The 8 Best Pitching Drills for 10-Year-Olds
At 10, pitching is about building clean, repeatable mechanics and throwing strikes, not chasing velocity. These are eight of the best pitching drills for 10 year olds, pulled from our index and credited to the coaches who teach them, each one simple enough for a young arm and a backyard.
Before the list, one honest note: this is an informational roundup, not a coaching plan. Nobody here can see your kid throw. Anything involving a young arm is worth running past an in-person coach, and if you ever notice pain or a drop in effort, talk to a physician before pushing on. With that said, here are the drills.
What pitching drills should a 10 year old start with?
Start with mechanics that keep the delivery in order. A young pitcher who stays closed and lands on line will throw more strikes and put less stress on the arm than one who muscles the ball to the plate.
The hover-and-stay-closed drill, by @montebellopitchingacademy
Young pitchers love to spin open too early, which yanks everything off line. This drill parks the front foot in a hover position and trains your pitcher to stay closed through the throw, cleaning up premature rotation and giving them better glove-side control.
Watch @montebellopitchingacademy's drill →Start open to stay closed, by @santiagosoldiers
A clever fix for a kid who flies open. The pitcher starts already opened up so the front side is out of the way, which forces the back leg to build momentum and stay closed longer. It teaches better direction to the target and cleaner sequencing without a lot of talking.
Watch @santiagosoldiers's drill →How can a 10 year old use their legs to pitch better?
Velocity and control at this age come from the lower half, not the arm. These drills teach your pitcher to load and drive with their legs so the arm gets to be along for the ride.
Heel down, sit into the back hip, by @kilzpitching
A simple loading cue: keep the back heel down and sit into the back hip during the leg lift. It builds a stable, powerful base to push off of instead of a rushed, tippy-toe delivery, and it is easy for a young pitcher to feel.
Watch @kilzpitching's cue →Firm up the front leg, by @coachjoey_pitching
A soft, collapsing front leg leaks power right when a pitcher needs it. This teaches your kid to stabilize that landing leg so the body brakes and hands the energy up to the arm, which is where the extra couple of miles per hour actually comes from at this age.
Watch @coachjoey_pitching's cue →Lateral resistance strides, by @correapitchingacademy
Holding a med ball or water ball, your pitcher does lateral strides that build explosive lower-half and lateral power while working the core, all without stressing the arm. A great off-mound way to develop the kinetic chain that a 10 year old is just starting to figure out.
Watch @correapitchingacademy's drill →How do I get my 10 year old to throw strikes?
Control at 10 is mostly a rhythm problem. A pitcher who rushes will spray the ball; a pitcher with a steady, repeatable tempo will pound the zone.
The 3-count tempo drill, by @treydillardthrows
This puts the delivery on a simple 3-count so every pitch has the same rhythm for load, stride, and release. Consistent tempo is the fastest path to consistent strikes, and it gives a wild young pitcher something concrete to focus on instead of "just throw it over."
Watch @treydillardthrows's drill →Ball-at-the-hip feedback drill, by @ocaioaraujo18
Your pitcher holds a baseball at the hip through the start of the delivery, giving instant feedback on lower-half movement and the order things fire in. It quietly fixes rushing and early hip rotation, two of the most common reasons a 10 year old can't repeat a delivery.
Watch @ocaioaraujo18's drill →What is a good arm-action drill for young pitchers?
Clean arm action protects the arm and helps everything else work. The last drill builds it with a constraint so your kid can feel the right pattern instead of just hearing about it.
Knee throwing for clean arm action, by @pitchmechanics101
Throwing from the knees takes the legs out of the equation so the arm has to work efficiently. It stops young pitchers from dumping the front shoulder or falling into a rough arm path, and it is a safe, low-effort way to groom the pattern you want to see.
Watch @pitchmechanics101's drill →How should you run these drills with a 10 year old?
Keep it simple. Pick one drill per session, run ten to fifteen easy reps, and stop while your pitcher still has good energy. Movement patterns stick through repetition with feedback, not through max-effort throwing. Watch the throw count, respect rest days, and remember that at 10 the goal is a clean, healthy delivery your kid can build on, not radar-gun numbers. And credit where it is due: every drill above belongs to the coach linked with it, so go follow them.
One more time, because it matters: none of this replaces an in-person coach or a doctor. Use these to learn what good looks like, then get eyes on your player.
Get the 3 best pitching drills for your kid.
The eight above are a sample of a much deeper index. Tell us your pitcher's age, level, and what you actually see on the mound (rushing, flying open, can't find the zone, whatever it is) and we'll email the 3 best drills for that exact problem, within minutes.
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