Pitching speeds from Champions Showcase skills challenge in Marietta, GA Nov 2012

[RubberBiscuit]

So please somebody tell me she is not a crow-hopper that has never been corrected in youth as this picture suggests:
The Marietta Daily Journal - Pope sweeps its way to first fast pitch region championship

 

[Ken B]

Crow hop or leap?

(I think I should have asked, "Crop hop, leap or pause.)

 

[starsnuffer]

Given the location of her arm in that picture, it looks like she's getting ready for a replant.

-W

 

[GOINGDEEP]

I've enjoyed reading about these young ladies at Pope setting new school records. People just don't realize how important and difficult that really is when a program has been in place 20 years with 100's of athelets before you.

This piece of the article hits home for a lot of pitchers, sometimes no matter how good they look or perform, a win is just not in the cards. Once you get to state, most every team is tough as nails and it's a brutal battle through the brackets.

"Pope pitcher Kelly Barnhill threw a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts in Saturday’s opening game, but she still came away with the loss".

 

[RubberBiscuit]

Given the location of her arm in that picture, it looks like she's getting ready for a replant.

-W

So I would bet a shiny new dollar that here is and will be her story:
1. Her original PC does not know enough to teach a motion to steer clear of crow-hopping.
2. She accelled in youth SB.
3. With this success nobody ever saw the need to tell her she's illegal.
4. She may have been confronted at infrequent times that she is illegal but since by this time she was "acknowledged" as a talent and/or she was just doing Showcase tourneys no umpire ever got the guts to call her out.
5. With throwing 70mph she will automatically get a big D1 spot.
6. She will pound through her first regular season being "the amazing freshman".
7 Only to get confronted by the inconsistency of NCAA application of rules in the World Series and illegal pitch her team right out of the Series never to be seen again becasue, I believe, especially in the case of crow-hopping, it is not an easy timing fix to deal with at 18 yrs old for the first time.....

Shame cuz it's apparent she's an amazing athelete.....

 

[JAD]

So please somebody tell me she is not a crow-hopper that has never been corrected in youth as this picture suggests:
The Marietta Daily Journal - Pope sweeps its way to first fast pitch region championship

Umpires at the younger age groups need to understand that calling illegal pitches at 10U and 12U will allow the pitcher to fix their mechanics BEFORE they have been pitching for 4+ years and are unable to adjust. I saw this in a 14U tournament, an umpire was calling a pitcher for crow hoping, and after 3 illegal pitches in a row, the coach had to replace her.....

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Have you ever umpired 10U?

I have.

My thoughts were more along the lines that the pitchers/parents should be working a lot more outside of games.

 

[crystlemc]

Have you ever umpired 10U?

I have.

My thoughts were more along the lines that the pitchers/parents should be working a lot more outside of games.

I don't disagree with this. However, I think there a couple schools of pitcher parent thought.

1. Well, if she's not getting called for anything, she must be legal.

2. We know she's illegal, but if they won't call it, then shooooottt...keep taking advantage of it.

3. We know she's illegal, but they only call it once or twice, so it's worth the trade off since they can't hit her.

4. We know she's illegal and we are working like heck to fix it.

 

[JAD]

Have you ever umpired 10U?

I have.

My thoughts were more along the lines that the pitchers/parents should be working a lot more outside of games.

At 10U umpires may just want to issue warnings, but the parents and coaches need to be aware of the problem, so they can work to correct it. If the umpires are not saying anything, the parents and coaches will assume everything is OK.....

 

[Ken B]

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View attachment 2789
Crow hop or leap?

(I think I should have asked, "Crop hop, leap or pause.)

Comparing a known planter to these photos of Barnhill, Mowatt and Osterman. I don't think these images always represent that of a crowhopper. When I watch Mowatt and Osterman at full speed, I cannot detect a replant and push. Watching the Barnhill video, I couldn't really see what was happening. Has anyone seen her replant and push? Bunner clearly replants flat footed, while Mowatt and Osterman keep the toe pointed down. Osterman definitely pauses as she rotates her knee back to pointing at the catcher.