sbump said:
Bret, your interpretation of the ASA pitching rule is wrong, if you look at the diagram in the ASA rule book on page 58 the diagram showing the foot partially within and partially outside the width of the pitchers plate is illegal. ?In ASA the entire the entire foot must be within the 24 inch width.
sbump,
You might want to double check that diagram. It has nothing to do with fastpitch softball. It is showing the legal stride foot placement for
modified pitch and is illustrating the stride foot's relation to the pivot foot, not the edge of the pitching plate. Read the text accompanying the diagram and that should be clear.
Back to the question at hand- the stride foot being outside the length of the plate in women's fastpitch softball.
Since the ASA rule book is worded a little differently than the NFHS rule, and there seems to be some confusion about their interpretation, I did some digging for a more definite answer. Just speaking with other umpires was my first step. The reaction was mixed- about 50% said rule it the same as NFHS and NCAA, about 25% said the foot must be totally within the length and about 25% admitted they didn't have any idea!
But we don't interpret rules by committee or majority opinion. My informal poll "proved" nothing, other than that there is some confusion about how this should be called in an ASA game.
So, I took my question right to the top. In an email to Kevin Ryan, the ASA National Director of Umpires, I posed the question about the stride foot landing position. Here is his answer that I received today:
Bret,
In ASA Women?s or Girls JO we use the same interpretation (as NFHS). As long as part of the foot lands in the 24? length of the Pitcher?s plate they are OK.
Kevin
And that is definitive enough for me! ASA, NFHS and NCAA all share the same interpretation of this rule, even if their respective rule books word it differently. The pitcher has not committed an infraction until her entire pivot foot has landed outside the length of the 24" pitching plate.