Gozer's pitching question (NFHS rules)

[Dakota]

Originally posted by Gozer
NFHS Rules,
Pitcher is on rubber and brings ball and glove up to the heart (mid chest), i believe this is called adressing home plate. Anyway. She drops the hands and goes back to like a bowling swing then brings the hands back up to that "adressing home plate" position and back down and back then around in "windmill" and releases. Does this count as 2 or 3 times around (there is 3 passes of the hip). If so there is an illegal pitch in there then.

I underlined some things I'll talk about first, one trivial, others with more substance.

It's a plate, not a rubber.

There is nothing in the rules about "times past the hip" except (in NFHS) a comment that the ball does not have to be released the first time past the hip.

There is no requirement to address the plate or present the ball or any such thing. The requirement in the general category of pitcher preliminary mechanics is she must take the catcer's signs (or appear to take them) with the hands separated, and then bring the hands together for at least 1 sec and no more than 10 sec, and then begin the windup and pitch the ball.

Are the hand together when she goes back the first time or are they separated?

If separated, it is clearly an illegal pitch (double touch 6-1-4-b)

If together, probably also illegal under NFHS, but it would be a judgment on whether the motion is part of the windup or part of the preliminaries. (In ASA, it is legal if the hands have not separated because separating the hands is ASA's division point between the preliminaries and the pitch.) NFHS states that the pitch starts when the hands are separated or the pitcher makes any motion after bring the hands together that is part of the windup.

If the windup has started, then the motion violates NFHS 6-1-4-c, namely there is a reversal of the forward motion (other than the allowed backswing).

WMB may be along later to provide a better answer.