Two things I noticed over the weekend...12u USSSA games....
(1) 2-man crew, runner on 1st. RHP come set, steps off with right foot then steps to 1st and makes a throw over. The whole action was pretty deliberate, I'm guessing to set up his next move. R1 gets his lead, pitcher comes set again, this time making a really quick move to first and picked off R1. I thought something looked funny about the move but couldn't put my finger on it. A couple batters later there's a runner on 1st again. Same series of moves by the pitcher. This time, on the quick move I notice he picked up his front foot first, then stepped off with the right foot to spin and make the throw to 1st. From a long/generic view it probably looked like it was all in one move. I don't think anyone else noticed, at least nobody on the hitting team. His front foot was probably 2-3 inches off the ground before his rear foot moved. And it really got the runners. He picked off 4 kids in 2+ innings.
So my obvious question is...is this a balk? Does the pitcher have to break from the rubber with the rear foot before or at the same time as the front foot moves? I'm really not sure. PU and FU (in B slot) were both in line with the pitcher/home/second and so obviously neither had a side view of the move where it would have been more apparent.
(2) I noticed the same PU called a couple balks on a particular pitcher. PU said pitcher didn't stop at set position. From my vantage point, I think the kid stopped, but what he appeared to be doing was as he was bringing the glove and hand up to the set position he was trying to find his grip on the ball. While at his set position, he continued flexing his glove and moving his hand around a lot changing his grip or trying to find his grip. How much movement do you allow a pitcher who is trying to find his grip at the set position? I recognize this could be a pretty tough one to describe and it'll probably end up being a HTBT for any such situation. General thoughts would be welcome though.
Thanks.
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