Unsportsmanlike conduct?

[krd005]

A lot of hitters would rather not know, and most hitters would rather not be distracted. As someone said that's a "rookie" coach trying to one up the opposition, and he's probably just distracting his own team ... don't let him distract your team too.

Coaches who focus on such small details typically forget to coach the important stuff. Did his players actually know what to do with an outside or inside pitch?

Ill tell you what I find unsportsmanlike in softball - pitchers who grunt or yell after they have released a pitch - timing their noise to distract the hitter. I've asked umpires what they would do if my hitter yelled at the pitcher as she was striding toward the plate - they all have the same response: "I don't know - I never thought of that." This is something that should be outlawed - it's ugly and there is no need for it.

I wonder what they would do............never understood the grunting......can anybody here explain it???

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Pitchers gunt because they are exhaling. It has nothing to do with distracting the batter.

When you are on the rubber, breath in - as you release the ball exhale. It is the same as in tennis or weight lifting.

I never heard of anyone thinking that it is to distract the batter.

 

[Rocket Eagle]

Pitchers gunt because they are exhaling. It has nothing to do with distracting the batter.

When you are on the rubber, breath in - as you release the ball exhale. It is the same as in tennis or weight lifting.

I never heard of anyone thinking that it is to distract the batter.

I have no problem when a pitcher grunts naturally on release. But some pitchers grunt as the ball is nearing home plate and after the exertion of release and the exhaling is complete. It's obvious when it's exagerated and when it's timed to distract the hitters - and it's neither necessary nor sportsmanlike.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I guess I haven't seen that, or maybe not noticed it.

The infield should be talking it up and the team at bat is probably cheering. I don't think that a grunt from the pitcher would be distracting.

Now, the stuff coming from a catcher - that could be and is supposed to be distracting.

 

[Comp]

I have seen 2 pitchers that double grunted. One on the release, again as the ball was approaching the plate. I can understand the first grunt, lots of pitchers do it, but the 2nd is completely unecessary.

I have also seen another pitcher that only grunted once, but it was long after the release as the ball was approaching the plate.

In all 3 of the cases the umpires never said a word about it.

 

[krd005]

Pitchers gunt because they are exhaling. It has nothing to do with distracting the batter.

When you are on the rubber, breath in - as you release the ball exhale. It is the same as in tennis or weight lifting.

I never heard of anyone thinking that it is to distract the batter.

I think most good hitters laugh at them..........The way the girls I have heard grunt i would find it hard to believe it's from exhaling..........I believe they are trying to cause a stir.

Something that freaked out one of our younger players at the plate..........2 strikes and 2 outs .... everyone in the field other than the pitcher and catcher starting smaking their glove with their throwing hand........they starting out slowly and increased the speed....until the ball got to the plate........as they did that every infiled crept in.......the girl thought they were coming to get her....LOL.......

 

[Rocket Eagle]

You are right that most teams laugh at the pitchers that do that, but it's still a distraction. It seems obvious to me that this a technique that is taught, or picked up from one pitcher to another. I think the rules should be changed to make it an illegal pitch - there are much more minor things that constitute an IP than a pitcher screaming at the batter at the very moment the batter is initiating her swing.
Any pitching coaches out there that think this is a legitimate technique?

 

[Ken Krause]

We played in a tournament once where the other team would chant "duck duck..." until the pitch was delivered, then yell "goose" as the ball approached the plate. It was stupid, but I suppose no worse than the old "Hey batter hey batter swing" we used to do.

Best thing to do is learn not to fall for distractions. Just focus on seeing the ball well and hitting it, tune out the rest. Easier said than done at the young ages, but still a valuable skill to learn.

I don't know of a reason for the pitcher to grunt well after release. Once the ball is gone out of the hand, nothing you do can affect it. But diff'rent strokes, I guess.

 

[StacieM]

I agree with Mark H and some of the others that it happens all the time and your job on D is then to find a way to use it against them. Just another challenge of the game. We played against a team with a coach like that this year too and our coach ended up telling the other fielders on D that the coach was actually giving THEM an additional heads up to be ready if the ball was being pitched to their side of the field.

It's just much more productive to use your energy to turn the tables on kem rather that get all annoyed about it. Take the challenge he's putting up head on and go kick butt. Have fun doing it too! ;P

 

[mustohiofastpitch]

Make it part of your practice so the girls can handle it. NFL teams, knowing they are going into a noisy stadium will practice with loud speakers blasting noise so when it gets to game time they are prepared. Work on your hitters being able to tune out all noise. Get them comfortable hitting with distractions.