Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Leap, Crow Hop and Replant made simple

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.......Both feet in the air at the same time. ---------- Replanting the pivot foot
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......................LEAP.............................CROW HOP.................REPLANT........................
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...........Typically both feet in the air................|.............Typically steps PIVOT foot forward
...........and lands on Stride foot FIRST.............|.............off the pitching rubber and then.....
.................................................................|.............pushes off from this new point.......
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..............................................Typically both feet in the air and....................................
...............................................lands on PIVOT foot FIRST and......................................
..............................................then pushes off a SECOND TIME.....................................
......................................(or continues to fall forward to stride foot).............................

 

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Nice try, Todd. But all the expert fans and coaches know an illegal pitch when they see one. Which must be about every five minutes at any given tournament, because you always hear somebody complaining... Usually from the losing team.

 

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ooohhhh.....lol

 

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Saw this on the Columbus Dispatch site. WOW!!! Can you say Crow Hop!!!

http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...30/softballs-move-shakes-up-game.html?sid=101

 

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That caught my eye when I opened my Dispatch sports page this morning! But if you look at the picture "full size", as it appears in the newspaper, it looks like her toe is definitely on the ground.

BTW...your graphic is flawed, Parma. The Leap and the Crow Hop are two separate pitching violations covered by two separate rules. Once "both feet are in the air at the same time" a Leap- and an illegal- pitch have occured. It doesn't matter what the pitcher does after that point because it's already an illegal pitch.

What you are describing under "REPLANT" is actually a pretty close definition of what a Crow Hop actually is.

 

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Saw this on the Columbus Dispatch site. WOW!!! Can you say Crow Hop!!!

http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...30/softballs-move-shakes-up-game.html?sid=101

Due to compressed depth of field, the photo creates an optical illusion that she's about 6" in the air. If you look closely though, if she WERE in the air, her trailing foot appears to be almost over the front of the circle, and I don't think she is leaping that far! Not that I salute the mechanics, but there is just no dirt being dragged to give a point of reference.

P.S. The article must be written by a baseball reporter, with the frequent reference to "mound" being made. Just as there is no crying in baseball, there sure ain't no mounds in softball! It's "pitcher's plate" and "circle"...

 

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If you just click on the picture it will enlarge and it looks like her toe is definately in contact with tha ground.

 

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P.S. The article must be written by a baseball reporter, with the frequent reference to "mound" being made. Just as there is no crying in baseball, there sure ain't no mounds in softball! It's "pitcher's plate" and "circle"...

Yeah, I've told people before that if you're playing softball and there's a "mound" on your field, you have a problem because you're on the wrong field!

I know some umpires who are absolutely anal about using the correct term and quick to correct anybody who doesn't. It doesn't bother me that much. I just consider it a quirk of speech, sort of a short-hand colloquialism. If I know what you mean and understand what you're talking about...good enough. I do however try to always use the correct rule book terms when teaching classes, discussing a play or explaining a call to a coach.

And it's not just the reporter who "got it wrong"! If you notice, throughout the article several of the coaches repeatedly refered to "the mound".

 

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If you just click on the picture it will enlarge and it looks like her toe is definately in contact with tha ground.

Yes it does...I stand corrected!! Thanks!!