rules about it. thanks in advance

As the man in blue said , if her hands come apart after stepping on the mound and bringing them into the glove a second time. It’s illegal. Your description sounds that way when you say , they come back together in the front.
Otherwise , I don’t see anything wrong.
Hands have to be apart on the mond. If they come together they cannot come apart then back together again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jul 14, 2018
982
93
I had an illegal pitch question, rather than starting a new thread I'll piggyback here.

DD faced a pitcher recently with one of the weirdest motions I've ever seen. She was a tall kid (14U), so her stride took her right to the edge of the circle.

Everything in her windup was fine, but when she landed on her stride foot she took a little hop and her drive leg swung past out of the circle. The little hop was at release, so she was almost certainly not in contact with the ground when she released the ball.

If your front-side-resistance alarm is going off, you're 100% on point. By striding so far and getting no FSR she was basically floating balls at 35 mph from about 35 feet. Nobody could hit it.

Strictly speaking, I don't think it was a leap or a replant since it was happening on her stride foot. The effect was not to increase velocity (which I think the rules are more geared towards), so is what she was doing even illegal? This was just a friendly, so coach didn't protest. But I'm sure we'll be seeing this team again in a real tournament.
 
Nov 21, 2017
23
3
Thank you guys the help i am guessing the ump was referring to the 1 1/2 rotation part of the rule. he did not use the terminology when relaying to the coach. She does go past 12:00 in her windup .
 
Last edited:
Nov 8, 2018
774
63
Thank you guys the help i am guessing the ump was referring to the 1 1/2 rotation part of the rule. he did not use the terminology when relaying to the coach. She does go past 12:00 in her windup .


Ah. That could be it. I don’t know the rule on it and probably should. That is some flexibility.

Ps. I do t see anything wrong with bringing the ball back into the glove.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Top