I coach 12-13 year olds in Canada with full baseball rules. When a righthanded pitcher wants to pick off at first wihtout taking his foot off the rubber, I understand that he must step toward first base and that he must not fake the throw. My question is this. Can he lift his left knee in a similar manner to what he would do when delivering the pitch before he pivots and steps to throw to first, or this considered part of his normal delivery and therefor a deception(balk). I can't find in the rules why this would be illegal when it is OK for a lefty to raise his knee in exactly the same motion as if he were pitching and then step and throw to first.
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