pitchers feet locations

This topic was a point of emphasis this season during the coaches conference. College coaches do not like it at all. From the windup the pivot foot must be in contact with the rubber at the start of the windup and at delivery. The non-pivot foot must be either in contact with the rubber or behind it, eliminating the hybrid position of the non-pivot foot being slightly ahead of the rubber/pivot foot. i do not agree with this change because from the windup no advantage is gained by the foot positionIng. Personally I think the reason we are seeing this change is that coaches that like to try to steal home from third base when they see a pitcher in the windup position feel that if the pitchers body is angled toward the third base side he has the ability to step off and make a play at home from the hybrid position better than he would from a position of both feet toeing the rubber. My two cents worth. 

If you're referencing high school, this is not a new rule and for most of the country has not been a problem.  POE's are brought about when enough coaches complain about something enough.  This usually occurs with coaches from the same region.

FED 6-1-2  

For the windup  position...The pitcher's non-pivot foot shall be in any position on or behind a line extending through the front edge of the the pitcher's plate.

Check out slides 18 and 19: https://docs.google.com/presen...t?pli=1#slide=id.p25

In HS the easiest way to understand a legal windup is the nonpivot foot can't be in front of the rubber not touching. Texas has made the ruling that the heel touching the front of the rubber is illegal, this is wrong but if you from Texas that is how it will be called. 

Mike... that is incorrect about Texas. In the wind up is "The pitcher's non-pivot foot shall be in any position on or behind a line extending through the front edge of the the pitcher's plate."... TX has determined that in the set position the pivot foot can have part of the foot extent out beyond the edge of the pitching plate but just either the toes or the heel no more than that... umpires judgement which is bad for the fact my judgement is different than everyone else and vice a verse...  

Texas has changed a rule.  I didn't know a state could do that.  Maybe Texas is different.

This "new ruling" you are refering to has been named the Hybrid Stance. It's only applicable in HS baseball. No body is calling this at the college level. The reason it has become an issue in HS ball is because the pitcher can not try a pick off from the wind up. Too many pitchers were using this stance and getting away with pick offs. That's how it came about.

There are a few interesting rulings coming out of TASO that are inconsistent with...well, reality.

It seems to me that two different feet are being discussed...

From how I'm reading this - the "Texas ruling" is talking about the "pivot foot".  "Technically" I thought in FED rules it states the whole pivot foot has to be in contact with the rubber.  Sure, in a perfect world where pitchers don't dig a hole to China that might be possible, but usually that hole in front of the rubber is too deep for this to be possible.  Pitchers thus will slide one direction or another in order to be comfortable.  Now you know there are coaches out there that love to make sure the other team is playing by the letter of the law and they'll complain because the other pitcher's pivot foot isn't properly engaged and that's somehow giving him an advantage so as an umpire you must call that a balk.  So it seems to me the Texas ruling is giving the umpire some leeway to use his better judgement to determine whether the pivot foot placement is "OK" by the intent or spirit of the rule.  The ruling seems to allow a toe or heel of leeway.  We're probably talking what 1-3" at most?

The original question I thought was about the "free foot" and it's placement. The rule hasn't changed there this year, but the point of emphasis was made to enforce the rule about the free foot being on or behind the line extending through the front of the pitchers plate (paraphrased).  In this case with that runner on 3rd giving the impression you are going from the full windup can be deceiving if you lift that leg and throw over to 3rd.  OTOH going thru your full windup motion while in this hybrid position could be considered a balk because you are required to "stop" in the set position with runners on.  If you nip in the bud early on that a pitcher with no runners on delivered an illegal pitch from the hybrid position you avoid the issue(s) that are sure to arise later in the game...

Correct.  The problem arises when the pivot foot is across (perpendicular to) the rubber - legal only from the wind-up, and the free foot is completely in front of the rubber - legal only from the set.  This "hybrid" stance is not legal from either position.

It is my understanding that the state interpreter is saying that in the wind-up, touching the front of the rubber does not meet the rule. They are the lone stranger on this one. 

You have been misinformed.

Nobody is calling it in college because the college rule is different.  The pitcher is in the Windup if any part of the free foot is equal with or behind any part of the pivot foot.  The pitcher is in the set position if the entire free foot is farther forward than all of the pivot foot.  So, basically the pitcher can have the free foot about 6 - 12" farther forward in college than in HS.

And, this same topic was a point of emphasis in NCAA rules a few years ago, and in FED a few years before that.