What makes a softball pitch legal?
B · Beginner · Pitching and base running · 4 of 4The delivery must be underhand, with the hand below the hip. Before it, the pitcher stands on the pitcher's plate, takes the signal with hands apart, then brings them together and stops for two to five seconds. In the windmill the arm goes round once. The pitcher may take one step forward, and has 20 seconds to release each pitch.
How it works
- On the plate: the pivot foot in contact with the pitcher's plate and both feet within its 61 cm length.
- The signal: taken on the plate "with the hands separated".
- The stop: hands together in front of the body and the whole body still for "not less than two (2) seconds and not more than five (5) seconds".
- The start: the pitch begins when one hand comes off the ball or the wind-up starts. From then the pitcher must deliver at once.
- Underhand: "with the hand below the hip, the wrist not further from the body than the elbow".
- One revolution: the arm may go round once in the windmill, with no stop or reversal.
- One step: forward, towards home plate and within the 61 cm length of the pitcher's plate.
- Leaping: allowed. The pitcher may push off the plate, be in the air and land before releasing the ball in one motion.
- Crow hop: not allowed. The push must start from the plate, not from a second point in front of it.
- Twenty seconds: to release the next pitch after receiving the ball.
- No throws from the plate: the pitcher may not throw or fake a throw to a base while touching the plate.
- Warm-up: five pitches in the first inning and for a new pitcher, three in later innings, inside one minute.
The glossary has underhand pitching, the softball pitching rules, the pivot foot, the crow hop and leaping entry, the pitch and the pitcher.
Tricky cases
A pitcher's back foot leaves the plate and both feet are in the air before the landing and the release. Legal?
Yes. That is leaping, and it is legal if the push started from the plate and the delivery is one continuous motion.
A pitcher drags forward, plants the back foot again and pushes off a second time. Legal?
No. Pushing off from a place other than the pitcher's plate is a crow hop and an illegal pitch.
The pitcher brings the hands together and pitches after one second. Legal?
No. The position with the ball in both hands must be held for at least two seconds.
With a runner on first, can the pitcher throw to first from the plate to catch the runner off the base?
No. The pitcher may not throw to a base while in contact with the plate. Runners cannot leave before the pitch in any case.
Why the rule exists
From 13 metres a pitch arrives very quickly, so the rules fix where it starts and how the arm moves. The stop tells the batter and the umpire that the pitch is about to begin. The ban on the crow hop stops a pitcher from shortening the distance by restarting the push closer to the batter.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fast pitch | Windmill and slingshot both legal, with leaping | WBSC Softball Rule 4.3.3 |
| Modified pitch | No windmill, both feet on the plate, a pause of two to ten seconds | WBSC Softball Rule 4.3.1; 4.3.3 |
| World Cups | The 20 seconds run on a visible clock, to the start of the wind-up | WBSC Softball World Cup Regulation C7.5 e |
| Baseball | Overarm from a raised mound, with a set position | WBSC Baseball Rule 13 |
From the rule book
World Baseball Softball Confederation, Official Rules of Softball: Fast Pitch (2026-2029), Rules 4.1.2, 4.1.4, 4.1.9, 4.3.1 to 4.3.3, 4.3.7 and 4.4. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: WBSC Official Rules of Softball, Fast Pitch, 2026-2029 (PDF).