illegal pitches?

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radness

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Dec 13, 2019
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All things being equal, a closer release point requires faster reaction time.
From the same distance, more speed requires faster reaction time. They're one in the same.

Distance has a direct effect on speed from the batter's perspective.
Distance has a direct effect on TIMING the speed from the Batters perspective.
fastest fastball gets faster with every inch closer to the plate.
Timing is timing. From here or there
Because pitchers throw at different speeds...
*the fastest pitch compared to the next fastest pitch or the next faster pitcher. Or slower and slower.


Enjoy reading your posts @PJR202 & sharing perspectives on this!🙂
 
May 17, 2012
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I wonder how slappers even put the bat on the ball with all of the decreased reaction time and crazy-breaking action that's going on in the front of the batter's box.

They must be super-human. If pitchers are allowed to leap we will have to do away with slapping.
 
Jan 25, 2022
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Distance has a direct effect on TIMING the speed from the Batters perspective.

Timing is timing. From here or there
Because pitchers throw at different speeds...
*the fastest pitch compared to the next fastest pitch or the next faster pitcher. Or slower and slower.


Enjoy reading your posts @PJR202 & sharing perspectives on this!🙂

Yeah, you're like the voice of reason around here. Always asking a question before making a judgement.

I guess I would say...what if that hitter had reached the absolute limit of their ability to time and react and swing with a minimum of speed and power to make contact? There is no farther to back up in the box. The cleats are free of dirt and the laces are tight. There is a stalemate between the fastball thrown legally, and the hitter's skill.

Then the pitcher breaks the rule and lands a foot closer to the plate. But the hitter has nothing left. The pitcher has created a new obstacle. Obviously I'm painting a very specific scenario here, but that foot matters. It's an advantage the pitcher can take even from pitch to pitch in order to alter timing. It could be used very effectively because only the pitcher knows it's happening. There is a set of rules for pitchers and a finite number of ways to work within them. The batter can only prepare for what is within the rules, and the pitcher chooses one of those finite ways to deliver the ball. But when a new variable or option is introduced, the batter is now at a new disadvantage and has no strategy because that new variable isn't within the rules. It could be used as infrequently as one pitch per at-bat, or even less. But the fact remains that the rule exists and has now been broken.

I would totally bring that up in a hotly contested game. Even if the speed wasn't affected. It's a major change in the pitcher's motion that could do any number of things to affect their desired outcome. Coaches do things like switching pitchers mid-inning to disrupt timing, then having the first pitcher reenter, etc. There are plenty of rules being manipulated or enforced to change the outcome. I certainly wouldn't let my kids continue to get smoked at their current skill level if there was something WAY within the rules I could do about it.

I've said a couple times though...we were fine with the JV girl moving like that because the game literally meant nothing. But that kid's parents are paying for lessons twice a week. Mine goes once a week and that REALLY adds up fast. If she develops that pattern for years and years then gets called on it in high school or travel ball, it could be a real problem to correct. Maybe not, but I want all these kids to be successful. I want her worst day to be vs us in the future, but otherwise I wish her well. I would hope someone would do the same for mine. What completely blew me away though, is both umpires and her coach not knowing it was illegal. We could have let it go. Her coach is a braggart and I'm not fond of her. It could have benefitted us next year to just let her float across the circle in a varsity game, but I'm not interested in seeing the kids suffer at the expense of the adults. I know how hard my own kid has worked just to throw a straight 42mph fastball at this point and I'm sure the jumping girl has done the same...and at a cost $5k per year no less.

lord, I type too much.
 
May 17, 2012
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113
Do we think that in every other country where leaping is legal, every batter is overwhelmed and all games in a 0-0 tie? It just simply isn't true. They don't pitch faster, the batting averages aren't lower, and teams do score runs.

Hitting is hard. Quit using leaping as an excuse why you didn't hit/score runs/win the game. You weren't winning regardless.
 

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