Leap now legal in USSSA?

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Feb 13, 2021
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Finally got around to reading the USSSA rule (since I'm scheduled to call U-Trip tomorrow ... if the rain stops) ...

Glad to see we are going the route of baseball and just giving up on calling anything the pitcher does. [sarcasm]

Correct me if I am wrong, as this is new to me ... so it is now legal in USSSA to leap as long as you land on the non-pivot foot. Landing on the pivot foot before releasing the ball is a crow hop (replanting the pivot foot).
It is a crow hop only if the pivot foot 'bears weight' before the release of the pitch. If the pitcher were to have the pivot foot contact on the toe plate, it would not be bearing weight, if she lands on the bottom of the foot, it would be hard to say it was NOT bearing weight and is most likely a crow hop at that point.

EDIT: If you take a look at the JPN vs USA game from July 4 ( ), you see a pretty good example of the difference between the two. Carda is, in my opinion, crow hopping; her pivot foot lands on the sole of her foot and you never get a clear view of the bottom of her shoe if you are at the 2nd base umpired position. I am not going to opine on if this should or should not be called during an exhibition game at this level, just stating what I am seeing.

Miwa, on the other hand, comes down on the side of her foot and rolls directly onto the toe plate. In addition, from the 2nd base position, you clearly see the sole of her shoe. I know this is not part of the definition of either a leap or a crow hop, but it is a pretty good indicator of how the P is landing and again, I think it is nearly impossible to land on the sole of teh foot and NOT have the foot 'bear weight;.
 
Last edited:

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
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It is a crow hop only if the pivot foot 'bears weight' before the release of the pitch. If the pitcher were to have the pivot foot contact on the toe plate, it would not be bearing weight, if she lands on the bottom of the foot, it would be hard to say it was NOT bearing weight and is most likely a crow hop at that point.

EDIT: If you take a look at the JPN vs USA game from July 4 ( ), you see a pretty good example of the difference between the two. Carda is, in my opinion, crow hopping; her pivot foot lands on the sole of her foot and you never get a clear view of the bottom of her shoe if you are at the 2nd base umpired position. I am not going to opine on if this should or should not be called during an exhibition game at this level, just stating what I am seeing.

Miwa, on the other hand, comes down on the side of her foot and rolls directly onto the toe plate. In addition, from the 2nd base position, you clearly see the sole of her shoe. I know this is not part of the definition of either a leap or a crow hop, but it is a pretty good indicator of how the P is landing and again, I think it is nearly impossible to land on the sole of teh foot and NOT have the foot 'bear weight;.

Good interpretation with video.
The visual from behind the TWO pitcher's is helpful in seeing what feet are doing on the way to release the pitch.
_________________________
To me, neither is an advantage or disadvantage.

Having played against pitchers who did both and went further up in the air landed again and pitched.
As a batter it is really irrelevant!
Timing is timing!

This whole topic is just the discrepancy of whether or not umpires are going to call this. I just see it in the same basket with all the other inconsistencies that can happen.

Most importantly,
as an athlete in the game,
whatever the pitcher is doing,
learn to hit the ball
and conquer it!
 
May 29, 2015
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113
This whole topic is just the discrepancy of whether or not umpires are going to call this. I just see it in the same basket with all the other inconsistencies that can happen.

... and now I am going to become that guy that I always tried not to be. No, I don't think I am going to call it. Just like balks in baseball*, the rule makers/interpreters are doing everything they can to ensure pitchers can do whatever the heck they want to do. So why should I call anything?

Well, you see, the pitcher can now not move the foot, move the foot, move the foot in the air, provide the optical illusion of teleporting the foot, or even remove their foot altogether ... So there really is nothing that is illegal in foot motions which means I am no longer going to bother watching it.

In the video, I would define both of those replants. I suppose the question is whether a "tipover" is pushing off. To me, it is. If the back foot is coming down first, it is bearing weight (how much is questionable) because it creates a tipping or leverage point that was not there.

*Tangent: I was glad to see the winning run balked in during the Reds/Rays game the other day. All of the stupid flinching and twitching and repositioning needs to go.
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
Here it comes, going to make this point 🙂⬇️

I am of the frame of mind that the only people who control the game are the players on the field.
We players determine what the ball does.
Controlling the ball is where the game is played.
The Umpire does not control the actions of
fielding the ball
throwing the ball or
hitting the ball.


(The game itself has nothing to do with the pitchers feet or whether or not the umpire does anything about that.
People may say the rules are part of the game. But the rules do not determine who wins! Simply because every pitch the pitcher throws, regardless of her feet,
is a hitting opportunity for the batter in the Box!
* even if the umpire was to call illegal pitch we can still hit it, when we're in the Box we are not the official making the Judgment of what the pitcher is doing and we must hit it! So in that regard the batter still has a job to do and the defense needs to react to it!)
 

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