The Ethics of Softball. Your Input.

[Rocketech1]

Men can crow hop. That's how they throw 85mph. Why not just let the girls do it too at 46ft and move on?

Because that would reward all the illegal pitchers over the years and you would have to concede the rules and enforcement were not good for the game (sarcasm font)...

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Men can crow hop. That's how they throw 85mph. Why not just let the girls do it too at 46ft and move on?

Because 43 feet is damn near perfect symmetry in relation to the bases.

 

[riseball]

Men can crow hop. That's how they throw 85mph. Why not just let the girls do it too at 46ft and move on?

Find it interesting that some believe that the solution to an issue with the flourishing women's game is to align it with the dying men's game as it languishes in obscurity. A glowing example of the anti-Hanson principle.

 

[Rocketech1]

Nothing special about 43 feet. More softball is played less than 43 feet than is played at 43 feet. In fact, it would be many years before you would see the need to move them back another 3 feet. You could even pinch the strike zone a little bit as we saw several years ago (from below armpits to sternum).

The men's game popularity has not gone down because of allowing leaping but from the increase in popularity of the big 3 sports (baseball, basketball, and football) and I would throw in soccer and lacrosse.

Modifying the girls game to allow leaping will make the game more accessible to more potential pitchers who use a technique that is more natural and efficient than dragging a foot along the ground. Can you imagine if we made outfielders make long throws to home plate having there back foot anchored to the ground. Not very comfortable or efficient.

The fastpitch pitching regulations need to catch up with the modern game of fastpitch before it becomes a complete joke with noncompliance and non-enforcement the norm.

 

[riseball]

...Modifying the girls game to allow leaping will make the game more accessible to more potential pitchers who use a technique that is more natural and efficient than dragging a foot along the ground. Can you imagine if we made outfielders make long throws to home plate having there back foot anchored to the ground. Not very comfortable or efficient. .

Translation: Dumbing down the game would provide an influx of less athletic, less dedicated pitchers and enabled little brats who are used to not being held accountable to play within the rules.

 

[OK04dad]

Why would we want to change the rules just to allow girls to throw harder? Is there too much offense in softball now? I think the rules (if applied fairly and consistently) and distance are fine just the way they are. I would take a more complete pitcher in Gourley (with her killer change) over a Barnhill any day of the week. It's like golf courses trying to "Tiger proof" by making their distances longer. That just played into Tiger's hands. If you change the rules & push the distance back in softball to accommodate speed, wouldn't you be hurting the pitchers who don't rely just on speed and would then be 3' farther back with batters having more of a chance to read the pitch?

 

[4 girl's dad]

Why would we want to change the rules just to allow girls to throw harder? Is there too much offense in softball now? I think the rules (if applied fairly and consistently) and distance are fine just the way they are. I would take a more complete pitcher in Gourley (with her killer change) over a Barnhill any day of the week. It's like golf courses trying to "Tiger proof" by making their distances longer. That just played into Tiger's hands. If you change the rules & push the distance back in softball to accommodate speed, wouldn't you be hurting the pitchers who don't rely just on speed and would then be 3' farther back with batters having more of a chance to read the pitch?

That just makes too much sense... ^^^^^^^^^. IMO the idea of the current rules is to help level the playing field so more pitchers are effective. By allowing leaping, the leapers have the advantage and the balance betweeen offense and defense changes. Just enforce the current rules...




Dont you know you have to move the speed limit higher to stop the speeders!

(Sarc font on)

 

[Rocketech1]

Why would we want to change the rules just to allow girls to throw harder? Is there too much offense in softball now? I think the rules (if applied fairly and consistently) and distance are fine just the way they are. I would take a more complete pitcher in Gourley (with her killer change) over a Barnhill any day of the week. It's like golf courses trying to "Tiger proof" by making their distances longer. That just played into Tiger's hands. If you change the rules & push the distance back in softball to accommodate speed, wouldn't you be hurting the pitchers who don't rely just on speed and would then be 3' farther back with batters having more of a chance to read the pitch?

You do understand that they are already allowing leaping and replanting, they just have not made it official. One only has to look at all of the pitchers not pitching within the rules and zero enforcement to see this. I would love for all of the umpires to call IPs consistently every time, but that hasn't happened in over a decade (if ever) and will continue to not happen under the current system without changes.

You honestly think the governing bodies and umpire associations will have an enlightening and will now all of a sudden call IPs every time? Ever ask yourself why if seeing and calling IPs is so easy, why the conspiracy to NOT call it? When's the last time you saw a "balk" in baseball without a runner on base? The answer is NEVER. Simplify the rules to eliminate the epidemic and we can get back to more important aspects of the game.

 

[MNDad]

You do understand that they are already allowing leaping and replanting, they just have not made it official. One only has to look at all of the pitchers not pitching within the rules and zero enforcement to see this. I would love for all of the umpires to call IPs consistently every time, but that hasn't happened in over a decade (if ever) and will continue to not happen under the current system without changes.

You honestly think the governing bodies and umpire associations will have an enlightening and will now all of a sudden call IPs every time? Ever ask yourself why if seeing and calling IPs is so easy, why the conspiracy to NOT call it? When's the last time you saw a "balk" in baseball without a runner on base? The answer is NEVER. Simplify the rules to eliminate the epidemic and we can get back to more important aspects of the game.

We had ten illegal pitches this past season. Most were for leaping. DD had two. One for something with the hands and the other was a gym step about 1” off the rubber. I have no problem with the calls because they were right, but neither give any advantage and it makes no sense to call that and let others get away with leaping or crow hopping. The issue is cherry picking who to call it on and giving others a free pass.

 

[Elk Grove Hurricane]

If leaping is the problem, ban leaping. Honestly I don't think too much of this issue and am being a little facetious, but banning leaping makes as much sense as any other solution out there.