At a recent tournament the pitcher presented the ball above the waist and then spun the ball in a windmill and released the ball as it passed the hip. The pitch was thrown at a normal speed and legal height.The pitch was not called illegal. I have read through the rules and see nothing that specifically bans this. Was this a legal pitch?
Not having seen it, nothing in your description jumps out at me as an illegal pitch ... Generally, the pitchers gets "one time past the hip" ... If, for example, he had presented, then dropped his hand back behind the hip, then did a full 360° windmill to deliver, I would have that as illegal ...
15 years ago I am pitching in a tournament with NCSSA rules (same, for the most part, as SSUSA rules). I have a 2 strike count on the batter, a formidable hitter. I present the ball in front of my body, then I go to a full windmill windup and pitch a legal strike (I used to be a fast pitch pitcher). The umpire calls out "illegal pitch". I walk in for a short conference and ask why it was illegal since I only passed my hip once and the pitch was neither illegally high nor low. The ump was stumped for a bit, then said "you were trying to confuse the batter!".
Irony: the opposing pitcher was known for his distracting motions: pitching without a step, pitching with a step, stepping to the left, stepping to the right, hiding the pitch in his glove, pitching with his glove hand by his side, pitching at the top of the arc, pitching at the bottom of the arc—all legal...and very effective. Our weaker batters could do little with him.
And the umpire's bizarre comment held true and I had to throw another pitch with a full count...which the batter slammed for a single!