What’s consider crow hop/leaping

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Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
I want the rule book called and in our HS rules, the high strike is below the bottom of the sternum. In TB I wanted the book called. In HS I want the book called. If the book is called, we all know what the strike zone is. I don't understand your position but that is fine. We'll never coach against one another. So, there is that. LOL
Next thing you will want the plate to be 17" for everyone. Crazy talk!
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
Seriously? They often can't get the basics right now they are to opine on a perceived benefit? It would be a train wreck.
Thats what seems to have happened! Thats what i was commenting. its all over the place.

Consistancy would help.
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
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Posted to show a perspective on how pitcher gaining ground can change the timing for the batter. Not only from the initial movement of the pitcher...
Also from the closer release point.
2 advantages.



 
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radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
"It doesnt matter if the pitcher
steps, drags or jumps"
Each of these can create a new illegal starting point.
Check it out good video and description.




There maybe different ways to explain/describe visually seeing what is considered a crow hop or leap. But the produced results are similar in gaining ground.
 
Last edited:
Aug 21, 2008
2,350
113
People talk about "the unfair advantage of the leap". If there were an advantage, why aren't male pitchers leaping like crazy? How come the international pitchers aren't leaping?

There is so much about this thread that made my blood boil. lol. RAD has been encouraging me to jump in. This quote above, texasheat posted as a quote from Sluggers made me shake my head and wonder what men's tournaments he's watching. Of all 40 teams that participated in the ISC men's world championship, I can only think of a handful of pitchers who do not crow hop or leap. This notion that they aren't leaping like crazy is flat out incorrect. And it's not that crowhopping is legal. Men simply don't care. They don't have their parents barking from the bleachers about someone jumping. Their philosophy (for better or worse) is "no matter how they throw it, the ball has to cross the plate." And they realize their own pitchers are jumping like crazy too.

I have pitched both ways, with and without a jump. My first season in New Zealand, I was 18 yrs old and had never pitched with 2 feet on the rubber and no crowhopping before. It was like having to relearn how to pitch. NZ followed the ISF (now called WBSC) rules which didn't allow crow hopping. Yet, most of their pitchers crow hopped like the Easter bunny when they came to pitch in North America. Lots of pitchers weren't considered very good in NZ but, were dominant here because they were allowed to jump. To say it has no advantage, I don't get it.

There is a difference between a leap and a crowhop. MOST people don't know the difference (and that includes umpires). Lets face it, most umpires don't keep updated on rules. Many still think there is a "present the ball rule" which went out of the rule book 40 years ago. In many cases you don't get quality umpires at games and tournaments, you end up with someone who's simply willing to do it.

Comparisons have also been made about the strikezone and leaping. The difference is that a strikezone is somewhat subjective. Yes, the book says armpits to the knees. But, it comes down to what an umpire sees. If an umpire said "I won't call it above the waist" then he's defying the rule book. Plain and simple. Just as someone who refuses to call an illegal pitch is defying the rulebook.

If leaping/crowhopping didn't provide an advantage, it would be legal. Leaping has become legal in International play (it will be allowed here very soon too). The line between leaping and crowhopping will continue to get blurred. And I'm ok with that. Crowhopping should be legal, as long as the offense is allowed to keep getting better and better composite bats and using polycore balls. If you want pitchers to use 1950's rules, then they should go back to using 1950's bats and balls too. I'm baffled at how one side wants progress but the other is kept down.
 
Nov 22, 2019
297
43
I would understand if it was a dirt field cause of the hole in the pitching rubber, but this was a turf field, in. Game prior to ours they were calling it, their other pitcher was doing the exact same thing but it was a different set of blues, I guess it was a judgement “call” like the blue said

The only game my daughter leaped at 10-U this fall was on turf. I'm not sure if it was bc the turf was more difficult to drag on for her.
 

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