Below is an example of each style. Go to my YouTube channel to see more examples of each style.
https://www.youtube.com/user/10ManModified
Classic Style: This is the original style of Medium Pitch. The ball is brought straight back and straight forward. The pitcher usually bends at the waist in order to get lower to the ground thus using the lower back and legs to generate some power. This style is 100% legal in 10 Man Modified.
Figure Eight Style: This style has been around since the 1960’s (Nick Amodeo – Staten Island). The main difference between this style and the Classic style is that the pitcher twists at the waist and can actually have their back facing the batter (both feet maintaining contact with rubber) on the backswing. This allows the pitcher’s core to get more involved thus adding some power and speed. On the forward swing, the pitchers squares everything up. This style is 100% legal in 10 Man modified.
https://youtu.be/mq3-o_VErug
High Noon Style: This style has also been around since the 1960’s (Jim Fallucca – Staten Island). In this style the pitcher bends over so that their back is actually parallel to the ground. This allows the lower back to be utilized to generate power. Because the body is bent over so much, the pitching arm can now be raised perpendicular to the ground (high noon). This style is 100% legal unless the pitcher’s arm goes past perpendicular (>right angle created by hip-shoulder- ball).
Angled Arm: Here is where determining legal/illegal gets tougher.In this style the pitcher angles their arm away from the body on the forward swing. The palm is not facing away from the body, the ball is not clearly outside the wrist. So is this legal in 10 Man? I would say yes.
https://youtu.be/2Qv4i__ku44
https://youtu.be/1A9RiJwzUeU
Shoulder Abduction (Wrist Rollers): Here is where we start to run into some big issues. In this style, the pitcher brings the ball out to their side (abduction) on the back swing. At the same time they turn their body so that the pitching shoulder faces second base. Therefore, the palm faces second base and ball is not outside the wrist. In this style you can now bring the ball directly overhead thus getting a full 180 degrees of arm swing as opposed to the other styles where you cannot get more than 90 degrees. This results in a tremendous advantage. in fact, any Windmill pitcher can learn this technique in under 5 minutes. This is the “L” drill they are taught when they first learn windmill. This is allowed in the National ASA 10 Man Modified. However, every one of these pitchers turns the palm towards third (righty) on the downswing. They then “Roll” the ball over and follow through with a downward motion. But the action is so fast it is almost impossible to see it. Even in slow motion it is hard to see. But if you had a stop motion camera you would clearly see that the ball is outside the wrist and therefore is illegal. Sometimes this is called, sometimes it is not. ASA needs to determine if they want this style to continue. In my opinion, this is illegal.
https://youtu.be/TUJ47c6ZXFs
https://youtu.be/MR1Xv3mbIxM
Classic Sling Shot (ASA 9 Man style) – In this style, the ball is clearly outside the wrist (palm facing away from the body) at the top of the backswing and all during the forward arm swing. This style also allows a backswing of a full 180 degrees or more. This is clearly not allowed in 10 Man Modified and is the easiest of Illegal pitches to see and call.
https://youtu.be/5J9Pozfskmw
https://youtu.be/HuzK5lr6y_g