legal pitch

Question
i played fastpitch for the us navy in 1965-68. we played played teams from all
over the world. in 1966 we played against the king and his court with eddie
fainter(sp) as pitcher on wide world of sports. our pitcher, vaugn mcclure
averaged 18 strikeouts a game.
my question-all pitchers i played against hit their hip which  catapaulted the
ball. is this a legal pitch and if it is why dont i see todays pitchers doing it

Answer
Hello Terry,

I bet that was exciting playing against people such as "The King".  You didn't mention how you did against him.  Eddie Feigner is still regarded as the greatest pitcher of all time in the softball world.  

Are you sure that the pitchers were not hitting their glove hand against their hip.  Many pitchers today still do that and it is usually timed to where it appears the throwing hand is making the sound of hitting the hip as it is released.  I don't think there are any rules in place that prevent you from hitting the hip prior to release with the throwing hand, but I can't see where you would gain any advantage by doing this.  If anything, I would expect it cause control issues and lose speed.  Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

Coach Mike