New & Confused- leaping/crow-hopping

[Cat5]

Hi,

Im new to the forums and relatively new to the sport. DD has been playing (club & TB) for about 5 years and pitching for a couple of years now.

We are not located in the US but play by ISF rules. All of our pitchers are trained to leap off the plate and deliver the ball in accordance with the ISF rules which state:

"Rule 1 Section 20
Sec. 20. CROW HOP. (FP ONLY)
A Crow hop is defined as the act of a pitcher who does not push off from the pitcher's plate to
deliver the ball. The pitcher steps off from the plate and then establishes a second impetus (or
starting point) and pushes off from the new starting point and completes the delivery. (THIS IS
AN ILLEGAL ACT) NOTE: The pitcher may leap, from the pitcher’s plate, land and with a
continuous motion deliver the ball to the plate. The pivot foot may push off and/or follow
through with this continuous action and this is not considered a crow hop.
Comment: Amendments to the pitching rule allow the pitcher to leap, land, follow through with a
continuous motion and release the ball, Upon landing, the pivot may push off or follow through as part of
this continuous action.

A lot of softball resources come from the US and in general I have noticed a lot of people (on YT etc) having fits over illegal pitching, when by ISF rules the pitch is actually a leap and quite legal. Do the majority of competitions/leagues in the US use different rules to the ISF? It's all a bit confusing.

 

[MTR]

Hi,

Im new to the forums and relatively new to the sport. DD has been playing (club & TB) for about 5 years and pitching for a couple of years now.

We are not located in the US but play by ISF rules. All of our pitchers are trained to leap off the plate and deliver the ball in accordance with the ISF rules which state:

"Rule 1 Section 20
Sec. 20. CROW HOP. (FP ONLY)
A Crow hop is defined as the act of a pitcher who does not push off from the pitcher's plate to
deliver the ball. The pitcher steps off from the plate and then establishes a second impetus (or
starting point) and pushes off from the new starting point and completes the delivery. (THIS IS
AN ILLEGAL ACT) NOTE: The pitcher may leap, from the pitcher’s plate, land and with a
continuous motion deliver the ball to the plate. The pivot foot may push off and/or follow
through with this continuous action and this is not considered a crow hop.
Comment: Amendments to the pitching rule allow the pitcher to leap, land, follow through with a
continuous motion and release the ball, Upon landing, the pivot may push off or follow through as part of
this continuous action.

A lot of softball resources come from the US and in general I have noticed a lot of people (on YT etc) having fits over illegal pitching, when by ISF rules the pitch is actually a leap and quite legal. Do the majority of competitions/leagues in the US use different rules to the ISF? It's all a bit confusing.

The ISF does not differentiate between the genders of the players in the FP game, there is not a separate set of pitching rules for the female as there is in the U.S.

The male side of the game allows the leap. Not so on most of the female side. A few years ago when the college game had an abrupt awakening concerning the leap and being called as an illegal pitch, it was believed by some that the NCAA would adjust their rules in the off-season to allow the pitcher to leap. Much to the surprise of some, that never occurred.

When talking to an NCAA rep (female) at a national convention that year, I asked if there was change in the air I was told that it would probably be discussed, but no changes would be made without some testing showing that doing so would not have a negative effect on the female's body. Some believe the anatomical differences between the male and female should be different.

 

[Cat5]

Thank you for your reply- that makes sense!

It appears the rules in all of our competitions (local, regional, state, national etc) are based on ISF rules so the 'new wave' of pitchers would all be illegal by US standards. That's a shame, but at least now I understand where the confusion comes from- thank you!