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Illegal or Legal, what are your stipulations?
Round and round we go, and where this stops - nobody knows! Part of the problem is that too many people do not really know what is legal.
Let's take a look at the typical delivery with respect to the legs and body movement. Forget all the hand and arm preliminary gynamistics and focus on the feet.
1. The pitching motion really starts with a weight shift, a body lean forward.
2. The knee of the pivot leg buckles (spring winding up).
3. As the pivot leg knee starts to straighten (spring uncoiling), the stride foot takes off in a giant step.
4. With the body now traveling forward, the pivot foot breaks contact with the plate and travels forwards.
5. As the body opens up (facing 3B) the pivot foot travels behind the body.
6. When the stride foot lands, the arm should be in the last 90 degrees of the rotation and the ball is released a fraction of a second later.
7. With the release, the hips will close and the pivot foot picks up and settles to the side with the pitcher now facing the batter (hopefully in a defensive position).
Now go back to #4 - one of two things will happen with the pivot foot. If the leg push and body drive is strongly forward, the pivot foot will be pointed down (the toe went into the hole in front of the plate and the push was from the instep area of the foot). The pivot foot will drag all the way - and that is a legal pitch.
If the body push is upward, then you get a little jump step with the pivot foot. The pivot foot will be level or even have the toes up; it will land from a few to many inches later. That landing is a replant, but that in itself is not illegal!
There are two parts to the definition of a crow hop - a replant, and a new push-off. To be illegal, that knee of the pivot leg must again bend, and again straighten, and add more impetus to the body's forward motion. I don't see that happening!
What I see is that pivot foot traveling forward, landing, twisting and kicking a little dust as it starts to drag behind the body. And I will not call that a crow hop.
HOWEVER - when the pivot foot breaks contact with the plate, the stride foot is still airborne, thus technically both feet are airborne and that is a LEAP. Now we get into discussions about how deep is the hole, and does the foot rise appreciably above the plane of the ground, and are the toes up or down, etc. etc.
The "Leap" is what you have to decide what and when you are going to call. IMO, if I call all the leaps I see, I will disqualify 50% - 60% of the pitchers I see; and I will be in an endless hassle with pitchers and coaches .
There is a crow hop you can call. When pitching under ASA rules (vs NFHS, ASSSSA, PONY) pitchers will attempt to compensate for the lack of a stride foot back by shifting their weight behind the plate. With their weight back on the stride foot, the pivot foot may lift and re-plant on the plate or in front of the plate. Obviously they are going to push off from that point so that would be a crow hop - and thus illegal.
Finally, an illegal pitch that I am calling more and more is when the stride foot lands well outside the 24" limits. This is coming down from the college ranks and more younger pitchers are being taught this. They drive the stride foot away from the batter, get a full body turn (often the pivot foot also drags outside the 24" limit) - and throw back into the batter - often a screwball.
IMO, that one you have to call. It is easy, for they leave the evidence in the dust. The rule book says the step must be within the 24" limit; it doesn't say whether it is completely or partially within. I go with partially; therefore all but the heel can land outside the limit and still be legal.
WMB
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