Pitcher hopping

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Jun 8, 2016
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I recorded every game I could in the Super Regionals. Then I went back and looked at all the pitchers in slow motion and about 60% of them were technically illegal because their back foot lost contact with the ground.
It’s too late by that point..Nobody wants to see a Super Regional with 60 illegal pitches..especially ESPN. You want something to be done it has to start at the grass roots level but good luck doing that with games that often have 1 umpire.

The game is thriving..not sure anything needs to be done at all..
 
Last edited:
Jan 22, 2011
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Should we call this one? View attachment 28058
My DD got called twice for less than that. Joke was on the other team because she wasn't scheduled to pitch that game, but since she was warm and pitched well in the game immediately prior, the coach decided to pitch her an inning or two to see what happened. The player originally supposed to pitch that game was warmed up and ready to go when my DD was pulled.
 
Nov 3, 2022
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I see no evidence of a replant in this photo
haha. good point. I'll go with gravity on this one, though.

prior post make a good point as well. if the girls aren't taught properly at 10/12U, they're not going to be "corrected" at 14/16/18U because the umps won't call it and opposing coaches are afraid to bring it up.

Here is an example. I was the coach for a summer 14U team a couple years ago. The opposing pitcher leaped forward, landed on her front foot, and threw from there, like a pelican almost, without landing her back foot at all. it was surprisingly effective, not sure why. My team was filled with hitters but we didn't hit her. I didn't even know the rule, just thought it was weird and might be illegal, given all of the other pitching rules (feet on rubber, hands together/apart, etc.). One of my girls, late in the game, said you had to drag the back foot. So, about the 6th inning, i asked the ump in between innings about it, didn't make a big scene, was honestly just curious. He said if this was a tournament he'd call it illegal, of course, but this was just a summer league game so he didn't - ok, fine. Opposing coach, who happened to be (1) the girl's dad and (2) the local high school varsity coach, came over and said "yeah, it's illegal, we've been working with her on it, her pitching coach is here watching, actually, appreciate you not making a big deal about it, etc." We lost the game, girls didn't complain, but it did set me off on this journey of (1) noticing this, (2) really believing the leap/hop is an advantage in all forms and (3) wondering why it's not called/not corrected a lot more.

thanks for all of the information/discussion. i learned a lot!
 
May 17, 2023
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As a Dad of a former skipper it is tough. Was about two years into pitching someone took action photos and caught one where both her feet were off the ground. I had never noticed it in real-time before (wish I had). So I told her it was illegal and we needed to work on correcting it. Being a young kid she didn't fully believe me since had never been called.

Few months later we were playing in the semis of a tourney where we had barely scraped through our first two games and now played a team much older and better than us. I noticed the opposing coaches talking to the field ump before the game while she was warming up. Sure enough first pitch of game they called an illegal pitch.

Of course it was tough to see it happen to your kid in a big spot for her, but it turned out to be a real positive. She made sure to drag back foot rest of game. Velocity went down, but ball had more spin and she ended up throwing a no-hitter to beat them 6-0. I made sure to thank opposing coach in the handshake line for pointing it out.....lol.
 
Nov 9, 2021
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I have no issue with a coach mentioning it to umpires before or during the game. But I would be very careful mentioning it where your team could hear it. No reason to give them an excuse on why they aren’t hitting the ball. I would mention it once privately and then focus on the stuff we can control.

With that said now that many places are allowing leaping it will only be a larger issue unless high school and college rules follow suit in the coming years. Not only are the younger age groups not enforcing it they have made it legal in most tourneys we play.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Nov 3, 2022
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I was at a tourney this weekend. almost all the high velo girls were either hopping or replanting (don't know about the hand separation thing). might be legal, probably, technically, don't know, but seems not right to launch forward (keeping trail foot on the ground or not), replant, regain balance, and then drive forward from there.

but that's the game as it is today, I guess. probably lead to more slapping which I don't think is good for the game.
 
May 17, 2023
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I was at a tourney this weekend. almost all the high velo girls were either hopping or replanting (don't know about the hand separation thing). might be legal, probably, technically, don't know, but seems not right to launch forward (keeping trail foot on the ground or not), replant, regain balance, and then drive forward from there.

but that's the game as it is today, I guess. probably lead to more slapping which I don't think is good for the game.

Yeah agree seems like it is everywhere and never called. But did see a few illegal pitches called this weekend for not taking enough time doing the simulated signal from the rubber:rolleyes: and another for back foot moving too much prior to push forward.

So basically they enforce the things that are easy and gain no advantage, but then ignore something that creates an advantage.
 
May 27, 2013
2,353
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I was at a tourney this weekend. almost all the high velo girls were either hopping or replanting (don't know about the hand separation thing). might be legal, probably, technically, don't know, but seems not right to launch forward (keeping trail foot on the ground or not), replant, regain balance, and then drive forward from there.

but that's the game as it is today, I guess. probably lead to more slapping which I don't think is good for the game.
Curious to know why this would lead to more slapping and why more slapping wouldn’t be good for the game? It takes a lot of practice and reps to be able to place a hit pitch exactly where you want it while in motion. If anything, I think higher velocity makes it more difficult to control the ball coming off the bat. Not easy for new slappers.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
I was at a tourney this weekend. almost all the high velo girls were either hopping or replanting (don't know about the hand separation thing). might be legal, probably, technically, don't know, but seems not right to launch forward (keeping trail foot on the ground or not), replant, regain balance, and then drive forward from there.

but that's the game as it is today, I guess. probably lead to more slapping which I don't think is good for the game.
If you update this thread every time you see a pitcher commit the heinous crime of leaping, this is going to be a long thread.

My kid is a position player. If she doesn’t hit then she needs to get better..pitcher leaping or not.
 

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