leaping is an advantage in its own right. i say major, some say minor, who knows. however, most agree that crow hopping/replanting IS a big advantage. since umps are too afraid to call (or it's hard to see) the crow hop/replant, the prior requirement that the back foot drag was a very good way to police the crow hop/replant - this effective governor is now being thrown out of the window for no good reason. anarchy awaits us allNot all leaps are created equal. Leaving replant out of this for now, there are two types of leaping or detachment I see in lessons:
1. Typically seen in the younger students is the leap the comes from/with the forced opening of the hips and drag foot and knee pointing behind the pitcher often followed by a heel drop and complete collapse of the plant leg as the torso continues forward too far. This is an example of leaping being or leading to “bad mechanics.”
2. See Jordy Bahl. Detachment due to literally leaping out of the circle. This is an example of leaping coming from extreme athleticism. It will be interesting to see how she holds up in the long run with the pounding her lower half takes.
Since I try to teach my students that having their hips in the right position at release is important I wouldn’t teach them to stride so far and high they lose control of their hips. Usually a girl who can control her hips doesn’t leap so badly it gets called. And yes, elite throwing mechanics come with opening and closing of the hips and all that, but when they are young they tend to force them open too far, especially when leaping.