Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Where is the line

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My DD's team(16u) faced a pitcher this year that had an ark on the ball. It was like playing slow pitch. Faced another that was also boarderline.

I beleive umpires should call this pitcher for illegal pitches.

What are your thoughts?

Bretman chime in.......

 

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My dd's 18u rec team played against a girl who, I believe to be 12, is supposedly going to be a Junior this year. There is no way! Our girls couldn't hit this kid. :lmao:

 

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the ball can arc. it can even be pitched slow pitch style..... no illegal pitch can be called, think about it most change-ups would then be illegal

 

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Several years ago we faced a pitcher that threw no more than 30-35 mph. It had a arc but mostly due to gravity. It took a little time for the hitters to get adjusted and when they did, she cranked it up.... to around 58 mph. My jaw dropped So did my players.

 

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We also faced an 18U pitcher this year who threw an avg. 40 mph but mixed in a 55-60 mph heater every few pitches which really kept us off balance.

 

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the ball can arc. it can even be pitched slow pitch style..... no illegal pitch can be called, think about it most change-ups would then be illegal

Well. I feel that is wrong. Its fastpitch not slow pitch.

 

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Fastpitch rules have no limit on pitch arc. There is no minimum or maximum arc, like in slow pitch.

A pitch could have zero arc (actually, that's a physical impossibility, even for the fastest pitch in the world, as ALL pitches are affected by gravity).

A pitch could have 20 feet of arc!

Either would be perfectly legal (assuming all other aspects of the pitch were legal).

 

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It drives me nuts though when my girls come back to the dugout and say they can't hit her because she is too slow. Too fast? Maybe i understand it. Too slow? ADJUST!!!

 

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Its all part of the game and you have to find a way to adjust to it, which can be rather difficult for the girls and baffling to a coach! Some girls just dont have the speed and if this "slow pitch arc"works for her (which it sounds like it does) then thats great for her. The name of the game might be "fastpitch" but the idea is to keep your opponent off balance, and sounds like she accomplished that.

 

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there is no rule on arc but i am near positive i have read in the nsa rulebook you are not allowed to release the ball past your hip which would get rid of slow pitch style anyways correct me if i am wrong but i am pretty sure it is in there will check after work today though

 

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As long as the rules allow the pitcher to release in front of the straight line of the body and below the hip all is good.
The game is about making adjustments to what the other team is trying to do in order to get the win.
Having a hard throwing pitcher and a slower throwing pitcher helps to keep players/teams off balance (as long as they are pitching to the corners of the plate.)
The hitters generally do not practice making the adjustment to slower pitchers because everyone assumes it should be an easier adjustment than facing a hard throwing pitcher.
We get a lot of pop-ups and weak ground balls off of our slower knuckle ball pitcher 30-35mph against normally good hitting teams. (When the players do connect usually it is a hard foul ball.)
As the players scoot way up in the box now the 50mph fast ball can be used more effectively with the other pitches.
If they do start to make the right adjustments then we bring in one of the harder throwing pitchers and the chess game starts all over.

 

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It drives me nuts though when my girls come back to the dugout and say they can't hit her because she is too slow. Too fast? Maybe i understand it. Too slow? ADJUST!!!

I am with you on this one...makes me CRAZY.....