legal or not?

[bob lee]

Pitcher slides foot across rubber then pushes off. One coach teaches this and another pitching coach says it is illegal. Pitcher is not picking foot up just sliding about 3 inches for the push off. illegal pitch or not?

[Comp]

As long as she is sliding it, not breaking contact with the pitching plate and is still within the 24" width it is legal.

[softballdadcoach]

I have always heard the same thing, COMP, based on what I have always been told by DD pitching coaches if the foot remains in contact with the rubber, she is good (assuming all other rules covering the pitch are followed).

[Bretman]

This one is straight out of the rule book, so it's not really open to interpretation. It specifically says that the pivot foot can slide on the plate as long as it maintains contact. Can't really argue with that!

[Jalamander]

illegal pitch or not?

ASA 6-3-I Legal delivery: In the act of delivering the ball, the pitcher must take one step with the non-pivot foot simultaneous with the release of the ball. The step must be forward and toward the batter within the 24-inch length of the pitcher's plate. It is not a step if the pitcher slides the pivot foot across the pitcher's plate, provided contact is maintained with the plate. Raising the foot off the pitching plate and returning it to the plate creates a rocking motion and is an illegal act.
The rule is the same in High School softball..

another pitching coach says it is illegal.

Dump that coach. You’ll never know what other pitching rules is he/she screwing up.

[lvtwft]

Monica Abbott had that problem in the Olympics last year. I do believe three pitches in a row were called balls because on her slide she lifted it up just a little bit...
Then she fixed it by not picking it up as she slide her foot and the 3rd base umpire no longer called illegal pitch..

[MTR]

Monica Abbott had that problem in the Olympics last year. I do believe three pitches in a row were called balls because on her slide she lifted it up just a little bit...
Then she fixed it by not picking it up as she slide her foot and the 3rd base umpire no longer called illegal pitch..

Abbott's issue isn't moving her foot across the PP. It isn't even for lifting the foot which is okay to clear the spikes.

Her issue is where the pivot foot comes down. If she comes down with any part of her foot still over the PP, it will most likely be allowed. Her problem is she comes down out in front of the PP which, by rule, is an IP as it meets the definition of a crow hop.

[lvtwft]

Got ya, went back and watched her P, and she does that a lot and does not get called for it(the replanting of her foot before the P). Being an umpire, how would you approach a blue to bring that to light? You know instead of yelling at him after every pitch

[MTR]

Got ya, went back and watched her P, and she does that a lot and does not get called for it(the replanting of her foot before the P). Being an umpire, how would you approach a blue to bring that to light? You know instead of yelling at him after every pitch

As a coach I would concentrate on getting my hitters prepared to do whatever they can with the pitches offered. No matter how you handle it with the umpire, s/he isn't going to change. The more you concentrate on the things you cannot change, the more the adjustments necessary to win the game will suffer.

[Tucson]

another pitching coach says it is illegal

I would avoid using that coach. Sliding the foot is pretty basic knowledge.