The crow-hop

[WestMichBlue]

Greymule: "However, I would be very surprised if at the moment one of them makes the release, the ball of her pivot foot is not several inches in front of the rubber and in subtantial contact with the ground. And they are certainly not delivering during the drag; their pivot foot has stopped and is giving them plenty of support. Go out to a mound and try it yourself. You'll see—you are delivering off the back foot after the drag forward, not during it."

Can not agree with you, GM. (Qualifier: in my long career I have been a pitcher, a pitching coach with several H.S. all conference girls, a H.S. coach, and an umpire.) Let's talk about throwing mechanics. Whether Underhand or Overhand, the throwing motion starts with a push by the pivot foot. But the actual throw is executed when the stride foot lands, the hips close, or are closing, and the wrist snaps. After creating the initial forward momentum, the pivot foot has nothing to do with the actual delivery. If overhand, then the shoulder are going down, the hips are closed, and the pivot foot will pick up and reset to the side. If underhand, then the shoulders are coming up and the pivot foot typically drags behind the thrower, then resets to the side when the hips close. (And it is that drag that creates the gully you see, usually about 45 deg from the plate.)

The initial push is, by rule, supposed to come from the plate. If the underhanded pitcher leaps with both feet, and the pivot foot lands first, and the push-off is from that point - then you have a crow hop. After that, everything is the same. The pivot foot will drag (from the new push-off point), the stride foot will land, and the ball is released. And it's illegal

Another thing to look at is the knee. Again, whether Underhand or Overhand, as the weight is transfered forward the pivot foot knee has to buckle in order to push. To truly push off from a new point, the pivot knee would have to buckle a second time and straighten and push. Even when a girl has picked up her foot and relanded a few inches in front of the plate, I don't think she is pushing. (You almost need slow-motion video to see that.) I think that her forward momentum is already established and her pivot foot is just landing and dragging along. Even though I see that little step, if I don't see her pushing from that point I do not call a crow hop.

WMB

[greymule]

I guess the crow hop is now like traveling in professional basketball.

Thanks for noting, Dakota, that ASA does specifically cite the level plane of the ground. The Fed interpreter's advice didn't come out of nowhere.

I admit that the contradiction between the crow hop rule and actual practice has troubled me for years. When I started in FP, it seemed that all the good pitchers were in violation. However, nobody was calling anything unless the pitcher actually hopped in the air or committed a flagrant violation such that, as POE #39 says, "the pivot foot is off and in front of the pitching plate before the hands separate." Anybody could see that one.

I did some experimenting on a mound this morning and may have learned something. I think the motion the rule book "wants" is one in which the hands separate, the arm goes into the windmill, and just after the arm drops behind the pitcher and gets parallel to the ground, the motion of the body drags the foot forward from the rubber. The release is occurring in front of the rubber, but there really isn't a full replant.

What so many pitchers get away with is this: They separate the hands, go into the windmill, and as the ball reaches or passes the top, they yank the pivot foot forward and replant more substantially to deliver. The marks the pivot foot makes on the ground are almost identical, and the length of the "drag" is the same. But with the latter delivery, the actual anchor point is closer to home plate.

The subtle difference is difficult to spot. There are also motions that are sort of "in between." If coaches aren't saying anything, it's no surprise that umpires aren't calling it.

Perhaps umpires draw the line at the airborne hop because a pitcher can hop much farther than she can drag. Plus, everybody in the park can see it.

This summer I was planning to take some action shots of some of the good tournaments. If I can get my son to do the necessary computer work, I'll post any revealing pictures.

Note: I just saw WMB's comments and they are excellent, especially concerning the buckled knee. And I think we can all see how complicated this issue is.

[Edited by greymule on May 17th, 2003 at 11:16 AM]