Most of our FP leagues have a 3 warmup pitch rule after the 1st inning (unless there is a pitcher change).

Oooops. Mike's right. It's 5 pitches in FP, 3 in SP. 1K pardons. From my experience, most pitchers are pretty territorial of the mound. No one else goes there.

Let the pitcher toss a few to get her arm loose, send it down, and call the batter up. In league play, I don't count. Tourneys with travel teams, I count. Seems like half the time, the catcher is still putting gear on.

I know this isn't proper mechanics, so don't blast me please. In league play, for the first inning, I tell the pitcher (both teams), let me know when you're ready. If it's 7 or 8 pitches, no one seems to mind.

I agree with Mike, one minute goes by and they haven't thrown their pitches. I'm not a hard-*** about it. I usually tell the catcher in the first inning "5 this inning and 3 every other inning". If they take a little longer when they come out, I tell them to send it on the first pitch. I've found that better pitchers in HS, and most in College and ASA just throw one or two and they are ready to play. It works for me.

I don't think we should tell them what to do, just like any other "coaching" comment or liability causation, if that's a concern. I believe the proper way is just to wait and say "one more" to the catcher after the fourth pitch, after they have taken too long, or when they are just messing around. I never tell the catcher to throw it down, or restrict the pitcher to less time or fewer pitches than in the rules.

Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I did say "technically" the minute starts with the third out, not that I ever count or enforce anally.

I try, especially in tournament play, to enforce the one minute/5 pitches rule to the letter. It keeps the kids playing more, rather than standing around burning up the clock, and it aides in keeping the games on time.

Since the minute does start when the 3rd out is made - I'm well within the timeframe when I tell them 3 and down. There's no way that can be construed as coaching. I'll say "send the next one" - sometimes they say, I'm not going down this inning - "okey dokey". Let's just play ball . . . I'm just trying to move the game along. Is it coaching, when after the 3rd out I say, "Hustle in, hustle out ladies!"?