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You Just Gotta Laugh or Cry!
by Dave
Sunday, April 25, 2010
We got rained out today! I was freed from field duty and about 9 hours of watching games, so I took the day off from everything. I was innocently just kicking back and watching TV. Big mistake! Innocence is often penalized!!!!!!
My baseball team wasn't on the tube yet so I went over to watch some college softball on ESPNU. There was a game being televised between Radford and Winthrop. During the early innings, the play by play man, Mike Gleason, asked color commentator, Cindy Bristow, former All American pitcher and member of the softball Hall of Fame, "Tell us something about the umpires this year, what they're really looking for when they look at the pitchers."
Bristow replied they are trying to cut down on illegal pitches, "trying to make sure that pitchers either don't leap or crow hop which are the two ways that pitchers can try and get an advantage." The broadcast then "leaped" to a previously filmed segment in which Bristow discussed the ins and outs of crow hopping and leaping with the help of a pitcher demonstrating each infraction. I wasn't precisely certain but I think the demonstrator was actually Bristow, herself.
I suppose it is always better to see something than merely hear it discussed. Words have their limits. Reading rules or listening to someone discuss them often falls short from creating the mental picture we need to fully grasp the concepts. That is true, unless the demonstration fails to accurately depict what is being discussed. Bristow's discussion was accurate but the demonstration confused things completely.
Bristow said a leap happens "when the pitcher leaves the ground at the same time with both feet." She then discussed crow hopping and noted it occurs "where the pitcher's pivot foot replants before her stride foot hits the ground." She then added that the "crow hop is the more common of the two."
The NCAA rulebook regarding a leap, reads as follows:
Rule 1.73 Leap (Pitcher)
"An illegal act in which the pitcher becomes airborne on her initial movement
and push from the pitcher's plate."
Rule 10.4.4
"No leaping is allowed. The pitcher may not become airborne on the
initial drive from the pitcher's plate. The pivot foot must slide/drag on
the ground."
In regards to a crow hop, it says:
1.28 Crow Hop (Pitcher)
"An illegal act in which the pitcher's pivot foot leaves the pitcher's plate and
re-contacts the ground before the release of the pitch."
Rule 10.4.5
"No crow hopping is allowed. The pitcher may not replant, gain a
second starting point and push off her pivot foot. Once having lost
contact with the pitcher's plate, the pivot foot may trail on the ground
but may not bear weight again until the pitch is released."
Bristow's descriptions comport with the NCAA softball rulebook. Unfortunately, the pitcher-demonstrator performed basically the same mistake during each try. There was a very slight difference because she did obtain a new point of impetus, a second starting point, in her crow hop example. But to the casual observer, including IMHO umpires and many coaches as well as pitching instructors, the two infractions were indistinguishable.
The reason I find this issue disturbing is because I have seen any number of pitchers at various levels either get called for crow hopping or be told by an umpire at a friendly that they are crow hopping when they were very clearly leaping! One coach recently instructed a kid who was throwing on a gymnasium floor and very obviously leaping that she was crow hopping.
It seems it is next to impossible to find anyone in this sport who can actually demonstrate a real knowledge of the difference between the two. This is important because, if nobody can actually distinguish between the two, how can they presume to call one or the other? And how is a pitcher supposed to correct her actions if she is being told she is doing one when she is actually doing the other?
It should be simple. In a leap, the pitcher's feet are both in the air after push off and before ball release. She must drag away from the rubber. If she pushes into the air and both her feet are off the ground simultaneously, she has committed the leap and this is illegal.
A crow hop is essentially a leap in which the pivot foot lands again and a push off from the second point occurs. In other words, if a pitcher leaps and her pivot foot replants, bears weight and is pushed off from, she has crow hopped.
These two types of infractions may seem to be so similar that no distinction is necessary but let me explain why I think it is important. When girls first start learning the windmill, a couple simplification techniques are utilized. It is a very complex motion which must be broken down into stages. One technique/drill involves beginning the motion and then stopping with the hand and ball held straight overhead (at 12:00 o'clock). Girls will do this drill 0over and over again to make sure pushing off well while rotating their hips and shoulders and getting their hand into the "perfect circle." The next p-hase of the drill involves pausing at this 12:00 o'clock position and then finishing the delivery. In this way, a singular complex motion is broken into two discreet parts in order to simplify things for the student. This drill is pretty important but it involves a crow hop!
Next, after girls have the basic mechanics down fairly well, the most important thing they need to do is practice. Not very many of us have a perfectly well manicured pitcher's circle in which to practice. Often, the local recreational field has a huge hole in front of the chewed up rubber. Many times, there are teams practicing on the field. Sometimes, it is too dark or cold or wet outside to practice. Generally girls working on their pitching practice on concrete, blacktop, gymnasium floors, or any old spot in some field either with or without a rubber or initial point from which to push. They make adjustments so as not to hurt their knees, ruin their sneakers or spikes, or otherwise accommodate the less than ideal practice facilities. They develop habits which follow them into games where coaches and umpires call them for crow hopping when they are leaping and leaping when they are crow hopping! This is less than optimal for our sport.
Most importantly, when we consider the crow hop, it is a fundamental flaw which is involved with timing and pulling together a complex motion. The way to correct it is really to work basic mechanics anew and then bring them together with proper timing. The leap can best be cured by: 1) making the pitcher aware of what it is she is doing vs. what she should be doing and then 2) emphasizing her drag away through some means. What I have done is placed a cloth on the ground next to where the girl pushes off the rubber and had her work on dragging that cloth with her on push off. Generally that is enough at least until she truies to pitch from the rubber with the two foot deep hole in front of it. In that case, I suppose, when the ump calls leaping, coaches should insist the pitch9ing area be repaired! But I digress.
What makes matters worse with this issue is that nobody seems to be able to demonstrate correct and legal pitching mechanics. The third demonstration on ESPNU's little segment was a pitch presumably thrown legally. The demonstrator went into her windup, stepped off the rubber and forwards a few inches, then pitched while dragging her foot away.
That's very much illegal! That is precisely what Jennie Finch was called for several times during the Olympics. You cannot lift your pivot foot off the rubber. You cannot step in front of the rubber and then pitch. You must keep contact with the rubber, push off and then drag away. The demonstrator, hall of fame pitcher or not, showed us exactly what not to do, however inadvertently!
I don't know whether to laugh or cry!!Labels: pitching, rules
 
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