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"Dragging the pivot foot really isn't required, just permitted."
Agreed. For brevity, I did not say that IF the pivot foot breaks contact with the plate it is required to drag (for Women and JO Girls).
"but are you going to call a pitcher illegal if she can deliver the pitch without losing contact with the pitcher's plate? BTW, I have seen this a few times."
You should have. In the history of FP softball, this is a relatively recent change. Twenty years ago the pivot foot had to remain in contact with the plate until the stride foot had landed. The "leap 'n drag" style of pitching was illegal in the mid-eighties.
Another thought:
Rules editors sometimes change words and you get an entirely different interpretation of the rule. In all the history of FP softball the rule read that there must be a forward step simultaneous with the delivery of the ball. Delivering the ball is a complete set of actions starting with the removal of a hand from to ball to the actual release of the ball.
About ten years ago the word delivery was changed to release! Now we have created a bad rule. It is impossible for a pitcher to step and simultaneously release the ball. Physically the step MUST come prior to the release. The stride foot must land before the ball can be released. Now we have made every pitcher illegal, but nobody calls it because we just read right past that word and assume we know what the rule means, and don't pay any attention to what it actually says. (Untill somebody like Coach brings it up here!)
WMB
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