Girls fp pitching rules

Question
  My daughter pitches on a 10u travel team. Recently during a game were she was pitching very well one of the coaches from our team told me she was pitching illegally. She was starting with her left foot (right handed) behind and off the rubber. She finished the game that way and pitched 6 scoreless innings. We then tried to fix it first by starting with both feet on the rubber then stepping back and going though the motion. Then tried no step back but she hasn抰 pitched well in 4 starts. My question is which styles are legal or not.

Answer
Hi Bob,
Well her 1st style isn't legal, both feet must be on the plate and please note no rocking motions or step backs which pull the pivot foot off the plate are allowed.

At this age you might want to get a pitching coach to get her trained in the proper technique.  As the class of play increases the scrutiny of the umpire and opposing coaches increase on illegal pitches.  Illegal pitches as you know can have a significant penalty in fp.

Here's a short list of requirements for a legal pitch
These are the basics for JO fp.

both feet on the plate, the shoulders in line with 1st and 3rd.  Both feet must remain in contact with the pitching plate at all times prior to the forward step.

a signal must be taken while in contact w/ the plate
the ball must be in either the glove or pitching hand (hands separated)it may be in front of or behind the body.

after taking the signal and bringing both hands together for 1-10 secs the pitcher may begin their motion once the hands are brought together...no rocking motions which pull the pivot foot off the plate are allowed

the start of the pitch begins when the pitcher takes 1 hand off the ball

a pitcher may drop the arm to the side and the rear before starting the windmill motion.

In the act of delivering the ball the pitcher must take 1 step simultaneous with the release of the ball.  The step must be forward and toward the batter w/in the 24" length of the pitcher's plate.

Pushing off and dragging the pivot foot in contact with the ground is required.

The delivery may not be 2 full revolutions. The deliverly must be an underhanded motion with the hand below the hip and the wrist not farther from the body than the elbow.

Mark